Ethan Wheatley | On loan to Lincoln City

I saw him 4-5 times in League One...he's a little bit like that Ellis Simms at Coventry. Good physical attributes but learning how to use them in the senior game...and not a good finisher. Really surprising if Everton are interested, unless they've identified something that could catapult his development.

Stockport...maybe Bolton would seem more logical. If we can get money or even a decent sell on...I'd move him on.
 
Rasmus_9 said:
I would be very surprised if a premier league club came in for him given his not overly impressive spell in league 1 last season. Definitely got the raw skills but needs time to fine tune them I would say…
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He was gradually improving during last season when on loan at Northampton Town, and was probably our main creative threat, and he also had a very good work ethic. Very often teams doubled up on him because they knew where danger was, but when he was recalled and then loaned to Bradford City, it became a bit of a nightmare for him. Having seen him develop quite a bit during the half a season he was with us, I would say he would be an excellent signing for a Championship club, but perhaps Everton have spotted something more. He is more a creator than a goal scorer, although he will score worldies, but I would say his immediate future would be wide on the left.
 
Well he's got plenty of tools and he's a hard working lad.

Seems a bit of an odd one but football isn't always linear and they've clearly seen something in him.
 
Are we sure this isn't a mix up with Ethan Williams?
 
red woppit said:
He is more a creator than a goal scorer, although he will score worldies, but I would say his immediate future would be wide on the left.
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3 goals and 1 assist in 43 senior appearances.
 
andersj said:
Cox out looking for youngsters that he used to work with?
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Aye, I was about to post that people need to remember that your former youth director guy is now in our recruitment set up. Know nothing about this lad, worth the gamble?
 
SilentWitness said:
Aye, I was about to post that people need to remember that your former youth director guy is now in our recruitment set up. Know nothing about this lad, worth the gamble?
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I’ve never been particularly impressed by him but he’s big & reasonably quick. Maybe there’s something there to work with if you’re adding as a potential player rather than as a starter
 
Devil81 said:
Harry Kane had a similar record.

We should stop judging kids on loan spells.
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Harry Kane scored 5 in 18 in League One at 17. Then scored 9 in 27 on a Championship loan the next year. Both significantly better and while younger.

We should stop pretending you can’t judge young players despite having 100 matches of evidence to use.
 
Still very raw, but who knows, has the potential to surprise.
We should swap him and get Garner back
 
SilentWitness said:
Aye, I was about to post that people need to remember that your former youth director guy is now in our recruitment set up. Know nothing about this lad, worth the gamble?
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If the gamble is about £1m maybe.

He has the tools to theoretically be a good player but there is little to suggest he can put it all together to do so. Big, decent pace, fluid for his size and a good dribbler. Works hard most of the time but has a tendency to get his head down and have a little strop when things don’t go his way. Wildly inconsistent finisher though which is his biggest issue. He can smash one in from 30 yards but give him 5 1v1s and he’ll gently pass each one to the keeper.
 
Anybody saying he’s worth about 1m is talking nonsense. He has decent fundamentals and it’s no shock that scouts will like him.
 
golden_blunder said:
I was just guessing based on the fact that you’ve signed 2 central midfielders
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Gana is gone and Tim and Alcaraz are likely to go too.

That leaves us with KDH, Garner, Hackney, Norgaard, Rohl and Armstrong.

Rohl is used as a utility player in multiple positions and Armstrong might go out on loan so Garner isn't going anywhere I don't think.
 
Dubai said:
3 goals and 1 assist in 43 senior appearances.
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It's amazing how things like this can cloud judgement. He created a lot of openings for our players, but unfortunately they were not very good at taking those opportunities. The goalscoring side is not great, I admit, which is something he would need to learn, as I said, he would score worldies, but things like 1 on 1 with the keeper, he would miss, that's why a wider position would suit him.
He would create chances just by being double marked, especially the last couple of months of his loan. The fact that Northampton only scored 39 goals in 46 matches tells you something.
 
SilentWitness said:
Aye, I was about to post that people need to remember that your former youth director guy is now in our recruitment set up. Know nothing about this lad, worth the gamble?
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I'm sure whatever the fee you are paying is going to be very nominal. Like not even Tynan Thompson kind of fee. So in that context I feel it's worth a gamble.

He has decent fundamentals but has been very inconsistent. Like he could score goals with both feet with great composure but then look like he can't hit a barn door some days.

I called sometime ago that he can have a Solanke type of career. It's a bit of stretch but not out of the realms of possibility if he can put it all together. One thing i noticed watching his loan comps is that his hold up play improved ten fold. He was very bad at it for the u-18s.



His goals for our u-18s :


Having said all that I still think this is happening because of Cox. Otherwise you wouldn't even be looking at him. I assumed some Championship club will take a chance on him and he will take 2-3 years before another PL club will look to sign him.
 
I don’t think he has been a standout at any time in the youth teams but I have been impressed with his attitude. His head used to drop quite quickly if he made a mistake but in the season before he left on loan I believe I saw a change in demeanour.

Similar to Obi I saw improvement in work rate and team work while he improved his shooting in aspects too I thought. Definitely has good raw tools but will need a supportive team as his performances can fluctuate a bit.
 
I think he's got plenty of potential as a wide forward. The goals aren't there from him but he's a handful for defenders.

I'm a little bit surprised we're not using him with his physical profile and Sesko's injury record.
 
Devil81 said:
Harry Kane had a similar record.

We should stop judging kids on loan spells.
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2011→ Leyton Orient (loan)18(5)
2012→ Millwall (loan)22(7)

Quite a bit better, Leyton Orient were League One, Millwall were Championship. Wheatley will be 21 in January and in loans at Walsall, Bradford and Northampton has failed to score regularly...which is quite important for a striker. Any fee over a million would be fantastic, and with a bit of luck he'll have a decent lower league career.
 
I had a post written about him, but at the end of the day he's 20. That his loans havent resulted in goals so far... Its too early to think the next one wont go better. At worst I'd think selling him for a decent fee with a buyback. I wouldnt like to see us just sell him at this stage, unless he really pushed for it himself
 
I think Everton is a great move for him. He's a Moyes type of player, or certainly can be. Moyes has often preferred big, quick and strong players, lots of whom weren't necessarily scoring lots of goals, I don't think his goal output will hurt his chances in that regard at Everton.
 
Wish him well. Presumably if he does well he'll be looking to move somewhere permanently next year but I've always liked him, would be great if he can show another level to his game.
 
He got a few minutes off the bench last night; hopefully, that's a sign that they are happy to have him and are keen to play him.
 
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