I think the hatred towards Heitinga based on comments he may or may not have said is a bit pathetic to be honest. The 'alleged comments' come from a Dutch website, that if it had claimed we were signing an Ajax player would have been labelled as 'bullshit' by most fans. I have heard people call him a shithouse and someone who thinks hes hard as nails etc etc, but this 'hard man' image has come from people typing his name in on youtube, seeing him playing with a bit of passion and throwing a few strong challenges in, this image has not come directly through Heitinga forcing this reputation himself. He is also labelled as not being a loyal player, perhaps the fans who say this dont stay around at the end of the game to see Heitinga being the last player to leave the pitch after applauding all sides of the ground.
In my opinion, Heitinga is our best ALL ROUND centre half. Yes Jagielka is a better defender than him, but Heitinga as well as being a good defender is comfortable on the ball and has a good range of passing, today showed with the quality of some of his long balls. If Heitinga does go for the reported 6-8 million, there is not a chance we would get a better replacement with that money. Heitinga should not be sold!