I'd have kept him as a squad player on a one-year deal, but he was/is never going to get in ahead of Bostwick, Frecklington and, last season, Woodyard. If O'Connor signs, he'll not get in ahead of him either. We also have Pett. Useful sub player, though, and kept energy levels high in later stages of games.
At the end of the season, DC said something along the lines of, "work rate gets you so far, but we needed more quality when it matters". That probably sums up Whitehouse as well. We brought him on for his work rate rather than his quality.
Sounds like Jolley prefers his teams to play a bit, and that's probably the opposite of how you'd describe what suits Whitehouse. He's someone who thrives off games where there's little time and he can get stuck in and rat around, not the technical side of the game and pass a ball.
He'll probably get 5 goals from midfield for them, though. Always in and around the right areas in the area from set piece rebounds.
Can't blame him for taking the two-year and presumably first choice CM option. He dropped out of FT football, got back in to FT with us, and is probably keen to kick on a bit and that wasn't going to happen here for the reasons above. He'll also back himself to stand out there next season, unlike here where he didn't/won't.