Derek Whyte

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Derek Whyte
Personnel
birthday August 31, 1968
place of birth Glasgow ,  Scotland
position Central defender
Juniors
Years station
Celtic Boys Club
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1985-1992 Celtic Glasgow 215 (7)
1992-1997 Middlesbrough FC 167 (2)
1997-2002 Aberdeen FC 134 (0)
2002-2003 Partick Thistle 40 (0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1986-1989 Scotland U-21 9 (0)
1987-1999 Scotland 12 (0)
Stations as a trainer
Years station
2003-2005 Partick Thistle
1 Only league games are given.

Derek Whyte (born August 31, 1968 in Glasgow ) is a former Scottish football player and coach . As a central defender , he was from 1985 to 2003, Scotland and England in Glasgow Celtic , the Middlesbrough FC , the FC Aberdeen and Partick Thistle active, to the squad of the Scottish national team in the European Championship 1992 in Sweden , the European Championship in England in 1996 and the World Cup 1998 finals in France .

Athletic career

Whyte was considered a "shooting star" in Scottish football at a young age. He started early in the national school and youth teams and signed a professional contract with Celtic Glasgow in May 1985 at the age of 16. He made his debut on February 22, 1986 in the 1-1 home draw against Heart of Midlothian and in the following games Celtic secured the Scottish championship against the Hearts due to the better goal difference . His style of playing as a defender seemed very mature for his young age and with a strong "presence" he seemed to many to be a harbinger of a future club captain. Although Whyte remained in the 1986/87 season with Celtic without a title win, but this year he established himself in the regular formation, where he moved from his original position as full- back to the center. Together with the later Irish national coach Mick McCarthy , he formed the central defense in the season 1987/88, which brought Celtic in the 100th year of the club's history, the "double" of the Scottish championship and cup . The following year Celtic defended the Scottish Cup , with Whyte cleared a shot by Mark Walters on his own goal line in the 1-0 victory in the final against local rivals Rangers after Joe Miller's opening goal. In the following years, Celtic fell behind the financially heavily armed competitor Rangers. Not only the club, but also Whyte in particular had to struggle with form weaknesses. His previously stable performances were often riddled with errors and after three mixed years he tried a fresh start at Middlesbrough FC (together with Chris Morris ) in the newly founded English Premier League in 1992 - the decision was influenced by Tony Mowbray , who had joined the had changed direction and strongly recommended "Boro". His involvement with Celtic against Hibernian Edinburgh came to an end when he looked insecure and caused an own goal. Subsequently, negotiations regarding a possible contract extension in Glasgow failed.

Shortly before moving to England, Whyte was part of the Scottish squad at the 1992 European Championships in Sweden . There he was not used, but his international career, which began with a 2-0 win against Belgium on August 14, 1987, had some respectable successes. Although he only came into play sporadically, he remained completely clean in the first seven (of a total of twelve) internationals. In his first year for Middlesbrough Whyte first rose from the English elite class, but two years later succeeded as a second division champion, the return to the Premier League. His achievements in the year of his resurgence were widely praised - his distinguishing features were his versatility and technical skills - and led to numerous awards for “Man of the Match”. In the first division season 1995/96 Whyte was initially a constant in the central defense of Middlesbrough FC on the side of Nigel Pearson and Steve Vickers . Two longer injury pauses from October to December and then from January to February then ensured that the initially safe defensive was “holier” and only his return provided the necessary stability on the way to ultimately safe relegation . Another reward for his comeback was his "last-minute nomination" in the Scottish squad for the 1996 European Championship in England (like four years before, however, he had to watch the games completely from the bench). In the 1996/97 season, Whyte was still one of Boro's leading players and was temporarily captain of the team. Nevertheless, he could not prevent the renewed relegation as penultimate in the table and he was not represented in the two finals in the FA Cup and in the League Cup . With the desired promotion goal, he should not be in question in a possible conversion, but six months later Whyte moved back to his Scottish homeland, where he began to play for Aberdeen FC in December 1997 . At the 1998 World Cup in France , he was in a final tournament and, like in the two previous European championships, only a substitute who was not used.

The decision to return to Scotland had been made for two main reasons. On the one hand, the commitment of the Italian Gianluca Festa in Middlesbrough ensured that Whyte lost his regular place. He also knew Aberdeen's coach Alex Miller from working with the Scottish national team, who also told him that this would improve his chances of participating in the World Cup in France. Five days before Christmas he made his debut against FC Kilmarnock and in the following years he completed a total of 155 competitive games for the "Dons" (134 of them in the league). The greatest achievement in 2000 was reaching the final in the Scottish Cup , which was clearly lost to Glasgow Rangers (and marked by the early injury of goalkeeper Jim Leighton ) 4-0. He completed his last game for Aberdeen against his ex-club Celtic on May 12, 2002, before moving to the first division promoted Partick Thistle . There he let his active career run out until the end of 2003. Together with Gerry Britton , however, he continued to hold the position of head coach, but this was not crowned with success. After relegation in the summer of 2004 , the direct fall into the third division became apparent and before this was determined, the club had pulled the emergency brake with the dismissal of the duo.

Title / Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Whyte, Derek" (Celtic Wiki)
  2. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1995-96 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1995, ISBN 0-09-180854-5 , pp. 233 .
  3. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1996-97 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1996, ISBN 1-85291-571-4 , pp. 260 .
  4. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1997-98 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1997, ISBN 1-85291-581-1 , pp. 290 .
  5. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1998-99 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1998, ISBN 1-85291-588-9 , pp. 325 f .
  6. ↑ "ON THE LINE: Derek Whyte" (The Scotsman)
  7. ^ David Ross: Scottish Football: Answers to Questions . 2011, ISBN 978-1-4475-6691-5 , pp. 108 (English, limited preview in Google Book search).
  8. ^ Dean P. Hayes: Scotland! Scotland! The Complete Who's Who of Players since 1946. Sutton Publishing, Edinburgh 2006, ISBN 0-600-59581-1 , pp. 412 .
personal data
SURNAME Whyte, Derek
BRIEF DESCRIPTION scottish soccer player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH Glasgow