It appears that the Greens star’s transfer drama is finally coming to a conclusion with the announcement that
Middlesbrough has accepted a £6 million deal plus add-ons for the left-footed ace.
Whittaker has been the subject of speculation and rumors for almost a year. The Pilgrims were reportedly
interested in him during the last two transfer windows before giving in to pressure, not least from the player
himself.
Having failed to turn up for Argyle’s midweek clash with Burnley on time, and consequently being left out of the
matchday squad for the 5-0 defeat to the Clarets, the writing was on the wall regarding a move away from the club,
with it only being a matter of time before things came to a head.
For members of the Green Army who are of a certain vintage, it will bring back memories of another fan favourite
who fought his way out of the club in the middle of a Championship season.
Morgan Whittaker forces Plymouth Argyle departure with Burnley no-show
There were plenty of questions for Miron Muslic surrounding Whittaker’s future on Wednesday night, with the
forward evidently in attendance at Home Park for the mauling by the visiting Clarets, but not involved in the
match day squad.
“Morgan didn’t show up,” Muslic told the BBC. “We had a game today and he was in the selection and he wasn’t
there.
“It shows the mentality, or even the lack of mentality. I think you always have your responsibilities and you are
under contract.
“You have to be professional, you have obligations, not only towards Argyle as an organisation, you have an
obligation towards your team-mates and you don’t let your team-mates down, never.”
All the goodwill Whittaker had gathered during his time as a Pilgrim has dissipated overnight with his latest antics
to force a move away from the club. You can score all the goals you like, but show a lack of respect to the Green
Army, and you are persona non grata in the blink of an eye.
Morgan Whittaker, Plymouth Argyle scenario brings David Norris comparisons
Argyle’s stature within the football pyramid leaves them susceptible to players wanting to go on to bigger and
better things after a strong stint at Home Park, with Whittaker and Norris two prime examples.
Back in the mid-noughties, the Greens were once again dabbling with the finest of the EFL, with back-to-back
mid-table finishes in the Championship proving them to be more than capable of holding their own in the second
tier, with a squad littered with burgeoning talent.
With the likes of Akos Buzsaky and Peter Halmosi pulling the strings in midfield, Barry Hayles and Sylvan Ebanks-
Blake making all the difference up top, and Krisztian Timar patrolling the backline with Marcel Seip, this was an
Argyle team for the ages, before it all came tumbling down in January 2008.
In the blink of an eye, Argyle lost a number of their top talents that month, with Hayles and Ebanks-Blake on their
way, as well as Buzsaky and academy graduate Dan Gosling, while David Norris completed the set late in the
month.
The latter would have hit Argyle the hardest, with the tenacious midfielder having been part of the triumphant side
that stormed to the third tier title in 03/04, before establishing itself in the Championship for the years to follow.
As the Green Army waved goodbye to one of their greats, the tale within the boardroom began to surface, with the
good feeling towards Norris suddenly turning sour, with then-Chairman Paul Stapleton revealing all, via the
Ipswich Star: “The problem began because last summer when he (Norris) was told by Ian Holloway that he could
leave the club in January.
“January 2 came and he came to see me, saying he wanted to go. He saw me many more times in January, each
time saying he wanted to go.
“He badgered us to death – I saw Norris more times in January than I saw my family.
“It took until January 31 for him to go because, all the way along the line, we told him we didn’t want to lose him.
Two days before the transfer deadline, he told me he never wanted to play for Argyle again. That phone call
seemed conclusive in my mind.”
Having received his request and a one-way ticket to Portman Road, Norris was on his way. Anyone who is
unwilling to bleed green and white shouldn’t be anywhere close to Home Park.
His departure and the departure of half of the team in the months that followed marked the beginning of Argyle’s
demise. They fell from the second division to the fourth and managed to hold onto their EFL status for five straight
seasons, finishing in the bottom four of the division they played in.
When Whittaker departs this time, things won’t be as horrible. That much is true, but this month’s green side of
Devon is the same old story; certain things simply never change.
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