Harry Winks

[Chelmofox]

56 minutes ago, Raj said:

People jiss off to him but give me the No.25 for Norwich every single day.

MOTM by a mile.

Couldn't believe they subbed him off

 

 

24 hours ago you got laughed off this forum for suggesting either Winks or Skipp were droppable after 2 draws. 

 

In the first half i though Winks was by far our best player. Went missing in the 2nd. But it all feels very 'luxury' to me still.

[CrazyKopCorner]

On 27/02/2026 at 11:23, ClaphamFox said:

Harry Winks had a major problem with the same managers that the fans had a problem with. He saw through them just like we did. He's basically one of us 

From the outside I've always had a problem as I don't know the full details. 

 

He's had problems with an Incredibly poorly run club and absolute imbecile managers which appears to have impacted on his personal circumstances. 

 

There's every chance he's not been well treated, managed etc 

 

I'm not saying it could be him and he could be a prima donna but the fact he's being managed by complete lunatics I'm sure hasn't helped 

[Raj]

11 minutes ago, Chelmofox said:

24 hours ago you got laughed off this forum for suggesting either Winks or Skipp were droppable after 2 draws. 

 

In the first half i though Winks was by far our best player. Went missing in the 2nd. But it all feels very 'luxury' to me still.

He IS a luxury player.

Great when you need to contain a 2-0 lead with his side to side passing.

Offers little attacking wise and is nonchalant 

[funkyrobot]

10 hours ago, old koppite said:

Looked classy and composed first half, but back to ineffective second half. 
(Skipp off all game).

Is it a stamina thing ? 

It’s called not having a central midfield partner next to him that can share the workload with the ball. Winks isn’t the issue, Skipp is the issue, he doesn’t do enough to play such a key central role. 

[NewburyFox]

1 minute ago, funkyrobot said:

It’s called not having a central midfield partner next to him that can share the workload with the ball. Winks isn’t the issue, Skipp is the issue, he doesn’t do enough to play such a key central role. 

Skipp is dreadful, offers nothing offensively or defensively. Those three wall passes that Winks played to him where he could've turned but didn't were ridiculous. 

[Claudio Fannieri]

I cannot get past the last 2 seasons and how he has time and again disrespected the club, thrown in half arsed performances and basically stuck two fingers up to the people who pay his wages and spend their hard earned following the club across the country. 
 

Now JJ is back I hope Winks disappears back to the periphery of the squad. If our survival hopes hang on Harry Winks then we may as well confirm relegation now and fold the club. 
 

Epitomises everything that is wrong at the club and the fact he is given so many chances/clean slates doesn’t surprise me given how forgiving our fanbase is. 

[old koppite]

1 hour ago, Claudio Fannieri said:

I cannot get past the last 2 seasons and how he has time and again disrespected the club, thrown in half arsed performances and basically stuck two fingers up to the people who pay his wages and spend their hard earned following the club across the country. 
 

Now JJ is back I hope Winks disappears back to the periphery of the squad. If our survival hopes hang on Harry Winks then we may as well confirm relegation now and fold the club. 
 

Epitomises everything that is wrong at the club and the fact he is given so many chances/clean slates doesn’t surprise me given how forgiving our fanbase is. 

I can’t understand him. He put in some real effort at Stoke and Middlesbrough, had some nice moments yesterday in the first half but then second half basically disappeared- where did his fight and desire to make something happen go? He goes into a shell and plays within himself. 
I’m still thinking it’s lack of stamina and real grit to succeed. 

[old koppite]

1 hour ago, NewburyFox said:

Skipp is dreadful, offers nothing offensively or defensively. Those three wall passes that Winks played to him where he could've turned but didn't were ridiculous. 

There were dreadful and pointless, but Winks shared the passes, and didn’t anyone just tell Skipp “turn”! 

[Raj]

1 hour ago, Claudio Fannieri said:

I cannot get past the last 2 seasons and how he has time and again disrespected the club, thrown in half arsed performances and basically stuck two fingers up to the people who pay his wages and spend their hard earned following the club across the country. 
 

Now JJ is back I hope Winks disappears back to the periphery of the squad. If our survival hopes hang on Harry Winks then we may as well confirm relegation now and fold the club. 
 

Epitomises everything that is wrong at the club and the fact he is given so many chances/clean slates doesn’t surprise me given how forgiving our fanbase is. 

👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

 

Hear Hear!!

[old koppite]

1 hour ago, funkyrobot said:

It’s called not having a central midfield partner next to him that can share the workload with the ball. Winks isn’t the issue, Skipp is the issue, he doesn’t do enough to play such a key central role. 

So you agree Winks was poor and ineffective second half ( when we were up against it and needed to match their energy and fight).

I agree Skipp was a major issue yesterday, and should have been subbed early second half. 
Do you think it’s a stamina issue for both of them (and some others)? 

[old koppite]

2 hours ago, Raj said:

People jiss off to him but give me the No.25 for Norwich every single day.

MOTM by a mile.

Couldn't believe they subbed him off

 

 

Yes, he is some player on that showing and no wonder they’re on such a good run. Big, strong, skilful and determined. 
Ha ha, our comms team were surprised he was subbed and relieved!

[Sol thewall Bamba]

5 wins in how many starts? 35? @Dan

 

Dropped as soon as JJ is match fit please.

[Buzzell]

2 hours ago, Raj said:

People jiss off to him but give me the No.25 for Norwich every single day.

MOTM by a mile.

Couldn't believe they subbed him off

 

 

Maghoma. He was by far the best player on the pitch and I was surprised he was taken off. He’s the exact type of player we miss. Everytime he got the ball he wanted to do something positive with it.

[Raj]

17 minutes ago, old koppite said:

Yes, he is some player on that showing and no wonder they’re on such a good run. Big, strong, skilful and determined. 
Ha ha, our comms team were surprised he was subbed and relieved!

 

5 minutes ago, Buzzell said:

Maghoma. He was by far the best player on the pitch and I was surprised he was taken off. He’s the exact type of player we miss. Everytime he got the ball he wanted to do something positive with it.

Exactly the sort of player we needed.

 

But we have Skipp and Winks instead and the one good CM we have is on loan and for his own career hope he doesnt join us.

...sums us up perfectly...

[old koppite]

10 minutes ago, Buzzell said:

Maghoma. He was by far the best player on the pitch and I was surprised he was taken off. He’s the exact type of player we miss. Everytime he got the ball he wanted to do something positive with it.

They signed him from Brentford in January on a 3 year deal/ quite a scoop.

[Buzzell]

10 minutes ago, old koppite said:

They signed him from Brentford in January on a 3 year deal/ quite a scoop.

He was head and shoulders above anybody else’s level yesterday. Looks way too good to be in this league.

[inckley fox]

2 hours ago, CrazyKopCorner said:

From the outside I've always had a problem as I don't know the full details. 

 

He's had problems with an Incredibly poorly run club and absolute imbecile managers which appears to have impacted on his personal circumstances. 

 

There's every chance he's not been well treated, managed etc 

 

I'm not saying it could be him and he could be a prima donna but the fact he's being managed by complete lunatics I'm sure hasn't helped 

I think if you were talking about a player who had really earned some loyalty from the fans and fallen foul of one manager, you could argue this.

 

The problem is, Winks performed well for half a second tier season. So even under Enzo he wasn't at his best towards the end, leading many to ask themselves whether he justified the 10m price-tag, and how useful he'd be upon promotion. And on top of that there were stories that he'd had issues with past managers at Spurs, and of course he'd just been relegated in Italy before joining us. If you add that to the widespread feeling that our style of play would have needed rethinking even if we'd failed to go up let alone when we did, given our poor late-season form, and there were already plenty of causes for concern.

 

But then after that you have the issues with three different managers. With Cooper it was just poor form as we tried and failed to adapt to a new style of play, but his apparent celebrations on the night of the manager's sacking rightly invited the spotlight, and questions as to whether his role in the downturn needed looking at. After all, Cooper might have been a bad fit for us, but his record in the second tier was arguably stronger than Enzo's and he'd earned PL survival. A good appointment? Obviously not. But an 'imbecile' or complete incompetent? Definitely not. Winks earned a rebuke from the club for that, so the attention shifted to how he did under the successor.

 

And then you get far more clear-cut issues with the next two bosses. Ruud wasn't qualified for the job at all, but someone with his standing in the game can't be simply dismissed out of hand. And the key issue was that he'd highlighted poor standards among players as our core problem - can we truly argue with that? - and, it seemed, Winks as the main culprit.

 

And then after that you get Cifuentes. No, not a good appointment once more, but a guy who'd done a steady enough job at that level - and a bright man who most certainly was no 'imbecile' - and was willing to give Winks a chance. And who, like Ruud, soon came to regret it.

 

So I think we can discount that those three managers, or four if you trace the poor form back to Enzo, were imbeciles. Has Winks had to deal with any other imbeciles at the club? The closest thing, to my mind, would be Top, but I'm not sure he's been guilty of mistreating Winks. After all, every new appointment has plonked him straight back in the line-up, so it actually looks as if there's a mandate coming from Top to give Winks a try.

 

And you could probably argue that that wasn't imbecilic either, on the first or second occasion at least, because technically there's no question that Winks is one of our best players. Yesterday he was by far the bravest in possession, and in general I think he's been the best performer under Rowett so far. But the fact that, statistically, and for a long time, our results have been drastically worse with him in the starting line-up than without, and any case for the defence that you could form just starts to crumble. He's an expensive second tier purchase who went off the boil within six months, couldn't get on with any of the next three managers (whether or not you think Ruud's request of him, which didn't seem too exceptional to me, was unreasonable), epitomised the crippling cultural malaise at the club, and brought with him considerably inferior results whenever he was selected. 

 

Of course, I live in hope that he can earn a degree of redemption. I hope, in the face of damning evidence to the contrary, that with someone of his degree of ability it could happen, and our survival may even hinge on it. But up to now I feel he's pretty indefensible.

[Edingleyfox]

It is an interesting statistic that results have been worse with Winks in the team. Yesterday I noticed that other players seem to stop playing or risk driving forward when a pass to Winks was an easier option. Skipp has been good but yesterday short passes to Winks were the staple and of course with  the limitations of the central defenders in terms of distribution an awful lot was going through Winks who was pretty good to be fair . I think Rowett said post match that everyone needs to take responsibility and not expect that chances will happen. From the kick off yesterday Daka and Mukasa stood well back with little press and looked tired and I half wondered if the thinking was more about not conceding and conserving energy than anything else.   There was still a chance at half time to do something but it was all too little too late.

Edited 1 March by Edingleyfox

[Long Eaton Fox]

Winks and Skipp out. James and Page in.

[Chelmofox]

26 minutes ago, Long Eaton Fox said:

Winks and Skipp out. James and Page in.

Hahahahah! 2 days ago you got laughed at for saying they should be out of the team. 

[CrazyKopCorner]

2 hours ago, inckley fox said:

I think if you were talking about a player who had really earned some loyalty from the fans and fallen foul of one manager, you could argue this.

 

The problem is, Winks performed well for half a second tier season. So even under Enzo he wasn't at his best towards the end, leading many to ask themselves whether he justified the 10m price-tag, and how useful he'd be upon promotion. And on top of that there were stories that he'd had issues with past managers at Spurs, and of course he'd just been relegated in Italy before joining us. If you add that to the widespread feeling that our style of play would have needed rethinking even if we'd failed to go up let alone when we did, given our poor late-season form, and there were already plenty of causes for concern.

 

But then after that you have the issues with three different managers. With Cooper it was just poor form as we tried and failed to adapt to a new style of play, but his apparent celebrations on the night of the manager's sacking rightly invited the spotlight, and questions as to whether his role in the downturn needed looking at. After all, Cooper might have been a bad fit for us, but his record in the second tier was arguably stronger than Enzo's and he'd earned PL survival. A good appointment? Obviously not. But an 'imbecile' or complete incompetent? Definitely not. Winks earned a rebuke from the club for that, so the attention shifted to how he did under the successor.

 

And then you get far more clear-cut issues with the next two bosses. Ruud wasn't qualified for the job at all, but someone with his standing in the game can't be simply dismissed out of hand. And the key issue was that he'd highlighted poor standards among players as our core problem - can we truly argue with that? - and, it seemed, Winks as the main culprit.

 

And then after that you get Cifuentes. No, not a good appointment once more, but a guy who'd done a steady enough job at that level - and a bright man who most certainly was no 'imbecile' - and was willing to give Winks a chance. And who, like Ruud, soon came to regret it.

 

So I think we can discount that those three managers, or four if you trace the poor form back to Enzo, were imbeciles. Has Winks had to deal with any other imbeciles at the club? The closest thing, to my mind, would be Top, but I'm not sure he's been guilty of mistreating Winks. After all, every new appointment has plonked him straight back in the line-up, so it actually looks as if there's a mandate coming from Top to give Winks a try.

 

And you could probably argue that that wasn't imbecilic either, on the first or second occasion at least, because technically there's no question that Winks is one of our best players. Yesterday he was by far the bravest in possession, and in general I think he's been the best performer under Rowett so far. But the fact that, statistically, and for a long time, our results have been drastically worse with him in the starting line-up than without, and any case for the defence that you could form just starts to crumble. He's an expensive second tier purchase who went off the boil within six months, couldn't get on with any of the next three managers (whether or not you think Ruud's request of him, which didn't seem too exceptional to me, was unreasonable), epitomised the crippling cultural malaise at the club, and brought with him considerably inferior results whenever he was selected. 

 

Of course, I live in hope that he can earn a degree of redemption. I hope, in the face of damning evidence to the contrary, that with someone of his degree of ability it could happen, and our survival may even hinge on it. But up to now I feel he's pretty indefensible.

Great response. 

[funkyrobot]

6 hours ago, old koppite said:

So you agree Winks was poor and ineffective second half ( when we were up against it and needed to match their energy and fight).

I agree Skipp was a major issue yesterday, and should have been subbed early second half. 
Do you think it’s a stamina issue for both of them (and some others)? 

I don’t agree Winks was poor no. I thought he was overrun 2nd half after they changed their system because he had nothing next to him. I thought him and Ricardo came out with some credit but that’s about it for the outfield players. 

[tickler28]

3 hours ago, Long Eaton Fox said:

Winks and Skipp out. James and Page in.

Page is nowhere near good enough 

[funkyrobot]

4 hours ago, inckley fox said:

I think if you were talking about a player who had really earned some loyalty from the fans and fallen foul of one manager, you could argue this.

 

The problem is, Winks performed well for half a second tier season. So even under Enzo he wasn't at his best towards the end, leading many to ask themselves whether he justified the 10m price-tag, and how useful he'd be upon promotion. And on top of that there were stories that he'd had issues with past managers at Spurs, and of course he'd just been relegated in Italy before joining us. If you add that to the widespread feeling that our style of play would have needed rethinking even if we'd failed to go up let alone when we did, given our poor late-season form, and there were already plenty of causes for concern.

 

But then after that you have the issues with three different managers. With Cooper it was just poor form as we tried and failed to adapt to a new style of play, but his apparent celebrations on the night of the manager's sacking rightly invited the spotlight, and questions as to whether his role in the downturn needed looking at. After all, Cooper might have been a bad fit for us, but his record in the second tier was arguably stronger than Enzo's and he'd earned PL survival. A good appointment? Obviously not. But an 'imbecile' or complete incompetent? Definitely not. Winks earned a rebuke from the club for that, so the attention shifted to how he did under the successor.

 

And then you get far more clear-cut issues with the next two bosses. Ruud wasn't qualified for the job at all, but someone with his standing in the game can't be simply dismissed out of hand. And the key issue was that he'd highlighted poor standards among players as our core problem - can we truly argue with that? - and, it seemed, Winks as the main culprit.

 

And then after that you get Cifuentes. No, not a good appointment once more, but a guy who'd done a steady enough job at that level - and a bright man who most certainly was no 'imbecile' - and was willing to give Winks a chance. And who, like Ruud, soon came to regret it.

 

So I think we can discount that those three managers, or four if you trace the poor form back to Enzo, were imbeciles. Has Winks had to deal with any other imbeciles at the club? The closest thing, to my mind, would be Top, but I'm not sure he's been guilty of mistreating Winks. After all, every new appointment has plonked him straight back in the line-up, so it actually looks as if there's a mandate coming from Top to give Winks a try.

 

And you could probably argue that that wasn't imbecilic either, on the first or second occasion at least, because technically there's no question that Winks is one of our best players. Yesterday he was by far the bravest in possession, and in general I think he's been the best performer under Rowett so far. But the fact that, statistically, and for a long time, our results have been drastically worse with him in the starting line-up than without, and any case for the defence that you could form just starts to crumble. He's an expensive second tier purchase who went off the boil within six months, couldn't get on with any of the next three managers (whether or not you think Ruud's request of him, which didn't seem too exceptional to me, was unreasonable), epitomised the crippling cultural malaise at the club, and brought with him considerably inferior results whenever he was selected. 

 

Of course, I live in hope that he can earn a degree of redemption. I hope, in the face of damning evidence to the contrary, that with someone of his degree of ability it could happen, and our survival may even hinge on it. But up to now I feel he's pretty indefensible.

I don’t think the stats thing is entirely a fair criticism and it’s certainly not for a significant period of time. Almost all of our wins are outliers this season. Most won games are ones that statistically we should’ve lost and we’ve won them through wonder goals from James and Fatawu and occasionally from The Ghost of Bobby Reid. If you want to go with stats then we’ve had a higher XG against us in most games including those games that Winks didn’t play. We’ve just been lucky.
 

We are more likely to create opportunities if we play those players that are likely to be able to take the ball on the half turn and actually progress the ball up the pitch & that’s why Winks should play and not Skipp. I don’t care what has happened in the past. I don’t care if Winks is suddenly motivated by maximising his potential for a good move in the summer I just think we are better playing our better footballers and in midfield I think that’s JJ, Winks and Mukasa. If Skipp was an effective CDM then things might be different but he isn’t. 

[Bourbon Fox]

He's the kind of player who, if you stuck him in a team of galacticos would get plaudits from nerds for 'quietly running the game' and 'keeping the whole thing moving' because he makes short, tidy passes and occasionally shoots from the edge of the box. 

 

But ask him to play any kind of productive football in a side where he's one of the best players, he's just not got much to offer.