Do we not use loans properly?

These are the players currently being loaned out by EPL clubs;

Arsenal -11 Vela, Mannone, Traore, Afobe, Eastmond, Emmanuel-Thomas, Lansbury, Randall, Sunu, Coquelin, Watt.
Aston Villa - 13 Ireland, Carew, Delfouneso, Guzan, Bannan, Osbourne, Hogg, Lichaj, Lowry, Weimann, Parish, Flanagan, Halfhuid.
Birmingham - 3 Bent, Michel, Preston.
Blackburn - 11 Linganzi, Doran, Gunning, Brown, Fielding, Khizanishvili, Rigters, Blackman, Diouf, Lowe, Aley.
Blackpool - 4 Harewood, Euell, Edwards, Almond.
Bolton - 4 Samuel, Al-Habsi, O'Brien, Ward.
Chelsea - 16 Sturridge, Matic, Clifford, Aanholt, Mancienne, Bruma, Kakuta, Borini, Mellis, Walker, Philliskirk, Delac, Taylor, Gordon, Rajkovic, Cork.
Everton - 8 Yobo, Turner, Vaughan, Aiyegbeni, Silva, Duffy, Agard, Wallace.
Fulham - 6 Kamara, Riise, Johnson, Dikgacoi, Valle, Marsh-Brown.
Liverpool - 13 Jones, Konchesky, Pacheco, Darby, Eccleston, Ayala, Amoo, El Zhar, Aquilani, Degen, Insua, Highdale, Mavinga.
Man City - 9 Bridge, Adebayor, Santa Cruz, Caicedo, Gonzalez, Bellamy, Weiss, Ibrahim, Onuoha.
Man Utd - 8 Welbeck, Macheda, De Laet, Evans, Diouf, Cleverley, Ajose, Dudgeon.
Newcastle - 4 Routledge, Xisco, Forster, Tozer.
Stoke - 6 Gudjohnsen, Davies, Dickinson, Arismendi, Marshall, Sonko.
Sunderland - 13 Nosworthy, McCartney, Carson, Cook, Kilgallon, Liddle, Noble, Tounkara, Kay, Healy, Weir, Reed, M'voto.
Tottenham - 9 Bentley, Keane, Naughton, dos Santos, O'Hara, Alnwick, Walker, Livermore, Khumalo.
West Brom - 7 Mattock, Bednar, Miller, Wood, Daniels, Downing, Dawson.
West Ham - 4 Dyer, Nouble, Spence, Lee.
Wigan - 4 Boselli, Koumas, Nicholls, Amaya.
Wolves - 11 Halford, Vokes, Keogh, Maierhofer, Dunleavy, Davis, Winnall, Batth, Malone, Reckford, Mendez-Laing.


I notice we (along with a few other clubs) tend not to loan that many players out for first team experience. I can't help but feel this is holding back some of the younger players. Of course it's easy to look at the uber-rich clubs and simply say 'they can afford to loan out that many players' but look at Villa, Blackburn, Sunderland, Wolves. Their younger players will be returning with vital experience that will really help them push for a place in the starting line-up next season. We have great talent in our ranks that I feel would benefit from first-team action in the lower leagues.

I appreciate our squad is quite thin but the likes of Airey, Tavernier (only a few months in the Conference with Gateshead), Donaldson (two successful months at Hartlepool), Edmundsson (one month at Gateshead) and Inman, all players not quite ready for first team action, they should really be playing a FULL season with another club. LuaLua has made great strides at Brighton before his injury and assuming he's not set back too much by this, will have a better chance of breaking into the first team.

One of the things Mike Ashley has focused on (reportedly) is the academy and I think we have seen great improvements over recent years but to really get the most out of it, I feel we should really be sending more players out of loan and not just for short spells where they only get the odd appearance, long enough for them to experience runs of form in competitive circumstances. Our current crop of youngsters are held back by their lack of experience but they won't get any playing in the academy and/or the reserves.

I'm delighted with the emergence of Ranger and Ferguson but would love to see more Toon youngsters playing regular first-team football, even if it's along the lines of Tavernier tearing up the conference.

What are your thoughts on our loan policy?

 

Had Kadar at Huddersfield too, but I agree, don't get what's with the 3 month short deals. Why not loan for a season with the option to recall whenever?

 

You make a good point, we should definitely be loaning out more younger players to get them some first-team experience, definitely missing a trick there.

 

We're rather thin on the ground with coaches as well, so it's not like we can set aside resources to bring these players on. The likes of Vuckic should be going places. I'd keep hold of Kadar next season because I think he'll be an important part of the squad with Campbell gone.

 

To be fair there's clubs there like Sunderland who have a lot of players out on loan, because they bought anyone they could, gave them stupid wages and can't get rid of them.

 

Yeah there's a lot of senior players been loaned out because of the 25 player squad limit. Perhaps that's why we can't get anyone out there, the lower league clubs are going for the more experienced players.

 

I hadn't realised the 25 rule applied in the lower leagues too! Good point, maybe that's why we were sending them to Gateshead instead of to a higher level?

 

Looking rather suave there Mod, is that your real pic?

 

Of course!

 

Should be in films!

 

I used to be in a popular TV series before I was born.


...

<headhurts>

 

Wow you must have been the youngest star ever. Younger than Shirley Temple even.

Can I have your autograph?

 

Sure.

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