That bolded bit for me is Westwood's biggest sin. In his early days under Lambert I thought he was a decent player with the potential to be a really good player, but he has never reached that potential -- and at his current age it seems unlikely that he will improve. He doesn't show enough on either the defensive side or the attacking side. Maybe if he has Jedinak alongside him to do the dirty work, it will free him up to get the ball forward a little more effectively and contribute more to our attacking play. He's a good option to have around for the Championship and I'm happy to keep him, but overall it's frustrating that he's never really developed or improved in his time here.
I think it's unfair to tar him with the "symbolic of our failure" brush, only because the one thing I never have questioned about Westwood is his attitude or professionalism. He is I think the only player left in our squad from Lambert's "Young & Hungry" first season, so I can see where that association comes from, but for me our failure has been largely a mentality thing for the last several years.