Loan Report

A quick update on our loaned out players before this weekend's action.

Nothing much to report domestically, Eli King and Kion Etete both missed their teams' games on Saturday, Joel Colwill and Kieron Evans came on as subs in theirs and Ryan Wintle didn't get on for Millwall. Jake Dennis didn't even get on the bench for Oldham, they're back to two senior keepers again so his run of bench warming has come to an end.

One thing to mention though is that Stevenage's local paper has done an update on player ratings for the season. Eli King has gone from C- before Xmas to B+ now, he's their most improved player apparently and someone the club should be looking to sign for next season. Except the journalist expects him to be playing for us, especially if we should (somehow) get relegated.

Whatever the problem has been between Inigo Calderon and Michael Reindorf at Bristol Rovers it looks like that's a hill Calderon is prepared to die on as Reindorf was left out of the squad again on Saturday and Rovers lost again, for the sixth game in a row. They've now dropped into the bottom four, they travel to Wrexham tomorrow and Burton, who moved above them on Saturday, have a game in hand. Welcome to our world guys.

Kortrijk are on a roll in the Belgian play-offs. A 3-2 victory over Dirk Kuyt's Beerschot means that a win in the return match tomorrow evening will leave them either level or a point behind the second placed team with two games left. First place would ensure their safety, second would put them in a play off to decide their fate. Ryotaro Tsunoda played the ninety minutes on Saturday and, presumably, will be a key player again tomorrow. Beerschot are based in Antwerp, which is the only place I've ever been to with an all-you-can-drink restaurant. Probably not relevant here but I thought I'd pass it on anyway.

The season is petering out for our loaned players. It started full of promise but has become an anti-climax, brief hopes of an upturn just turned out to be a false dawn and it feels like it'll be a relief when it's all over. Sounds familiar but I'm not sure why.

This doesn't apply to Ryotaro Tsunoda, by the way. He seems to be having a strong finish to the season at Kortrijk as they try to escape relegation. Their play-off campaign continues this Friday, not last Friday as I said last week. Apologies for the mistake, clueless.

Same old, same old for the rest although Joel Colwill did get 90 minutes in for Exeter in a defeat at Crawley on Monday. Sub appearances for Ryan Wintle, Kieron Evans and Kion Etete (who had six touches in a 25 minute cameo against Wycombe but none within 25 yards of the Wycombe goal. Bolton have collapsed and fallen out of the play-off race, maybe they should've got an experienced manager like Steven Schumacher in).

No sign of Eli King lately. I'm assuming he's got an injury but it's been a hard season to follow. Most of Stevenage's stuff is behind a paywall and Alex Revell seems to be a slightly random manager so it's guesswork making sense of Eli's progress at times. Saying that, it's a piece of cake compared to making sense of what's happened with Michael Reindorf at Bristol Rovers. Rovers lost another striker to injury on Monday, in another home defeat, but whether that means Reindorf finally comes in from the cold we'll have to wait and see.

Kieron Evans. What was that new contract all about? Odd then. Even odder now.

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Originally Posted by Loramski

The season is petering out for our loaned players. It started full of promise but has become an anti-climax, brief hopes of an upturn just turned out to be a false dawn and it feels like it'll be a relief when it's all over. Sounds familiar but I'm not sure why.

This doesn't apply to Ryotaro Tsunoda, by the way. He seems to be having a strong finish to the season at Kortrijk as they try to escape relegation. Their play-off campaign continues this Friday, not last Friday as I said last week. Apologies for the mistake, clueless.

Same old, same old for the rest although Joel Colwill did get 90 minutes in for Exeter in a defeat at Crawley on Monday. Sub appearances for Ryan Wintle, Kieron Evans and Kion Etete (who had six touches in a 25 minute cameo against Wycombe but none within 25 yards of the Wycombe goal. Bolton have collapsed and fallen out of the play-off race, maybe they should've got an experienced manager like Steven Schumacher in).

No sign of Eli King lately. I'm assuming he's got an injury but it's been a hard season to follow. Most of Stevenage's stuff is behind a paywall and Alex Revell seems to be a slightly random manager so it's guesswork making sense of Eli's progress at times. Saying that, it's a piece of cake compared to making sense of what's happened with Michael Reindorf at Bristol Rovers. Rovers lost another striker to injury on Monday, in another home defeat, but whether that means Reindorf finally comes in from the cold we'll have to wait and see.

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With the possible exception of Joel Colwill at Cheltenham at the beginning of the season, none of our loanees have had much success. My Bolton mate said Etete has been truly awful for them! Are we stuck with him again next season?

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Originally Posted by Don Corleone

With the possible exception of Joel Colwill at Cheltenham at the beginning of the season, none of our loanees have had much success. My Bolton mate said Etete has been truly awful for them! Are we stuck with him again next season?

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Till June '27, yes.

What has your mate made of Schumacher, by the way? I know they've been badly hit by injuries but I'm surprised how they've fallen away.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

Kieron Evans. What was that new contract all about? Odd then. Even odder now.

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Try and get some money for him presumably

Or getting him some experience for our winning League 2 campaign in 26/27?

Thanks for the latest report. Unless we're assuming Salech or Simic will leave then Etete's new contract is another baffling one. Although it's baffling anyway cos I don't think he's good enough even for L1.

Given our probable demotion will we have to go even further down the pyramid to secure loans next year? What's it like mining the Combined Counties League for info?

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

Kieron Evans. What was that new contract all about? Odd then. Even odder now.

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I know what you mean but I don't mind those one-year extensions really. If the player impresses pre-season then bring them into the squad, if not then send them out on loan where, presumably, most or all of their (relatively small) wages will be covered. We did it with Conte and Fagan-Walcott too. It's more of an issue when you can't secure a loan for them, as happened with Tom Davies, or they get sent back, as happened with Conte, but I don't see it as a big issue.

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Originally Posted by Bluebirdman Of Alcathays

Thanks for the latest report. Unless we're assuming Salech or Simic will leave then Etete's new contract is another baffling one. Although it's baffling anyway cos I don't think he's good enough even for L1.

Given our probable demotion will we have to go even further down the pyramid to secure loans next year? What's it like mining the Combined Counties League for info?

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Can't be harder than Stevenage.

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Originally Posted by Loramski

The season is petering out for our loaned players. It started full of promise but has become an anti-climax, brief hopes of an upturn just turned out to be a false dawn and it feels like it'll be a relief when it's all over. Sounds familiar but I'm not sure why.

This doesn't apply to Ryotaro Tsunoda, by the way. He seems to be having a strong finish to the season at Kortrijk as they try to escape relegation. Their play-off campaign continues this Friday, not last Friday as I said last week. Apologies for the mistake, clueless.

Same old, same old for the rest although Joel Colwill did get 90 minutes in for Exeter in a defeat at Crawley on Monday. Sub appearances for Ryan Wintle, Kieron Evans and Kion Etete (who had six touches in a 25 minute cameo against Wycombe but none within 25 yards of the Wycombe goal. Bolton have collapsed and fallen out of the play-off race, maybe they should've got an experienced manager like Steven Schumacher in).

No sign of Eli King lately. I'm assuming he's got an injury but it's been a hard season to follow. Most of Stevenage's stuff is behind a paywall and Alex Revell seems to be a slightly random manager so it's guesswork making sense of Eli's progress at times. Saying that, it's a piece of cake compared to making sense of what's happened with Michael Reindorf at Bristol Rovers. Rovers lost another striker to injury on Monday, in another home defeat, but whether that means Reindorf finally comes in from the cold we'll have to wait and see.

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Thanks for your efforts this season.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it's a shame we didn't leave Colwill at Cheltenham and tell Rovers no thanks when they hijacked Reindorf's loan to Notts County. If they were that keen on him maybe we should have slapped an appearance clause onto the agreement.

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Originally Posted by Undercoverinwurzelland

Thanks for your efforts this season.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it's a shame we didn't leave Colwill at Cheltenham and tell Rovers no thanks when they hijacked Reindorf's loan to Notts County. If they were that keen on him maybe we should have slapped an appearance clause onto the agreement.

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With hindsight, yes. But then there'd be some criticism of the club (and players maybe) for lacking ambition by not testing them out at a higher level when the chance arose. To be fair, we've been slated endlessly for sending players out to non-league clubs for loans so it seems harsh to be critical now we've sent four out to League 1, even if they haven't worked out.

I've said before that lads like Harris, Bagan and Tanner have come back as first team squad members after poor loan spells so it's not the be all and end all. Maybe someone like Colwill has learnt more about himself and what he needs to work on from Exeter than from Cheltenham, who knows? It does feel like a chance wasted for some of those lads to demand a first team spot here next season though.

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Originally Posted by Loramski

Till June '27, yes.

What has your mate made of Schumacher, by the way? I know they've been badly hit by injuries but I'm surprised how they've fallen away.

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He was very impressed with him when he first arrived as he had an immediate impact and they were all very fed up with Ian Evatt and his style of football - but they have fallen away badly in the last 6 games so he’s holding judgement until next season now

By the way I would also like to add my thanks to you for your reports - very informative, well written and amusing :thumbup:

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Originally Posted by Loramski

I've said before that lads like Harris, Bagan and Tanner have come back as first team squad members after poor loan spells so it's not the be all and end all. Maybe someone like Colwill has learnt more about himself and what he needs to work on from Exeter than from Cheltenham, who knows?

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Agree with this. Ideally all our loan players would start 40+ games and set the world alight, but it's not always about minutes.

I think, as with most things in life, a loan is only as useful as a player makes it. I remember Jack Grealish talking about a loan he had at Notts County and how it opened his eyes to the financial realities of making a living as a lower league footballer. He said it spurred on him to work harder and be a success at Villa so that he wouldn't end up at that level.

In someone like Colwill's case, he's had the best of both worlds this year. He's experienced the highs of playing, scoring goals, and being a fans favourite, but he's also had the lows of not being another manager's cup of tea, and struggling to make any impact in a different environment. All of that will be incredibly valuable for him as a learning experience.

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Originally Posted by FormerlyJohnnyBreadhead

In someone like Colwill's case, he's had the best of both worlds this year. He's experienced the highs of playing, scoring goals, and being a fans favourite, but he's also had the lows of not being another manager's cup of tea, and struggling to make any impact in a different environment. All of that will be incredibly valuable for him as a learning experience.

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You could almost be talking about Rubin Colwill there.

He's never spent time anywhere but here. More's the pity.

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Originally Posted by Don Corleone

He was very impressed with him when he first arrived as he had an immediate impact and they were all very fed up with Ian Evatt and his style of football - but they have fallen away badly in the last 6 games so he’s holding judgement until next season now

By the way I would also like to add my thanks to you for your reports - very informative, well written and amusing :thumbup:

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Thank you. There's an article here about Schumacher's time at Bolton so far for anyone who's interested.

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/th...ton-wanderers/

Kortrijk lost 2-0 tonight

Also, Inigo Calderon has been talking about Michael Reindorf before Bristol Rovers game with Reading tomorrow.

"I always say that he is fit and he is training. He is training good and is trying everything.

"Obviously, if he has not been on the bench it is because I consider that he was not in that 18 players, but not because he's not trying or not because he's not good. [It's] just because I have to try to pick the best ones and if he hasn't been picked, it's because I thought there were 18 better than him. Simple as that. Nothing against him, nothing personal, he has a great attitude and is a great lad."

What a weird loan spell that's been.

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Originally Posted by Loramski

Also, Inigo Calderon has been talking about Michael Reindorf before Bristol Rovers game with Reading tomorrow.

"I always say that he is fit and he is training. He is training good and is trying everything.

"Obviously, if he has not been on the bench it is because I consider that he was not in that 18 players, but not because he's not trying or not because he's not good. [It's] just because I have to try to pick the best ones and if he hasn't been picked, it's because I thought there were 18 better than him. Simple as that. Nothing against him, nothing personal, he has a great attitude and is a great lad."

What a weird loan spell that's been.

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ah so it's not that he's not good, just there are 18 better players than him in a relegation threatened league one team who are in the middle of an injury crisis.

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Originally Posted by Rjk

ah so it's not that he's not good, just there are 18 better players than him in a relegation threatened league one team who are in the middle of an injury crisis.

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To be fair when he made his cameos in the Championship I was amazed a league 1 club then took him. Looked national league level if that.

Heartbreak for Ryotaro Tsunoda on Friday evening. Kortrijk's imminent relegation after their defeat to bottom of the table Beerschot may have cost him his chance to win the Loan d'Or this season, the prestigious trophy awarded to our best loaned out player. Malachi Fagan-Walcott is now the runaway favourite. It would be well deserved for Malachi but disappointing for a couple of reasons. Obviously it would be better if a current City player won it but not only that, I'm paying the engraver by the letter this year (I'd expected Eli King to win it). My own fault, I made the same mistake in 2014 back in the Loan Watch days when Kevin Theophile-Catherine won it and I had to put Joe from accounts on a 4 day week to cover the expense.

Kortrijk's defeat didn't seem to be Tsunoda's fault, he had the top rating of their players in a game that they dominated with 65% possession and over 500 passes (of which Tsunoda made 49). With the problems we had at centre half it makes you wonder if he'd have had a part to play here if he'd stayed.

Kieron Evans started for Newport in their defeat at Fleetwood yesterday. No squad place for Kion Etete as Bolton drew at Peterborough and no place, of course, for Michael Reindorf as Bristol Rovers lost a record 5th home game in a row and are all but relegated. Bonkers.

There were sub appearances elsewhere though. Ryan Wintle helped Millwall to a double over Swansea this season, he played in both games against them although I'm not sure how much influence he had in his three minute cameo yesterday. Joel Colwill came on for Exeter as they beat Huddersfield and Eli King got a run out for Stevenage as they got a late equaliser against Rotherham. A centre half came on with two minutes to go, went up front and scored. Some comments were suggesting that Stevenage's midfield has been good this season but the lack of firepower has let them down. Simple answer to that. Get Michael Reindorf in on a season long loan in August, what could go wrong?

Joel Colwill winning Cheltenham Young player of the year award

seems odd

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Originally Posted by MOZZER2

Joel Colwill winning Cheltenham Young player of the year award

seems odd

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I suppose it's odd in the sense that he only played the first half of the season so he may have been forgotten about a bit but he made more appearances for them than Cody Drameh did for us and we gave Drameh the Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season awards.

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Originally Posted by Loramski

I suppose it's odd in the sense that he only played the first half of the season so he may have been forgotten about a bit but he made more appearances for them than Cody Drameh did for us and we gave Drameh the Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season awards.

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Our recent Player of the Year awards are a real indicator of the degree to which we’ve declined in the past five years.

I honestly would have had to pass this season if I was one of those who voted every year.