Not bullied exactly, but he is nowhere near tough, aggressive or dominant enough to be a 'main man' centre back in the champo. He may have been one of those attitude over ability players Wilder mentioned after Preston?
He has the skills, the undoubted quality other than his passing under pressure maybe. He's a pretty big, strong lad with a good header on him. The fact he has 2 goals in 165 appearances is pretty poor, he's up for every set piece, he just doesn't seem to have that aggression or killer instinct to make a ball his.
I assume that is why Wilder felt the need to bring a Lenihan type centre half in, he is looking not just for a tidy defender, but a leader and organiser who will bust a gut to get on the end of things.
In an ideal world, if his contract is long enough and he is willing to stay and fight for his place then keep him, as he's more than good enough for us other than the aforementioned passing.
But if that isn't the case, he wants to be first choice or won't sign an extension say, then the recruitment team & Wilder need to decide that if they have identified someone who is a better fit that we can get, then is it better for MFC to sell him now.
He's not our captain and a beast at the back, he's nowhere as important to us as Tav was, he isn't our main striker. He's a nice tidy centre half, who has some potential and has acquitted himself well playing against PL teams. He lacks some of the physical and psychological toughness required to make it as really good defender for me.
If he stays great, if he is sold and we get an adequate replacement who can cover the central role in the back three as well as Fry and play on the left better than any of our other defenders then we are better off surely?
