Neil Warnock predicted £2m Cardiff City buy would become "favourite" - He wasn't on the money | OneFootball

Gavin Whyte failed to hit the heights during his time at the Welsh side, despite Warnock's best intentions

Neil Warnock has made a career out of getting the most of the players that worked under him, with his powers of motivation second to none throughout his time in the dugout.

The Yorkshireman could make a player feel ten-foot fall as they crossed the white line to do battle for him, while also being prepared to run through brick walls in order to claim three points.

That tendency to big up his players works nine times out of ten, but occasionally it doesn’t go to plan, no matter how hard he tries.

Gavin Whyte was a prime example of that during his time at Cardiff City, with the Irishman struggling to take off after a big-money move from Oxford United.

Neil Warnock predicted success for Gavin Whyte after Oxford United, Cardiff City move

Whyte had made a name for himself at the Kassam Stadium throughout the 18/19 season, with seven goals from 36 matches seeing him hit the ground running after making the move over from Northern Irish Premier League side Crusaders.

The Belfast-born star was tenacious in his efforts in the final third, and would continuously run himself into the ground to help the team effort, something that Warnock would have loved no end.

Having also produced the goods at international level - with a goal with his first ever touch for the national side coming in a 3-0 win over Israel - Whyte seemed to be a player on the up at the time, and a £2 million investment looked like a wise move for the 23-year-old.

"I watched a lot of Gavin while we were scouting Curtis Nelson,” Warnock told the Cardiff City website as Whyte signed on the dotted line.

"He just excited me so much. He's full of enthusiasm and is just the type of player that we were looking for.

"I think he'll be a fans' favourite for years to come."

Gavin Whyte failed to make the grade at Cardiff City

With a number of signings through the door in the summer of 2019, big things were expected in the Welsh capital, with Whyte expected to play his part in a side pushing for promotion to the Premier League after suffering relegation.

The form that had been so consistent at the Kassam Stadium was nowhere to be seen in a blue shirt though, with plenty of huff and puff leading to nothing as he struggled to adapt to the surroundings of the second tier.

Still, Warnock persisted with a player he had put his full faith in and bigged up to the City fanbase, with his industry and work rate likely to have kept him in the good books of the onlooking boss, before he was replaced by Neil Harris in November.

Try as he might, Whyte just couldn’t find a goal in his 24 outings in that first season in Wales, with just a single assist to his name leaving fans thoroughly underwhelmed from one of the summer’s most expensive signings.

In a time of uncertainty throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Whyte’s chance at thriving in the second tier had slowly unravelled, and while he was given yet more leeway at the start of the next campaign, time was running out as January approached.

Despite getting regular run-outs for Northern Ireland, Whyte was struggling to make a mark as his playing minutes were reduced, and soon a move back to League One came calling, with Hull City only too happy to take him on for the remainder of the campaign.

Back in the cosy confines of the division below, Whyte sprang back into life, with his attacking quality too good for the majority of the division, but not quite good enough for the Championship, a player stuck in the quality chasm between tiers two and three.

Four goals in 20 matches helped the Tigers win the league at a canter, before returning to Oxford on loan for the following campaign, with many at Cardiff likely regretting the handing out of a four-year contract two years before.

In total, the player went 19 months without playing a single match for his parent club, instead performing admirably in League One, before being brought back into the fold for the start of the 22/23 season, as Steve Morison and Mark Hudson gave him one last roll of the dice in the second tier.

Alas, despite scoring his one and only league goal for the club against Hull in November, Whyte barely got on the pitch in the new year, with Sabri Lamouchi putting faith in others as City battled relegation.

The writing was on the wall for the forward, and as his contract came to an end, Portsmouth took a chance on him as John Mousinho reconnected with a player he knew well from his Oxford days, and expected to see similar results at Fratton Park.

While Pompey won promotion, Whyte’s Midas touch had completed deserted him, and was further evidence that a career that promised so much had dwindled into the ether.

Having departed the club last August, the Northern Irishman has since joined Derry City, as he looks to reignite his career in familiar surroundings under boss Tiernan Lynch.

The Candystripes boss took a leaf out of Warnock’s book upon Whyte’s unveiling in January: “He has played at the highest level and is the type of attacking player that gets people excited, which is what playing at the Brandywell is all about.

“Gavin gives you that in abundance and our supporters will no doubt be looking forward to seeing him at the club.”