Whyte’s future is still uncertain despite his impressive form at Hull
CARDIFF City’s Gavin Whyte has refused to be drawn on the question of making his move to Hull City permanent, but admitted that a loan switch away from the Welsh capital was something he “really needed to do”.
The Northern Ireland international endured a tumultuous 18 months as a Cardiff City player, having been a mainstay under Neil Warnock before being pushed to the fringes by his successor Neil Harris.
Whyte started just one game for Cardiff under Harris this season while the longest of his six substitute appearances was 14 minutes, often being brought on for cameo appearances in the dying minutes of matches.
Now, though, he is an important part of Grant McCann’s Hull side, having scored three goals in nine games, including a brace in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers.
Hull have soared to the top of League One and with Whyte now seemingly a crucial part in their bid for promotion, questions have arisen over the player’s long-term future. However, the 25-year-old played a straight bat to talk of a permanent transfer to the KCOM Stadium.
“To be fair, I haven’t really thought about it permanently,” he told BBC Radio Humberside. “I want to continue doing what I’m doing now and concentrate on the football side of things, to be honest.
“It’s a really good place up here, I’ve had my missus down and she loves it. I haven’t really thought too far ahead I just want to concentrate on the now.”
While Whyte’s Cardiff career started brightly, his chances became increasingly limited and his progress was in danger of stalling.
He admitted that he knew, for the good of his career, that he had to get out and get some game time under his belt.
Back in January, the opportunity to move to Hull came about quickly and he snatched it with both hands.
“It was long and it was tough, because my daughter is in school in Cardiff,” he said of the difficulty surrounding the move. “Working things around that was sort of hard, but then they moved up.
“I had a feeling that I needed to go on loan at sometime, but I didn’t know when it was going to happen.
“One day, I went into training and found out that Hull were interested and it was something I wanted to do straight away and I moved the next day.
“To be fair, it was long and it was hard, but it was something that I really needed to do.”
Harris said there were aspects of Whyte’s game that needed working on if he was to feature regularly for the Bluebirds.
Some supporters, while commending his brilliant defensive abilities -- indeed Neil Warnock once joked Lee Peltier would get an England call-up if he kept playing behind him – believed he needed to add end product to his game. They felt he didn’t pose enough of a threat in the final third and it was stopping him making that step up.
So, Hull boss Grant McCann sought to address that and, following Whyte’s brace at the weekend, said he believed the player had a tendency to operate too deeply and defensively, but can flourish in a more advanced role.
“Gavin was part of a Cardiff City team last year that got into the top six in the Championship,” McCann said after the match. “He’s a top player, an international player.
“Today was more about freshening up Keane [Lewis-Potter] and giving him a breather. Gavin has been training really well, his performance against Rochdale, there was nothing wrong with it.
“He was probably a little bit defensive with his positioning at times. It’s about getting him into better positions so that he can affect the game and I think that his two goals proved that he can do that, so I’m really pleased.”
Whyte has operated on both flanks for Hull and looks equally adept the more his confidence grows and McCann believes the player’s attacking versatility is a huge positive.
“There is a lot more in him, for sure,” McCann added.
Whether Mick McCarthy will have the opportunity to work with him in the summer is as yet unknown. However, in the current system, one can’t help but think he might suit that right wing-back role perfectly and could quite capably provide competition for Perry Ng moving forward.
All that remains to be seen, though, because at this rate it looks as if Hull will be in the Championship next season and Whyte has a big part to play in that.
There will no doubt be a few keen eyes cast on the player’s progress for the remainder of the season, though, both in Cardiff and throughout the Championship.