I know they were, that's what I was trying to get at. We'd be mental to drop him now imo. I know that managers often change things around to 'freshen things up' (like Hughton did when Harewood came in, swapped Ranger-Carroll for Harewood-Lovenkrands) but imo you want a settled back 4 and goalkeeper where possible, especially if they're playing well. They're gaining an understanding and dropping him for someone who'll be off the books in about 7 or 8 months just for his 'experience' seems nothing short of barmy to me.