Whittingham would be a great option for CM, not sure Davies is better than Fonte or Hooiveld - but Phillips would be an outstanding option for RM.
As for fullback, I think both could do a job in the Prem - and there's certainly no-one better in the NPC.
People forget that James was actually a central midfielder though - it was just our lack of a recognised right-back that saw him stuck there under Poortvliet.
I remember Pardew being really excited about him, saying he was one of the best young passers of the ball he'd worked with. Wasted potential or poor judgement?
I can see both sides of this "logic" war. Yes, the league table would show every team having played the same amount of games at the end of the season. But if Pompey go under then the teams that have already played them twice have played one more game than the rest of us - that's another game they've trained for, prepared for etc. Also suspensions - if Pompey go under and their results are void, do any suspensions served whilst playing them become reinstated?
Those were after the game. Besides, even if it had been before - we're not talking about his overall performance here, we're talking about one moment of instinctual reaction.