From Flying Kiwis.
To recap: it was a terrible season for FC Haka in 2023, hence changes have been afoot. In has come a new manager, Englishman Andrew Smith, and with him several new players. Logan Rogerson was released amidst all that... but Ollie Whyte, despite not having a contract, was allowed to continue training with the club.
Now for the fresh update, because you know what? Whyte started their opening League Cup group game, a 0-0 draw against Oulu. He was one of three trialists in the squad – the League Cup in Finland is treated very much like glorified preseason (you may recall Gianni Bouzoukis getting minutes for Salon Palloilijat as a trialist this time last year. So nothing has changed as far as his situation goes. But we can now see that they’re serious about giving him the chance to earn a new deal. Here’s what the gaffer had to say about his trial trio...
Sweet as. Note that Whyte seemed to play as a centre-forward which is different to how he was used last year under the previous boss. He played almost the full game, subbed off right near the end. Two good chances for him in there: one he struck wide on the spin early on, a snapshot that he looked disappointed not to bury; the other a shot saved near post by the keeper after a smart run off the shoulder had taken him a little too wide. Definitely had that preseason feel about it. They’ll have four more group so see how it goes.