Here is an article by Nat, who does the odd preview for us.

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In recent times, there have been certain constants at Blues; the constant feeling of malaise around the club, borne out in the disappointing attendances we have had at St.Andrews this season. The constant lack of quality in the team’s performances in games generally. The constant frustration at the fact that we have been unable to overhaul a distinctly mediocre Wolves at the top of this Division. They all strike debates within themselves. 

Another increasingly apparent constant is the growth of adulation towards our flamboyant Frenchman, Franck Queudrue. This season, the one time Free Transfer-listee has established himself, at differing levels for debatably different reasons, as a fans favourite at Blues. In fact, he is now such a favourite, the indication is that he will win the Player of the Season vote amongst the club’s supporters, and he may well win at a canter. My question is, does he deserve it, alongside the reverent adulation he is seemingly receiving at the moment? 

Now before I go on I feel I must make my own Queudrue position clear. I am most definitely not in any way anti-Queudrue so to speak. I have been impressed with his performances generally when he has played this term. My opinion is that he gives us an essence of composure in defence which no-one else can offer which we desperately require at times. I thought he was finished in terms of playing for a club of repute in English football when he reportedly went AWOL at the start of Pre-Season, so he has proved me wrong in that respect (though I still have my doubts as to whether he is a Premiership defender should we gain promotion).

However, the apparent sentiment that he is almost on an untouchable plateau seems to override me. The bare stats of this season don’t seem to support it either. According to Soccerbase, he has made twenty-two appearances, and this makes me beg the question; can a man who plays at left-back for just over half of his team’s league games in a season really effectively earn the accolade of top Dog in the Blues squad?

Being honest with myself, I can’t make Queudrue my number one player this season. In fact, in comparison with our other players, I wouldn’t put him in my top three. Does Franck rank higher than Kevin Phillips, whose thirteen league goals have won sixteen points this season? No. Does Franck rank higher than the man who effectively become club captain, Lee Carsley? No. Does Franck rank higher than my Player of the Season Maik Taylor, a man who’s saves have kept us in countless games this season, especially away from home? No. Then there are the newcomers-the dynamic Bowyer, the Comeback King Stephen Carr and the Irish Lionel Messi Keith Fahey. Has Franck completely outshone them?

Yet the praise of Queudrue has no bounds. I know of fans who positively adore him. I know that there is a chance that there may be a chance of a song making its debut during our crunch game with Wolves, a song which implies that Franck Queudrue is the Blues team. I point to the J&S forum for my next example of Franckmania. This article was upheld recently as an example of what a shining beacon of wonder Queudrue is, yet from what I can tell, this article has nothing more within it than standard answers to standard journalistic questions, yet, and I say this with tongue firmly in cheek, this article was actually being treated as if it were something akin to the Bible. This for me sums up the increasing hysteria surrounding him.

The cynic in me is subscribed to the thought that people are siding for Queudrue to increase the mirth at David Sullivan. As we all know, Sully made a right cock-up when he called Franck Queudrue a ‘Pile of Rubbish’ and hung him out to dry, and quite rightly was reprimanded by fans, players and media outlets alike. Yet even though he has since apologised for what he said, my gut feeling is that for every good performance the Frenchman puts in, the howling sound at laughter is launched at Sullivan, and knocks his credibility and him generally, which must be a priority for a fair chunk of Bluenoses at the moment.

But then I think, well maybe Franck has given exactly what this club has needed; some colour. His forays up the pitch does take the often grounded level of excitement around the ground up a notch. Never have I seen a left-back play for Blues who’s skill and final delivery of the ball is often better than that of the winger who is playing in front of him. And there is a point that in scoring winning goals against Charlton and Bristol city, he has made himself into a talisman of sorts, and this would make applause of Queudrue (to a realistic level) not just understandable, but downright deserved!

Conclusively, my belief is that we as fans are devaluing ebullient praise towards players. The hyperbole that surround Franck are disconcerting in a slight sense for me, because it may degrade what a Blues player in my opinion needs to achieve before having bounteous acclaim dish upon them. My opinion is that Queudrue hasn’t done enough in his time at Blues to really deserve the mythological sentiments that are saddled to him. Last season, he was rubbish, so that has to be written off as a guideline of how to judge his positive contribution to us. So, as I was mentioning previously, we are judging him on the twenty-two league appearances he has made this season. Has he done enough in those twenty-two games to have earned the cult hero status he is on the verge of gaining? In my opinion, the answer is undoubtedly no. Good player at Championship level for us, of that there is no doubt, but to pretend he is something much more strikes me as increasingly farcical.