Loan Report

[jon1959]

No not at all. I had a quick look around last night to see if he's injured but I can't see any mention of it. Interesting that we didn't bring him back in January even though the option was there and we're fairly short in that area. I mentioned in the Academy thread yesterday that Dakarai Mafico didn't travel with the Wales under-19 squad this week (along with Lawlor and Giles). If we've brought him into the first team squad as cover having turned down the chance to take Wintle back then that doesn't seem to say much for Wintle's standing here. I don't know all the ins and outs of that though so I'm wary of jumping to the wrong conclusions.

I agree.

But if Wintle was recalled from Millwall he would have had to take up one of the 25 first team squad places (24 currently filled with one vacant slot kept in case emergency free agent cover needed?).

With Mafico (I think I'm right) he does not use up a squad place - so a slightly different calculation by the club and manager.

With no evidence I am sure that the wage 'burden' is different too.

[Loramski]

I agree.

But if Wintle was recalled from Millwall he would have had to take up one of the 25 first team squad places (24 currently filled with one vacant slot kept in case emergency free agent cover needed?).

With Mafico (I think I'm right) he does not use up a squad place - so a slightly different calculation by the club and manager.

With no evidence I am sure that the wage 'burden' is different too.

Like I said to TLG, there's not a lot of point in me speculating about all this, it'd just be guesswork. I was a bit surprised when I heard we hadn't filled the 25 spots, especially with all the injuries we've got and still being in the cup. I'd seen Conte was being used in the under-21s and half expected to see him drafted in as full back/wing cover but that didn't happen, I could've understood us bringing Wintle back but that didn't either. Maybe we had another move lined up for transfer deadline day or maybe Riza's right and it was always the plan to go in with 24, who knows?

I don't know if Mafico (and Lawlor) have been brought into the squad but if Riza is confident enough in our youngsters to have them as the back up then credit to him, as far as I'm concerned. It's far from perfect here, of course, but it feels like he's trying to do the right things even under the pressure of a relegation battle and hopefully that will pay dividends in both the short and the long term.

[Undercoverinwurzelland]

Kortrijk are looking for their 3rd manager of the season.

[Loramski]

Kortrijk are looking for their 3rd manager of the season.

I mentioned about a year ago on here how Peter Crouch said in one of his books that however hard you try as a footballer a lot of how things turn out comes down to luck. Sometimes you just find yourself in the right place at the right time and I applied that to Isaak Davies' loan at Kortrijk. Everything was working out for him there, the team turned their season around and eventually stayed up, Ryotaro Tsunoda was enjoying his football and spending time with Isaak, picking up the language and learning about Cardiff, the manager was enhancing his reputation, the fans must've been buzzing at the turn around. Everyone a winner.

What a difference the last few months has made for all of them. As Tracey Thorn wrote

'Tempting to think it will all be plain sailing, old enough now to know there's no such thing'

[North Cardiff Blue]

I mentioned about a year ago on here how Peter Crouch said in one of his books that however hard you try as a footballer a lot of how things turn out comes down to luck. Sometimes you just find yourself in the right place at the right time and I applied that to Isaak Davies' loan at Kortrijk. Everything was working out for him there, the team turned their season around and eventually stayed up, Ryotaro Tsunoda was enjoying his football and spending time with Isaak, picking up the language and learning about Cardiff, the manager was enhancing his reputation, the fans must've been buzzing at the turn around. Everyone a winner.

What a difference the last few months has made for all of them. As Tracey Thorn wrote

'Tempting to think it will all be plain sailing, old enough now to know there's no such thing'

He's lucky alright he wouldn't be married to Abbey Clancy if he was a Plumber.

[Loramski]

He's lucky alright he wouldn't be married to Abbey Clancy if he was a Plumber.

It's true though, luck plays its part for all of us. If you hadn't been a City fan then you and TLG would never have become friends. God moves in mysterious ways.

[RichardM]

He's lucky alright he wouldn't be married to Abbey Clancy if he was a Plumber.

He'd be a virgin, as he said when asked "what would you be if you weren't a footballer?"

[FormerlyJohnnyBreadhead]

Didn't Wintle supposedly leave because Bulut refused to guarantee him playing time? Two sides to every story and all that, but if that's true, talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. I'm pretty sure Riza also alluded to it when he was asked about him coming back in January.

[olderblue]

Didn't Wintle supposedly leave because Bulut refused to guarantee him playing time? Two sides to every story and all that, but if that's true, talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. I'm pretty sure Riza also alluded to it when he was asked about him coming back in January.

Best thing for Wintle to do is to move on at the end of the season, he’s never going to force his way into the current squad, never mind the starting line up.

Wintle is probably half decent in a league one team, he just doesn’t have enough about him to be a starter in a Championship side imho

[Loramski]

I'm not sure if it's possible for Mike to introduce a theme tune for these loan reports, or maybe some background music, just to improve the experience for readers. I mean, there's only so times I can say 'Jake Dennis didn't get off the bench for Oldham' without people's eyes glazing over so it would be a positive step. Saying that, I guess it would've got repetitive listening to 'Simply the Best' every week when Etien Velikonja was at Lierse but what else would've been appropriate?

Anyway, Ten Green Bottles would be the music of choice for this week as our ten loaned out players accidentally fell one by one to leave me virtually nothing to report on. Jake Dennis didn't get off the bench for Oldham, same for Eli King and Ryan Wintle as Stevenage and Millwall picked up away wins. Kion Etete and Kieron Evans are injured and, while I wish him all the best, I expect Ryotaro Tsunoda will be too for Kortrijk's game later today. Michael Reindorf was a late sub for Bristol Rovers as they lost at Northampton and Baylin Johnson an even later one as Maidstone beat Bath 3-0. Even Joe Thomas can't save the day this week as Yate's game with Westbury isn't till Monday.

Joel Colwill did get 78 minutes for Exeter but a miserable 3-0 defeat at Charlton is probably best forgotten. For some reason, Exeter didn't have a keeper on the bench yesterday but with Josh Magennis in the team they're covered for that anyway.

While Malachi Fagan-Walcott is no longer our player, he's a useful standby for quiet weeks like this. I wonder what Malachi is making of the injury situation here. Having left, probably seeing no chance of ever making the first team, he must be wondering where he'd stand now if he was still here. Not only would he have been in with a chance of playing on a regular basis but, the way things are going, he might have been captain in a week or two. An eventful game for York yesterday as Halifax looked to avenge an injury-time defeat at the Shay earlier in the season. They started well, going 2-0 up inside three minutes, but York got one back and it was 2-1 at 90 minutes. York then had a player sent off but still managed to equalise ten minutes into injury time for a 2-2 draw. Barnet won though so York now trail them by nine points at the top of the National League.

[Undercoverinwurzelland]

I'm not sure if it's possible for Mike to introduce a theme tune for these loan reports, or maybe some background music, just to improve the experience for readers. I mean, there's only so times I can say 'Jake Dennis didn't get off the bench for Oldham' without people's eyes glazing over so it would be a positive step. Saying that, I guess it would've got repetitive listening to 'Simply the Best' every week when Etien Velikonja was at Lierse but what else would've been appropriate?

Anyway, Ten Green Bottles would be the music of choice for this week as our ten loaned out players accidentally fell one by one to leave me virtually nothing to report on. Jake Dennis didn't get off the bench for Oldham, same for Eli King and Ryan Wintle as Stevenage and Millwall picked up away wins. Kion Etete and Kieron Evans are injured and, while I wish him all the best, I expect Ryotaro Tsunoda will be too for Kortrijk's game later today. Michael Reindorf was a late sub for Bristol Rovers as they lost at Northampton and Baylin Johnson an even later one as Maidstone beat Bath 3-0. Even Joe Thomas can't save the day this week as Yate's game with Westbury isn't till Monday.

Joel Colwill did get 78 minutes for Exeter but a miserable 3-0 defeat at Charlton is probably best forgotten. For some reason, Exeter didn't have a keeper on the bench yesterday but with Josh Magennis in the team they're covered for that anyway.

While Malachi Fagan-Walcott is no longer our player, he's a useful standby for quiet weeks like this. I wonder what Malachi is making of the injury situation here. Having left, probably seeing no chance of ever making the first team, he must be wondering where he'd stand now if he was still here. Not only would he have been in with a chance of playing on a regular basis but, the way things are going, he might have been captain in a week or two. An eventful game for York yesterday as Halifax looked to avenge an injury-time defeat at the Shay earlier in the season. They started well, going 2-0 up inside three minutes, but York got one back and it was 2-1 at 90 minutes. York then had a player sent off but still managed to equalise ten minutes into injury time for a 2-2 draw. Barnet won though so York now trail them by nine points at the top of the National League.

Tsunoda starts for Kortrijk. Could be a twist in the tail of this week's report...

[Loramski]

Tsunoda starts for Kortrijk. Could be a twist in the tail of this week's report...

Fingers crossed. As long as he doesn't sprint or try and tackle anyone he should last an hour. No, hopefully he can put his injury problems behind him now. Good luck to him.

[Undercoverinwurzelland]

Fingers crossed. As long as he doesn't sprint or try and tackle anyone he should last an hour. No, hopefully he can put his injury problems behind him now. Good luck to him.

Ah, the way of the Kanga!

[Rjk]

Tsunoda starts for Kortrijk. Could be a twist in the tail of this week's report...

seems like he played well, they were heading towards a much needed victory but cercle Bruges scored with their only shot of the game in the 89th minute

[Undercoverinwurzelland]

seems like he played well, they were heading towards a much needed victory but cercle Bruges scored with their only shot of the game in the 89th minute

After he'd gone off (hopefully not injured!).

[Loramski]

I went to a Loan Watch office reunion in the week. Not my kind of thing usually but Joe from accounts still owed me a fiver and I didn't want to miss the chance of getting it back. It was a decent night to be honest. It started off slowly but someone broke the ice by reminiscing about Jazzi Barnum-Bobb's loan spell at Newport, then Stuart O'Keefe's stint at MK Dons came up and before long we were all chatting away, dewy-eyed with nostalgia. We've arranged to meet up again when the Belgian relegation play-offs come round, if anyone knows of a local pub that shows them live then let me know.

We may as well start in Belgium for this week's round-up as Ryotaro Tsunoda completed 90 minutes for Kortrijk yesterday in their 4-2 defeat at relegation rivals STVV. I'm not sure how 'It's good to get some minutes in my legs but we lost a six-pointer' translates to Japanese but hopefully he's got it ready for when he phones home. He got 75 minutes in last week too so, finally, there are some encouraging signs for him. We'll have to wait and see how things unfold for him here but he deserves a good crack at pre-season to try and establish himself, assuming that's the plan for both him and us.

With six players on loan at football league clubs currently there should be no shortage of action to reflect on but this is far from the case again. Kion Etete and Kieron Evans are still injured, Ryan Wintle was an unused sub yesterday and Michael Reindorf didn't make the Bristol Rovers squad (as far as I can make out he made way for a couple of players returning from injury). Eli King and Joel Colwill both came on late for their sides, Joel missed a late chance to win it for Exeter against Northampton but it was another poor performance from them as they slip towards the bottom four.

It's not much better at non-league level. Baylin Johnson has dropped out of the Maidstone squad and Jake Dennis didn't get off the bench for Oldham. Jake dodged a bit of a bullet there though as Oldham lost 3-0 at home to a rampant Barnet side who are showing no sign of letting up as they push for the National League title. Malachi Fagan-Walcott's York are keeping up as much pressure as they can, they won 1-0 at Hartlepool yesterday despite coming up against Gary Madine.

For a young lad, Joe Thomas is having to do a lot of heavy lifting in these round-ups. The pressure was on him last week to be the only one of our loaned out players to get 90 minutes in but his game on Monday got called off due to a waterlogged pitch. It never rains but it pours - in Frome at least. Better luck yesterday though as Yate Town pulled in a crowd of 527 for their game with Shaftesbury. Joe got off to a bad start, delaying an early clearance and letting their striker nip in to gift the visitors an early lead, but he made up for it with some good second half saves as Yate went on to win 3-1. They're still nine points clear and go to second placed Evesham next Saturday.

[jon1959]

[Undercoverinwurzelland]

I went to a Loan Watch office reunion in the week. Not my kind of thing usually but Joe from accounts still owed me a fiver and I didn't want to miss the chance of getting it back. It was a decent night to be honest. It started off slowly but someone broke the ice by reminiscing about Jazzi Barnum-Bobb's loan spell at Newport, then Stuart O'Keefe's stint at MK Dons came up and before long we were all chatting away, dewy-eyed with nostalgia. We've arranged to meet up again when the Belgian relegation play-offs come round, if anyone knows of a local pub that shows them live then let me know.

We may as well start in Belgium for this week's round-up as Ryotaro Tsunoda completed 90 minutes for Kortrijk yesterday in their 4-2 defeat at relegation rivals STVV. I'm not sure how 'It's good to get some minutes in my legs but we lost a six-pointer' translates to Japanese but hopefully he's got it ready for when he phones home. He got 75 minutes in last week too so, finally, there are some encouraging signs for him. We'll have to wait and see how things unfold for him here but he deserves a good crack at pre-season to try and establish himself, assuming that's the plan for both him and us.

With six players on loan at football league clubs currently there should be no shortage of action to reflect on but this is far from the case again. Kion Etete and Kieron Evans are still injured, Ryan Wintle was an unused sub yesterday and Michael Reindorf didn't make the Bristol Rovers squad (as far as I can make out he made way for a couple of players returning from injury). Eli King and Joel Colwill both came on late for their sides, Joel missed a late chance to win it for Exeter against Northampton but it was another poor performance from them as they slip towards the bottom four.

It's not much better at non-league level. Baylin Johnson has dropped out of the Maidstone squad and Jake Dennis didn't get off the bench for Oldham. Jake dodged a bit of a bullet there though as Oldham lost 3-0 at home to a rampant Barnet side who are showing no sign of letting up as they push for the National League title. Malachi Fagan-Walcott's York are keeping up as much pressure as they can, they won 1-0 at Hartlepool yesterday despite coming up against Gary Madine.

For a young lad, Joe Thomas is having to do a lot of heavy lifting in these round-ups. The pressure was on him last week to be the only one of our loaned out players to get 90 minutes in but his game on Monday got called off due to a waterlogged pitch. It never rains but it pours - in Frome at least. Better luck yesterday though as Yate Town pulled in a crowd of 527 for their game with Shaftesbury. Joe got off to a bad start, delaying an early clearance and letting their striker nip in to gift the visitors an early lead, but he made up for it with some good second half saves as Yate went on to win 3-1. They're still nine points clear and go to second placed Evesham next Saturday.

It's not going too well for our loanees at the moment is it.
Kortrijk are in real trouble after that defeat. They need to make up 8 points (on the team they've just lost to) in 8 matches to avoid automatic relegation and secure a playoff against a team from the division below (like they won last year).

[Loramski]

It's not going too well for our loanees at the moment is it.
Kortrijk are in real trouble after that defeat. They need to make up 8 points (on the team they've just lost to) in 8 matches to avoid automatic relegation and secure a playoff against a team from the division below (like they won last year).

Real trouble, yes. Six-pointers come and go but it's hard to believe yesterday's one wasn't crucial, the difference between eight points and two at this stage of the season is surely going to be decisive. Kortrijk let two points slip in the final few minutes last week too, nightmare couple of games for them.

[Loramski]

I was going to do a full midweek report this week but it's come to my attention that some posters haven't been wearing a suit when reading these recently, or saying thank you, so the deal's off. Go to London and ask Keir Starmer to do it for you, see how that goes.

A start for Eli King last night as Stevenage won 1-0 at struggling Cambridge. He had a good game, got forward more than usual and even came up with a headed assist, which may be a first for him, as well as having a long range shot tipped round the post. He was taken off after 80 minutes which means he still hasn't played the full 90 in a league game since September, having played a full league game 23 times last season. As I've said before here, it's as if Stevenage are nursing him through an injury but I can't find any evidence to support that.

The word baby has been used in nicknames in the case of both Bebe, who was called it by his elder brother as a child and it stuck, and Baby Faced Assassin for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Hopefully, an Exeter fan comparing Joel Colwill to a baby giraffe last night will be quickly forgotten though, that's probably not a soubriquet you want to carry through your career. Joel got on for the last 30 minutes for Exeter last night and it led to a strong finish as they wasted some good chances in a 0-0 draw at Reading. Joel was busy and looked to have won a penalty although replays seemed to suggest a dive.

Elsewhere, Joe Thomas's Yate let in a late equaliser but go ten points clear in their league, Ryan Wintle didn't get on for Millwall and Jake Dennis didn't get off the bench for Oldham. No squad place again for Michael Reindorf as Bristol Rovers drew at Shrewsbury and Kion Etete is still injured at Bolton but Kieron Evans made a late substitute appearance for Newport in their win over Gillingham having missed the last six games through injury.

[Mr Soul '68]

Sad to say it, but it looks like Roverzzz don't rate Michael Reindorf. They are one place above the drop zone and need all the fire power they can get. I thought he would be a shoe it to start every game. Obviously not

[Loramski]

Sad to say it, but it looks like Roverzzz don't rate Michael Reindorf. They are one place above the drop zone and need all the fire power they can get. I thought he would be a shoe it to start every game. Obviously not

I can see the logic of sending Reindorf (and Colwill) to League 1 but there can be a big gap between theory and practice when it comes to loans, as we're finding out this season with Kanga as well as some of the lads we've loaned out. Reindorf may need a bit of luck but I'm not writing him off at Rovers yet. He's got Chris Martin ahead of him there and at least one striker just coming back from injury so he may have to bide his time a bit longer. His only other loan spell was at Kettering so it may be taking him a while to adapt, let's hope he takes his chance the next time he gets a run out.

It's a gamble we've taken and it's not paying off yet but I guess the club will say that if he'd gone to League 2 or National League and done well then it wouldn't have proved much, just as they felt that Joel Colwill doing well at Cheltenham didn't mean he was Championship ready either. You can say that players would be much better off getting regular football, adapting to playing two games a week, getting the confidence from being a fixture in a first team set-up etc, even if it is at a lower level. At the same time you can say that learning to fight to establish yourself and having the character to deal with being left out is all part of the development process too. It's a tricky one.

[Mr Soul '68]

Reindorf may need a bit of luck but I'm not writing him off at Rovers yet. He's got Chris Martin ahead of him there .

Feck me! If he can't get in a team ahead of that boring, annoying kent from the perennially dreadful Coldplay, him and us are right royalty f**ked! Might as well send him on loan to Splott Albion then.

On a serious note, I hope he can break into the Rovers team and show them and us that he is a bright one for the future, which I think he is.

[the other bob wilson]

I can see the logic of sending Reindorf (and Colwill) to League 1 but there can be a big gap between theory and practice when it comes to loans, as we're finding out this season with Kanga as well as some of the lads we've loaned out. Reindorf may need a bit of luck but I'm not writing him off at Rovers yet. He's got Chris Martin ahead of him there and at least one striker just coming back from injury so he may have to bide his time a bit longer. His only other loan spell was at Kettering so it may be taking him a while to adapt, let's hope he takes his chance the next time he gets a run out.

It's a gamble we've taken and it's not paying off yet but I guess the club will say that if he'd gone to League 2 or National League and done well then it wouldn't have proved much, just as they felt that Joel Colwill doing well at Cheltenham didn't mean he was Championship ready either. You can say that players would be much better off getting regular football, adapting to playing two games a week, getting the confidence from being a fixture in a first team set-up etc, even if it is at a lower level. At the same time you can say that learning to fight to establish yourself and having the character to deal with being left out is all part of the development process too. It's a tricky one.

Thanks Loramski

[Loramski]

Kieron Evans got 12 minutes for Newport yesterday as he continues his return from injury, Eli King got 6 minutes for Stevenage and that was it for our nine players on loan in the EFL and non-league. Joel Colwill didn't get on for Exeter and even Joe Thomas has been replaced at Yate.

Add that to the fact that our u-18s, u-21s and first team all lost within 24 hours this weekend then it looks like Ryotaro Tsunoda wins the City player of the weekend award by default. He played the 90 minutes for Kortrijk as they beat Chris Coleman's Oud-Heverlee Leuven 2-0 yesterday, a good result but it still leaves Kortrijk needing snookers to avoid relegation. It's an unusual name so I googled Oud-Heverlee Leuven to find the meaning of it in English. I was told 'it translates to Old-Heverlee Leuven' which might be worth knowing one day. Knowledge is power.