Originally Posted by
Loramski
I've no idea where you all watch the Belgian play-offs, at home with family or down the local with mates are probably the most usual, but at Loan Watch we wouldn't think of watching them anywhere else but in the office. Even if staff are off-duty they'll still come in for the special atmosphere on match night. The Lokeren v Kortrijk game was a poor 0-0 draw but it didn't stop us from spending the whole second half doing our Idriss Saadi chant ('Idriss Saadi, rhymes with Vardy, he's thin like Laurel not fat like Hardy'). A big change this week though, I'd given all staff Easter Day off and told them to spend it with their families so I ended up watching Kortrijk lose 3-0 to Genk with a mug of tea in an empty office. Not quite empty, Joe from accounts turned up because he had some paperwork to catch up on but he didn't look at the screen once, just kept shouting at me to turn the volume down. He said he couldn't care less about the Belgian play-offs, I'm starting to get quite worried about him.
A good weekend for both Matty Kennedy and Emyr Huws. An improved performance from Matty as Plymouth drew 1-1 at Portsmouth was followed by two goals and an assist as they clinched promotion with a 6-1 win over Newport. A penny for Rhys Healey's thoughts here, he was apparently due to move to Plymouth on loan himself till Neil Warnock decided to keep him here and send Kennedy instead. For all the boost of confidence that must have given Rhys, he's now laid up with a long term injury while Matty, hopefully, is finally kick-starting his career. That's sport I suppose. Whether Kennedy will be able to play consistently well at Championship level is still open to question, of course, but the regular starts, the goals and being part of a successful team have given him something to build on now.
Two wins for Ipswich as they followed a 2-1 victory over Burton with a 3-1 defeat of Newcastle, Emyr Huws scoring the third with a powerful volley. He's spoken again of his desire to play for Ipswich next season, he seems to enjoy every aspect of his time there and feels he's capable of scoring more goals from midfield than he already has. I'm not sure if his relationship with us has already gone past the point of no return but it's hard to believe that he couldn't do a job for us here.
A goal for Tom Adeyemi as Rotherham went 1-0 up at Reading before losing 2-1. Rotherham manager Paul Warne wants Tom to follow Semi Ajayi in signing permanently, he's scored six goals from midfield and has had a good season in a struggling side. Stuart O'Keefe continues to impress at MK Dons in League 1 as a man of the match performance in a 1-0 home loss to Scunthorpe was followed by another good showing in a 2-1 win at promotion chasing Southend. Stuart played a big part in the second goal yesterday and is getting himself into good attacking positions as well as being his usual busy self in midfield.
Not such a good week for Adam le Fondre, two blanks for Bolton as a 1-0 loss at Oldham was followed by a 0-0 draw against Bury with Adam hitting the bar in the second half. They are now only two points clear of Fleetwood in third place with two games left, a superior goal difference though. Deji Oshilja's Gillingham continue to live dangerously near the bottom of that division. Having finally got a win on Friday, against Bristol Rovers, they lost 3-0 at Charlton yesterday to put themselves back in trouble. Deji gave away a penalty in the first game, having carelessly lost possession, and it looked as though that had cost Gillingham the win but Cody McDonald came up with two injury time goals to spare Deji's blushes. The second of those came from either a hoofed clearance from Deji or a classy 60 yard pass into McDonald's path, only he knows.
In the non-leagues, a 3-1 win for Weston-Super-Mare against Margate was followed by a heavy defeat against St Albans. Lloyd Humphries and Theo Wharton started both games. Only five subs at that level and Weston are currently playing with two Jakes and a Jacob on the bench. They are now safe from relegation so could surely go for five Jake/Jacobs there before the season's end, history beckons. A 2-1 win for Isaac Kelly's Cinderford yesterday was marred by a knee injury to former City youngster James Bloom as play was held up for 25 minutes to allow an ambulance onto the pitch. No break, fortunately, but extensive stitching was required.
Among our former players, there were goals for Josh Magennis, Cameron Jerome, Jon Parkin, Javi Guerra and Joe Jacobsen (against Barnet, for whom former City player Kevin Nugent was sacked as manager at the weekend) and a nice goal from a free kick for Kerim Frei as Birmingham drew 1-1 at Rotherham. Danny Drinkwater and Kasper Schmeichel bowed out of the Champions League tonight which leaves Guido Burgstaller as our last (former) man standing in Europe as Schalke try to overturn a two goal deficit against Ajax in the Europa League on Thursday.
