I think he's more referring to the rose colored glasses people wear for the kid
They bitched about him being in and out of games when on our list, but now he's an elite midfielder (apparently)
This is despite the fact Rodney has shown on more than one occasion his stats between this season and last ain't that different. Also he is still used a lot as the sub.
I'm glad somebody said it.
The fact is that two years ago people would have been going on about Matt White in pretty much the same way they now currently rant about Pettard, Thomas, Grigg, and so on: a serviceable but hardly elite level footballer who is a fairly decent depth player but who hardly makes our best 22 going forward.
For my money, the issue with White is that does a few very spectacular things --like that running goal against us this year.
And, of course, people remember those spectacular things and form the impression that White is a spectacular footballer.
But there was a reason he never made it as a regular in our senior team and I dare say that if he was still on our list, then people would be pointing out just how few spectacular things he actually does.
I think this wailing and gnashing of teeth over the departure of Whittey is way over blown, as are estimations of his contribution to Port's success.
EDIT: I made a really unfair comment about Whittey's performance in the EF, overlooking the fact that he was subbed out with a broken jaw. It was very poor on my part and thanks to
x_les_x for pointing it out. I've pulled it from the above.