“Titus’s occasional flashes of brilliance are heavily outweighed by the total inability to think before attempting what inevitably turns into a hashed clearance, a mistimed tackle, an own goal or a penalty for the opposition.” These were the words written after Newcastle United defender Titus Bramble topped a poll of Worst Players of 2004. Bramble, often the butt of many jokes, built up a reputation as a terrible defender, always expected to make mistakes and let down a team. However I suggest this; Titus Bramble is now a class act.
Bramble, who experienced a torrid time at St. James Park, left the Magpies in the summer of 2007 on a free transfer, agreeing a 3 year deal with fellow Premier League club Wigan Athletic. Bramble began to make slow progress with the north-west club, and with a series of solid performances started to gain the approval and respect of the Latics’ fans. Manager Steve Bruce was a firm believer in the defenders ability, so much so that he gave him the honour of captaining the side against his former club Ipswich Town.
Bramble’s performances are unfortunately often overlooked by many. It is often the case that his name will only fall into the spotlight if he has made a high profile error; it is almost as though silence is Bramble’s best compliment. It is shame because the defender has really matured and improved his game since joining Wigan Athletic, it may be a relatively unknown fact outside of Wigan fans that in the 2008-09 season, Bramble scooped an outstanding 4 awards including Player of the Year and Players Player of the year, a great feat for any player, let alone one who has had to deal with his fair share of criticism.
I believe the ex-Newcastle man to be one of the first names on the Wigan team sheet. His partnership with Emmerson Boyce has been key in establishing Wigan as a household Premier League name. Bramble has once again started this season in fine form, as Wigan have notched up a few impressive victories so far in the campaign. The defender scored a header against title challengers Chelsea in a 3-1 victory in September, showing that he is also a threat at the other end of the pitch and in the process gave Wigan their first victory against a top 4 club in 35 attempts.
So where does did it all change for Bramble? In my opinion it’s not a case of the defender suddenly gaining his ability. Bramble always had potential and he has got his head down and worked hard with Wigan Athletic and the guidance of Steve Bruce, a world class defender in his time, would have definitely helped his cause. I believe Bramble to have also greatly benefited from the atmosphere of the DW Stadium. St. James’ Park can never have been an easy place to make a mistake with 50,000 supporters in front of you and I am led to believe that Bramble is quite a popular member with Wigan fans and this has surely played some part in Brambles game improving.
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As a newcastle united supporter who has witnessed both sides of what titus has to offer; i will say that he always had ability; but more often than not he would make terrible erro’s which cost us goals and games.
I always felt that he made the move to a “big club” to early in his career. We (newcastle) may not be a big club in terms of trophies and at present are not even in the PL; howver playing infront of such a big crowd with such big expectations has been far to much for many players; titus included. We geordies do not expect to be winning the PL every season; what we expect is 100% committment and players who are competent enough to earn the huge wages we have paid out in the past at Newcastle. The constant erro’s made by titus inevitably resulted in the fans loosing paitence with him. The only players who suceed at clubs like newcastleare your top players who can handle everything which comes with the shirt. The lack of top players at newcastle with the right mentality over the last 5 years is why we are where we are right now.
Smaller clubs such as your Wigan’s (and with that comment i mean no disrepect at all) allow players who are not at the level to step up to such expectations to thrive. I am glad he is doing well. mid table mediocrity will suit him very well; The Champions league and challenging for honours were far beyond him in his time with us.
Bramble needed a small club to play at
I totally agree with you both. With all the respect in the world to Wigan, they are a solid side, but they are looking to make steady progress in the Premier League and don’t look for anything drastic. I think Bramble went somewhere where there was a lot of weight on his shoulders before he was good enough or experienced enough to handle it. Titus has slowly improved because the situation at Wigan suits him a lot. I can see him progressing to a bigger club, maybe like a Sunderland or a Fulham but I agree never the dizzy heights.
Wigan may in fact have a smaller ground but as it plays in the PL, whereas NUFC plays in the second tier, figure out which is both the bigger and better of the two ?
A class act? No, I’m sorry but he isn’t at all. The day Titus Bramble gets 10 England caps then he is a class act, until then he’s still Titus Shambles
To chuck…..
Your argument about which division a team is in means very little i’m afraid. Leed’s United are a far bigger club than Wigan athletic; despite them currently being in the third tier of English football.
Just beacuse Burnley are now in the PL; does that make them a bigger club than Newcastle, West Brom, Leed’s united, Nottingham Forrest???? I think not. Once wigan have played in the PL for 10 or so consecutive seasons; played competitively in europe, challenged for honours, actually sold out a match….Then you may be able to start talking about wigan as a big club.
To oliver….
I hope titus goes on to have a successful career; Newcastle United have ruined some of the brightest young talents in europe over the years….
Remember the european young player of the year Hugo Viana; we did well with him! Silvio Maric was rated as highly as Luca Modric when we signed him….John Dahl Tomasson; couldnt buy a goal for us; went onto play at the highest possible level…Albert Luque; spanish international until we bought him! I could go on all day.
Spot on summary northern jedi.. couldnt have said it better myself…….While I respct and praise wigan for staying in the prem they are in fact a small club…. thats no disrespect its just facts… when bramble was at newcastle he was very young and we were at the time challenging for european honours and the prem title…. for such a young defender tallented or not it was too much for him….which was the frustrating thing with bramble ….. the amount of times I watched him play 75 minutes of fantastic football and great defending only to turn into an 8 year old school boy for the other 15 mins of a game was just crazy…..i’m glad however that his is doing well now at wigan…..
Ha ha ha ha ha ha @ chuck
“wigan have a smaller ground” and you still cant fill it!
Yeah i have to agree with the majority here i’m sorry – no disrespect to them but Newcastle are a much much bigger club than Wigan – league position isn’t everything there