WalesOnline ran a survey of Cardiff City supporters before pre-season began, asking fans to vote on who the club should keep and who they should sell before the transfer window ends.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, James Collins was the player most Bluebirds wanted to see out the exit door, with 67.4 per cent of the thousands of fans polled wanting him to leave. More than two-thirds of supporters got their wish, too, with the Republic of Ireland forward leaving for Derby County.
Next? Well, it was Gavin Whyte, with 64 per cent of fans wanting him to be sold. That is perhaps understandable, it tends to happen when a player is away from a club for such a sustained period. The Northern Ireland international, 26, hasn't been at Cardiff for the best part of 18 months owing to loan spells at Hull City and Oxford United.
It would be interesting to see how far that needle has shifted since pre-season began. There has been some strong support on social media for the winger's bright performances, although the hype has been rightly tempered by the fact they have played only League One and League Two teams.
He hasn't kicked a ball in the Championship since December 2020, which seems like a lifetime ago now, during a 3-2 win over Birmingham City, the last of a resurgent run put together by then under-fire manager Neil Harris, who won five out of six games to buy himself more time. Harris allowed Whyte to leave the following month and was himself relieved of his duties days after.
At the time of his first exit to Hull City, he was told to up his numbers in the attacking third. Cardiff wanted to see more goals and more assists from him.
He scored four goals in 20 appearances for Hull City, a significant mark-up on his numbers in a Bluebirds shirt, and helped them win promotion to the Championship. The following season he made more positive strides, contributing to 11 goals for Oxford United, providing 10 assists and a solitary strike of his own for the U's.
During this time, he became one of Northern Ireland's most prominent threats in the final third of the pitch. He's scored four goals and provided an assist in his 27 international outings, against better opposition than he would have come up against League One, too, no doubt.
Clearly, there are some fans whose opinions were formed during Whyte's time with the club under Neil Warnock and, for a time, Neil Harris, but a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. He has worked on his attacking output, albeit in the league below, and is fighting for another shot in the Championship.
Some supporters have liked the zip and pace he has brought to games in pre-season, he was terrific against a poor Newport County side, scoring one and setting up another in impressive fashion, while he looked lively against Shrewsbury late on Tuesday, too, embarking on one lovely run through the middle of the pitch before skewing his shot wide.
For a while, it looked like Whyte, along with Tom Sang, wouldn't even be here for the start of the Championship season. But both have done well when afforded the chance recently and the manager appears open to the idea of them forcing their way into the reckoning.
When asked last week if the door was open for everyone to stake a claim for a spot in Morison's first team, with a particular emphasis on Whyte and Sang, the manager added: "Yeah, 100 per cent. Until someone makes an approach and says, 'I want your player', and we have a decision to make, everyone is all hands to the pump. Everyone has got to perform.
"Gav (Whyte) had two 45 minutes because he had an extended international break. We had a few others on internationals but didn't play any games. Everyone is at different stages. Tom has had a 45 and a 60 and if he keeps performing like that then he is in the mix along with everyone else."
Looking at it pragmatically, is Whyte going to start 30-plus Championship games this season? Unlikely. Callum O'Dowda and Sheyi Ojo will be ahead of him in the queue, while Rubin Colwill and Isaak Davies, when fit, will likely get some game time out in those wide areas at some point, too. The same could be said for Mark Harris after Cardiff's striker recruitment drive is done. And quite where Ollie Tanner sits in the pecking order isn't known quite yet, but expectations should be curbed a little given the marked step up in standard he is making after signing from Lewes FC.
But, in this new 4-3-3 system, Cardiff need wingers and options. There is now the ability to make five substitutions, too, and that will surely play into the manager's thinking. Whyte has done himself no harm whatsoever in what he has done elsewhere over the last year and a half and during the course of pre-season.
Whether being a bit-part player or a bench option is what the player himself wants is another matter all together, but if he does want to stay he will be fighting tooth and nail for an opportunity, that's for sure.
With wing-play now far more important in this new system and Whyte's pace a clear asset, it will certainly be intriguing to see how he is handled and utilised over the coming weeks.
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