Christ on a bike. What a car crash of a thread.
Paul Hartely offers us plenty on the park. When we were on the dreadful run that eventually got McGhee the sack, we were being overrun in the midfield and full back positions which had the tendency for Hartely to become somewhat swamped with other peoples jobs and thus, had a tendency not to be seen and somewhat allowing the game to pass him by.
However, with a manager now in place that has got us organised and a much more stable unit than the one under McGhee, this brings out the best in Hartely. His dead ball deliveries are very good including his penalty taking, his passing range is also very good ranging from short to long raking passes and he can also pop up at the right time with a goal. Millertime, I don't know what you expect Hartely to do or whether you expect him to be making lung bursting, mazy runs to score goals akin to Gareth Bale but he does what he is expected to on the field, a calming and inspirational leader who keeps it simple and is always driving his team forwards. Yes he is not the fastest, but he should be the first name on the team sheet.
Without a doubt, one of the best captains of AFC in recent years.
To be labelling him as a 'passenger' in our team is ridiculous IMO.