Phil Sumbler
Morgan Whittaker and Swansea City was never a match made in heaven. In 29 months officially as a Swansea player Whittaker made just eight starts with just five in the league.
Loan spells at both Lincoln and Plymouth during that time proved to be fair more productive with Whittaker never able to seemingly do enough to impress either Steve Cooper or Russell Martin.
When he was recalled from his loan spell at Plymouth last January it was clearly with a plan that the Swans would cash in on the forward but despite interest from elsewhere coupled with bids from Rangers there was never a completed deal and Whittaker was left in SA1 with most of his 15 Championship appearances last season coming as a substitute with his sole goal coming in a 3-1 defeat to Stoke in February. A rare start for Whittaker that night.
So it was little surprise to see Whittaker depart the club this summer and also to find that Plymouth was his destination. Given his successful loan spell of last season and the fact that they wanted a forward for their Championship campaign it was probably one of the least surprising moves of the summer window.
And it was definitely no surprise to Michael Duff who revealed yesterday that Whittaker had told him on his very first day that he would like to leave the club and seek opportunities elsewhere.
“I had a meeting with the players on my very first morning at the football club, introduced myself and the staff, the usual, standard, welcome-day meeting,” Duff told BBC Sport.
“Morgan then followed me up to the office, knocked on my door and said, ‘I want to leave’.
“He didn’t kick off, he said, ‘it’s nothing to do with you’. I don’t know what had gone on previously and it’s none of my business, but he made it quite clear he didn’t want to be here and there are certain things I do now know, but I’m not prepared to get into that.
“He’s moved on, we wish him all the best, apart from Saturday.
“It happens in football. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out at the football club,” Duff said.
“Things had gone on previous to me that basically meant he didn’t want to be at the football club anymore, but he’s a boy of good ability, people would’ve seen that.
“He seems to have found a home in Plymouth, whether that was going on in the background I don’t know, I wasn’t privy to that, but he dealt with it properly.
“He didn’t refuse to train or demand to go on the transfer list or anything like that.
“He had an honest conversation with me, told me where he is at, and then the clubs came to an agreement.”
Duff’s words came on the day that Whittaker was confirmed as Plymouth’s player of the month for September. Helped by a hat-trick in an impressive 6-2 win over Norwich to add to an earlier goal against Blackburn he polled almost half of the votes for the award.
“Scoring a hat-trick against Norwich was a very special day for me,” said Morgan. “Thank you to everyone who voted for me. Your support does not go unnoticed, and I am very appreciative.”
The Swans will be hoping that Whittaker draws a blank this afternoon but from the player perspective you cannot help but wonder if he feels he may have a point to prove.
