Loan Report

Just a quick run through here, not too much to report.

90 minutes for Dakarai Mafico and Troy Perrett but Yeovil are saving their good stuff for midweek at present, they lost 3-0 at home to Scunthorpe today.

Nice to see Luey Giles get a league start for Eastleigh. A tough game away at York but Eastleigh did score first before losing 3-1, two goals for Malachi Fagan-Walcott there.

Jake Dennis played for Merthyr as they won 3-1 at Radcliffe, in Greater Manchester. A place and club I hadn't heard of before. Apparently, Paul Gascoigne played a pre-season friendly for them in July 2004 when Bernard Manning's son was the chairman. Gascoigne gave a ten minute interview after the game in his jockstrap. Which didn't catch on as a post-match routine, thankfully.

Late substitute appearances for Michael Reindorf and Jesper Daland, no squad place for Tanatswa Nyakuhwa and the injured Will Spiers. No games for IFK Mariehamn, Cardiff Met and Penybont, Karlsruher play tomorrow, as do St Mirren.

While Kion Etete didn't get on for St Mirren on Sunday, Roko Simic got another start for Karlsruher and played 85 minutes in a 3-3 draw with Dynamo Dresden, the second 3-3 draw they've played out this season.

It was the third start in a row for Simic and the longest he's been on for a league game. He seems to be benefitting from a change to a 3 at the back system with two strikers, Isaak Davies did well in a similar system at Kortrijk.

Simic had an assist on Sunday and hit the post with a header, results have improved for now (goalkeeping errors cost them against Dresden) so things seem to be looking up for him. Needs a goal soon though, I'd have thought.

A 94th minute assist for Giles to help Eastleigh beat Brackley 2-1 on Tuesday. Reindorf got 10 minutes for Tamworth as they lost 3-2 to Wealdstone.

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Originally Posted by Undercoverinwurzelland

Reindorf got 10 minutes for Tamworth as they lost 3-2 to Wealdstone.

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:angry: we will be loaning him to Pentwyn next season. He's surely better than this, probably just needs a permanent move somewhere and start to build his way up.

Undoubtedly a lot of the fanbase hype was due to the poor performances of the first team but from the development matches I saw I definitely feel he has a skillset beyond non league. Not sure quite what has happened to him.

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Originally Posted by Trigger

:angry: we will be loaning him to Pentwyn next season. He's surely better than this, probably just needs a permanent move somewhere and start to build his way up.

Undoubtedly a lot of the fanbase hype was due to the poor performances of the first team but from the development matches I saw I definitely feel he has a skillset beyond non league. Not sure quite what has happened to him.

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I agree. Something has gone wrong somehow. Hopefully he can get back on track somewhere.

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Originally Posted by Trigger

:angry: we will be loaning him to Pentwyn next season. He's surely better than this, probably just needs a permanent move somewhere and start to build his way up.

Undoubtedly a lot of the fanbase hype was due to the poor performances of the first team but from the development matches I saw I definitely feel he has a skillset beyond non league. Not sure quite what has happened to him.

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He isn't better than this

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Originally Posted by Undercoverinwurzelland

A 94th minute assist for Giles to help Eastleigh beat Brackley 2-1 on Tuesday. Reindorf got 10 minutes for Tamworth as they lost 3-2 to Wealdstone.

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Luey Giles got brought on with about 12 minutes to go. It's a bit odd in that it was the only substitution Eastleigh made and he got brought on for a forward.

Not sure where he was playing but he hit a powerful shot just wide and was on hand to lay on the winner with the three minutes of injury time already gone. Not someone I'd see as an impact sub but he took his chance on Tuesday.

Here's Eastleigh’s winner.

https://x.com/i/status/2031764585762652420

As Easter approaches, thoughts will turn to the Resurrection. And when it comes to that, Jesus pretty much nailed it, as it were, so it wouldn't be appropriate to make any comparison with what happened at the Hive Stadium in Barnet this afternoon and I've no intention of doing so. With ten minutes left of Newport's game there, with the score at 1-1, Tanatswa Nyakuhwa was brought on for his first appearance since February 11th. As mentioned in the Today's Games thread, three minutes later he laid the ball into the path of James Crole who scored and won the game. Crole's first goal for Newport (he was excellent apparently) and the celebrations of both him and Nyakuhwa reflected the frustrations they must have felt in recent weeks. Newport are out of the relegation zone for now.

Will Spiers was back today too but Merthyr threw away a two goal lead at home to Spennymoor Town and lost 3-2. Jake Dennis is on the bench there for now due to the return from injury of City old boy Jaimie Cogman. Luke Armstrong was on the bench for Penybont too but Ewan Griffiths played for Cardiff Met last night as they lost 1-0 at Haverfordwest County.

90 minutes for Dakarai Mafico today, and a sub appearance for Troy Perrett, as Yeovil lost 2-1 at Boston. After Luey Giles' cameo in Eastleigh's midweek win he might have expected some pitch time today but he stayed on the bench in a 3-1 defeat to leaders Rochdale. Michael Reindorf got another 10 minutes as Tamworth beat Mark Hughes's Carlisle 2-1.

86 minutes for Jesper Daland in a 1-0 defeat for Fortuna Dusseldorf today. After a run of starts, hopes are high for Roko Simic when Karlsruher play tomorrow lunchtime. Hopes are slightly lower for Kion Etete when St Mirren face Rangers at a similar time.

Luke Pearce continued his surreal loan spell at IFK Mariehamn today with 64 minutes in a pre-season friendly against Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS to their friends). He seems to have played well and won an early penalty, which was missed. The game slipped away from Mariehamn after Pearce was subbed and they lost 2-0.

To paraphrase Bill Hicks, I've been doing this for around 12 years now so bear with me while I put on a fake smile and plough through this shit one more time. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure all the loaned out players are doing their best but when the weekend's highlight is Troy Perrett getting replaced by a player named Delano McCoy-Splatt then you know it's going to be a tough write-up.

That's a bit harsh on Luke Pearce though. He scored again today as IFK Mariehamn drew their penultimate pre-season friendly, against Sandvikens IF, in Sweden. He finished well from a corner routine they'd been working on in training but Mariehamn had a player sent off in the second half and it finished 1-1.

A start for Luey Giles today but Eastleigh lost 1-0 at Hartlepool, Perrett got 53 minutes in for Yeovil as they beat Morecambe 3-2, Dakarai Mafico has missed a couple of games with an injury there. Roko Simic was subbed at half time as Karlsruher won 3-1 last night, Jesper Daland's Fortuna Dusseldorf play tomorrow.

No squad places for Kion Etete or Tanatswa Nyakuhwa today and Luke Armstrong was on the bench for Penybont. Ewan Griffiths played for Cardiff Met as they won 2-1 at Llanelli last night. Michael Reindorf got his customary 10 minutes in for Tamworth as they lost 3-2 at National League leaders Rochdale. Reindorf nearly got an equaliser, he hit the bar after a solo run.

Merthyr lost their third game in a row today and it was a baptism of fire for Jac Thomas. He made his debut, in the number 27 shirt, but Merthyr lost 4-1 at South Shields. Will Spiers also played. 200 fans made the 600 mile round trip and gave the team great support, credit to them.

Not much to report with the reduced fixture list and international call-ups this week.

Two excellent goalkeeping performances though. Ewan Griffiths continues to make a good impression at Cardiff Met as they beat Bala 2-1 to ensure their safety in the Welsh Premier League. Ewan's contract runs out here at the end of the season and, while other youngsters know if they're being retained, his future has not been determined yet. Cardiff Met would certainly be interested if we release him.

With Luke Armstrong away on international duty it hardly seemed worth checking on Penybont this week but I was surprised to find we still managed to get a man of the match there as Dan Higgs stepped in and kept a clean sheet against Colwyn Bay. Two outstanding low saves to his right and a one-on-one block were the highlights. His distribution has been slightly random whenever I've seen him but he's got an Edersen moment in there somewhere and he nearly got an assist today as he casually pinged a 60 yard pass into the path of a striker who blazed the chance over.

Elsewhere, Luke Pearce had a goal disallowed for IFK Mariehamn as they beat Ekenas IF 3-2 in their last pre-season friendly and Michael Reindorf got 50 minutes as a sub as Tamworth won 1-0 at Brackley. Troy Perrett was suspended for Yeovil after his midweek sending-off.

A busy weekend of football but pretty quiet for our loaned out players. For a change I'll start with a couple of quiz questions relating to some of them.

What links Dakarai Mafico with Omari Kellyman this season (it also links them with Cody Twose and Dan Ola)?

In a similar vein, what links Luey Giles, Will Spiers and Troy Perrett with Ollie Tanner this season?

All in all, it's been a weird season for stats. We've used 43 players so far, 42 of them before Xmas. One player who missed out was Jac Thomas. International call-ups stopped him filling in the left back spot for the youthful Vertu Trophy line-ups but he's now getting his chance to play first team football at Merthyr.

He could hardly have picked a worse time to go there though, Merthyr are in a poor run of form and followed a 1-1 draw with Oxford City on Friday with a 3-0 loss at Hereford today. Jac got 90 minutes in both games so can't be doing too badly. He was busy on Friday and unlucky not to score. I'm never quite sure what to make of him, or Will Spiers (who also started both games and got an assist on Friday). They're both whole-hearted, passionate and energetic players but that can sound like damning with faint praise sometimes, a polite way of saying 'headless chickens' maybe. They're far from that though and I wouldn't be surprised to see them go further in the game than some of their more technically gifted teammates in the Academy set-up here.

I've already used up half the Internet so I'll quickly run through the rest of the action, or inaction in most cases. Troy Perrett came back from suspension to play 90 minutes for Yeovil today (Mafico is still injured) in a 2-1 defeat at Eastleigh, for whom Luey Giles has not been in the squad over Easter. Only a couple of minutes for Michael Reindorf at Tamworth, defeats for Ewan Griffiths and Luke Armstrong in the Welsh Premier League, defeats also for Roko Simic and Jesper Daland in sub appearances in Germany. No pitch time for Kion Etete at St Mirren and Tanatswa Nyakuhwa's season looks over after taking injury-time too literally in a Wales u-21 game by pulling his hamstring in the 91st minute. Luke Pearce started for IFK Mariehamn and was involved in their goal in a 1-1 draw with Turun Palloseura in the opening game of the Finnish season.

A quick mention for old boy Malachi Fagan-Walcott who popped up with a 96th minute winner for York to put them two points clear at the top of the National League with three games to go.

In answer to the two questions, the second one was fairly simple in that they've all scored one goal for the first team this season. The first one surprised me when I saw it though, they've all got one assist for the first team this season. For the kind of player Kellyman is, that's hard to fathom.

When Rizzle Kicks sang 'Skip to the good bit' they were probably being rude (you know what young people are like) but it's a fair enough philosophy. Don't dwell on the negatives too much, be positive and optimistic where possible.

What if there isn't a good bit though? A line from that song is 'I'm not festive but I quite like presents'. I haven't even got a satsuma to share between all of us this weekend. If Rizzle Kicks can come up with something uplifting about Merthyr's 2-1 home defeat to 10-man Macclesfield yesterday then respect to them. Starts for Will Spiers and Jac Thomas there.

A start for Luke Pearce but IFK Mariehamn lost 3-0 to SJK. A sub appearance for Troy Perrett as Yeovil drew 0-0 with Halifax, a start for Jesper Daland as Fortuna Dusseldorf lost at home, no pitch time for Roko Simic, Kion Etete or Michael Reindorf. No sign of Luey Giles at Eastleigh, Tanatswa Nyakuhwa and Dakarai Mafico are injured and both Ewan Griffiths and Luke Armstrong didn't have games this weekend.

Where's Etien Velikonja when you need him?

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Originally Posted by Loramski

When Rizzle Kicks sang 'Skip to the good bit' they were probably being rude (you know what young people are like) but it's a fair enough philosophy. Don't dwell on the negatives too much, be positive and optimistic where possible.

What if there isn't a good bit though? A line from that song is 'I'm not festive but I quite like presents'. I haven't even got a satsuma to share between all of us this weekend. If Rizzle Kicks can come up with something uplifting about Merthyr's 2-1 home defeat to 10-man Macclesfield yesterday then respect to them. Starts for Will Spiers and Jac Thomas there.

A start for Luke Pearce but IFK Mariehamn lost 3-0 to SJK. A sub appearance for Troy Perrett as Yeovil drew 0-0 with Halifax, a start for Jesper Daland as Fortuna Dusseldorf lost at home, no pitch time for Roko Simic, Kion Etete or Michael Reindorf. No sign of Luey Giles at Eastleigh, Tanatswa Nyakuhwa and Dakarai Mafico are injured and both Ewan Griffiths and Luke Armstrong didn't have games this weekend.

Where's Etien Velikonja when you need him?

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Allegedly etien is still playing in the Italian 5th division for NK Kas Repen. He's still listed on thier squad page anyway but God knows when that was last updated.

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Originally Posted by TheFLA

Allegedly etien is still playing in the Italian 5th division for NK Kas Repen. He's still listed on thier squad page anyway but God knows when that was last updated.

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Thanks for that. It's a shame, his career tailed off after leaving here and he never hit the same heights again.

A better night for Merthyr (and this thread) as they won 3-1 at Marine to move up to 5th place with two games left. Jac Thomas capped an energetic night (one tweet said '70% of the world is covered by water, the rest is covered by Jac Thomas') with a goal to put Merthyr 3-0 up. He was then replaced by Will Spiers.

Merthyr travel to 6th placed Scarborough on Saturday before a home game with 2nd placed Fylde the Saturday after.

It's been a great weekend of football. Not just promotion for us but dramatic late finishes at Braintree, Exeter, Spurs, Villa and Everton among others. Man City v Arsenal today, an eventful Scottish Cup semi-final - there's drama everywhere you look at this stage of the season. Except in this thread, of course. This is where the action isn't, bringing you back down to earth ready for work in the morning. Don't thank me, it's all part of the service.

At this stage of the season in particular, regionalised leagues must seem like a good idea. At the end of a long, tiring campaign it's a blessing for fans and players alike that there won't be a monster away trip to make. Unless you're Merthyr Town that is. They had to make a ten hour round trip to Scarborough yesterday for a crunch game, a win would secure them a play off place. To make it worse, it's the bumpiest pitch in the league there, a gale was blowing across the ground, the Merthyr fans had their flags confiscated by stewards and they were refused admission to the clubhouse. Merthyr went ahead early on and held that lead till deep into the second half but then conceded twice to drop out of the play off places. Other than that it all went pretty well as far as I know. 90 minutes for Jac Thomas there and a sub appearance for Will Spiers.

It must have been mixed feelings for Luey Giles yesterday. Happy for City and the lads he knows from the Academy who've played their part this season but frustration that he wasn't a part of it. He got a start for Eastleigh yesterday, and an assist as he passed to Kieron Evans for their goal in a 1-1 draw with Tamworth, for whom Michael Reindorf made a sub appearance.

Troy Perrett got 90 minutes for Yeovil as they lost 3-0 at York, Dakarai Mafico got a start there after injury. 90 minutes for Ewan Griffiths (Cardiff Met drew 2-2 with Flint, who finished with nine men) and Luke Armstrong in the Welsh Premier League. Roko Simic came on late for Karlsruher, Luke Pearce the same for IFK Mariehamn. No pitch time for Kion Etete or Jesper Daland, whose Fortuna Dusseldorf side have now slipped to next to bottom in Bundesliga 2.

A couple of quiz questions to start with this week. No prizes but the opportunity to feel good about yourself if you get them right should be reward enough.

Who was the only City player with a League appearance this season who wasn't on the pitch after the game yesterday joining in the celebrations?

Who was the only player to get a medal yesterday who's had less pitch time in the league this season than Rob Tankiewicz?

While the season is petering out for most of our loaned out players, there was still something to play for in a few cases. Jac Thomas and Will Spiers got starts for Merthyr as they went ahead twice against Fylde before losing 4-2 and so missed out on a play-off place in the National League North.

Better luck for Luke Armstrong though as Penybont won their Welsh League play-off final semi-final. They drew 0-0 at Colwyn Bay yesterday and Armstrong pulled off a good low save to his right in the penalty shoot-out to help see Penybont through. They now play Haverfordwest County at home in the final next week with a place in next season's Europa Conference League qualifiers at stake.

Dakarai Mafico has won Yeovil's young player of the season award and seems to have earned the respect of everyone there. A start for him yesterday but he was subbed early after an injury. Troy Perrett got another 90 minutes in though. He hasn't pulled up any trees there but has picked up plenty of pitch time in different positions and hopefully will have gained a lot from the experience.

No pitch time for anyone else, apart from the player who is the answer to the first quiz question. Jesper Daland came on in the 64th minute for us in the opening game against Peterborough this season. Oddly, he also came on in the 64th minute for Fortuna Dusseldorf on Friday night in a crucial 3-1 win against Dynamo Dresden.

That Peterborough game also provides the answer to the second question. Eli King came on in injury time for his only league appearance this season. Eli has been a regular in this thread over the years and it's a great shame that when it finally looked like he'd be given the chance to make an impact here he suffered a serious injury. Ryan Wintle's form may have limited his chances anyway but hopefully he can make a full recovery and establish himself here next season.

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Originally Posted by Loramski

A couple of quiz questions to start with this week. No prizes but the opportunity to feel good about yourself if you get them right should be reward enough.

Who was the only City player with a League appearance this season who wasn't on the pitch after the game yesterday joining in the celebrations?

Who was the only player to get a medal yesterday who's had less pitch time in the league this season than Rob Tankiewicz?

While the season is petering out for most of our loaned out players, there was still something to play for in a few cases. Jac Thomas and Will Spiers got starts for Merthyr as they went ahead twice against Fylde before losing 4-2 and so missed out on a play-off place in the National League North.

Better luck for Luke Armstrong though as Penybont won their Welsh League play-off final semi-final. They drew 0-0 at Colwyn Bay yesterday and Armstrong pulled off a good low save to his right in the penalty shoot-out to help see Penybont through. They now play Haverfordwest County at home in the final next week with a place in next season's Europa Conference League qualifiers at stake.

Dakarai Mafico has won Yeovil's young player of the season award and seems to have earned the respect of everyone there. A start for him yesterday but he was subbed early after an injury. Troy Perrett got another 90 minutes in though. He hasn't pulled up any trees there but has picked up plenty of pitch time in different positions and hopefully will have gained a lot from the experience.

No pitch time for anyone else, apart from the player who is the answer to the first quiz question. Jesper Daland came on in the 64th minute for us in the opening game against Peterborough this season. Oddly, he also came on in the 64th minute for Fortuna Dusseldorf on Friday night in a crucial 3-1 win against Dynamo Dresden.

That Peterborough game also provides the answer to the second question. Eli King came on in injury time for his only league appearance this season. Eli has been a regular in this thread over the years and it's a great shame that when it finally looked like he'd be given the chance to make an impact here he suffered a serious injury. Ryan Wintle's form may have limited his chances anyway but hopefully he can make a full recovery and establish himself here next season.

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Mafico had a league appearance but was not on the pitch yesterday too.

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Originally Posted by Vic Flange

Mafico had a league appearance but was not on the pitch yesterday too.

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I was sure I saw him. It threw me because I didn't remember him getting a medal and also Yeovil had a game but then I remembered Yeovil kicked off at 12.30 so he'd have had time to get back. There's a picture of him at the player of the season awards but I can't find one of him on the pitch so you might be right.

CCFC insider reckons that Karlsruher SC wonÂ’t be purchasing Roko Simic at the end of the season and heÂ’ll be back with us. He eventually played over 20 games which was the mooted trigger point to purchase, but that could be a load of bollocks.

Not great for the lad if both teams are thumbing over the loan agreement and checking the fine print to see who doesnÂ’t get to keep him.

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Originally Posted by Loramski

Eli King came on in injury time for his only league appearance this season. Eli has been a regular in this thread over the years and it's a great shame that when it finally looked like he'd be given the chance to make an impact here he suffered a serious injury. Ryan Wintle's form may have limited his chances anyway but hopefully he can make a full recovery and establish himself here next season.

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I do hope so, I'd really like to see Eli establish himself in the team.

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Originally Posted by Kitman

CCFC insider reckons that Karlsruher SC wonÂ’t be purchasing Roko Simic at the end of the season and heÂ’ll be back with us. He eventually played over 20 games which was the mooted trigger point to purchase, but that could be a load of bollocks.

Not great for the lad if both teams are thumbing over the loan agreement and checking the fine print to see who doesnÂ’t get to keep him.

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There's also an option to buy on Daland's loan. Wonder if Dusseldorf will want to take that up. Both he and Simic are currently contracted to us until 2028.

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Originally Posted by Undercoverinwurzelland

There's also an option to buy on Daland's loan. Wonder if Dusseldorf will want to take that up. Both he and Simic are currently contracted to us until 2028.

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I think that there's a team in Belgium, that would love to have them.

We haven't yet seen Simic, at 6'3 maybe he could compete with Salech. I'd imagine BBM wouldn't mind having a look at him unless a deal is already done.

Still can't get my head around the transfer, just odd given our situation.

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Originally Posted by Trigger

We haven't yet seen Simic, at 6'3 maybe he could compete with Salech. I'd imagine BBM wouldn't mind having a look at him unless a deal is already done.

Still can't get my head around the transfer, just odd given our situation.

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I think people forget how young Simic is, he's only 22. Bagan's having his breakthrough season now and he's 24, same age as Rubin who's still seen as developing. I'm not saying Simic will be a world beater and, you're right of course, we should expect more after what we paid for him but it seems a bit early to be writing him off completely.