Pompey have two loan players from WBA & one returned to Man City recently. To the loaning club this has two advantages - helps with wages and gives their otherwise reserves more experience. From Pompey's point of view their are two catagories of reserves. Those that might sign permanently and those that will not. Unless of the former catagory, the benefit to Portsmouth is that it shelters permanent players from possible injury and or suspension. The big disadvantage is that there introduction changes the team, as does their leaving, so any advantage gained from them being (maybe) better than existing squad players may well be counter balanced by the these disruptions So on balance are these loans a good thing? As an aside, those of us in remote locations would appreciate some comment on how the two most recent loan players have performed.
I would have to say that in the current climate 'beggars can't be choosers'. The two loanees from WBA have without doubt given us a shot in the arm. Mattocks is an orthadox left back - with a left foot, who likes getting forward. Thorne sits in front of the back four and commands his area of the pitch like a seasoned pro. I've been very impressed with him. It's also allowed David Norris more freedom to get forward and support Kitson. This is starting to bear fruit with Pompey looking more of a threat and creating more chances. As you say, the loan situation is not ideal. We really need them here for the season. As it stands, the situation will be reviewed in January but quite honestly, I am more concerned with the bigger picture as to whether we'll have a club in 3 months time.
They both made mistakes against Coventry which could have been costly against a better team. That said, they added much needed pace to the side which can only be good. Thorne's quick thinking and vision in taking a quick free kick on the edge of the box caught Coventry out and created the winning goal. On balance I would say the plusses outweigh the minuses. As FFD says, whilst it would be good to have them for a season at least they will have a club to go back to in January if it all goes TU.
