Loan Army: Round-up

Lets see how our loan army are getting on.....

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gents,

I have been away for the last 10 days so this article will be slightly longer than usual as most of these players have had between 2, 3 & 4 fixtures in that time.

Please scroll to the bottom and vote!!

Lets get straight into the thick of it…..

Gaga Slonina:

Gaga has had a couple of games since the last report and still no clean sheet for him unfortunately, but he IS putting in some good performances nonetheless.

In their last game v Antwerp, Eupen lost 4-1 and Gaga made 9 saves!!! He also completed 88% of his passes in that game.

Bashir Humphreys:

Bash has now cemented himself into Swansea City’s first XI, he has started and completed 90 minutes in 4 of the last 5 game and all of the last 3 (winning all 3), over the last three games he has not scored below a 7.6/10.

He scored his first goal and the game winning goal against Norwich City and he has truly taken to life well on loan in the Championship, he is also in the England U21 squad alongside the likes of Palmer & Madueke this week.

Zak Sturge:

Zak has featured from the bench in two of the last three games, getting 20 minutes in each game, he seems to be growing in to the managers plans and hopefully after this international break he will get the chance to cement his place in the side.

Andrey Santos:

Andrey has not played any football at all in the last month, outside of training. This loan is getting a little worrying for me, but I can only speculate that maybe his performances in training are limiting his involvement?

Because the Andrey I saw in pre-season is the 4th best CM at the club (behind Enzo, CG and Moises) and now he isn’t even 4th choice for Forest, especially under a manager like Cooper who is renowned for using and getting the best out of young players.

One to keep an eye on.

Cesare Casadei:

To another loan that does slightly worry me, but for different reasons. Casadei is featuring in pretty much every game for Leicester, but is struggling to nail down a starting position, he has not had back-to-back starts yet since joining the club.

Leicester have had 4 games since my last report and Casadei has played 152 minutes in total across those games, half of which were in the last game on Saturday.

Bare in mind Leicester are a Championship club now, albeit top of the league, he needs to be one of the first names on the teamsheet in my opinion. That only comes from forcing his way in, he does seem to perform well when he gets significant minutes, but maybe not enough to please the manager.

Tino Anjorin:

Seeing this lad play regular football pleases me so much, after the year he went through, he has had 2 starts in the last 4 games and even scored last night!, his first goal for Pompey.

They are easing him back gently and rightly so, he is playing for a team that are flying in league one and are still unbeaten"!

Omari Hutchinson:

You will all know by now my love (and bias) for this lad, he is such a top player already, most of you will have read my LIVE match report on him a few weeks ago here please check it out if you haven’t.

Omari is continuing to feature consistently in a flying Ipswich side, with an assist on Saturday and 4 further appearances since my last report he has played 200 minutes in the last 4 fixtures, as I mention in my article above Omari will struggle to start consistently for Ipswich as they have real strength in their attacking department but also, they rotate a lot, which really is helping Omari at the minute.

I will be watching him live again in the next couple of weeks when Ipswich play at home to Fulham in the next round of the Carabao Cup.

Harvey Vale:

Another player who has absolutely nailed down a starting spot for his loan club, Harvey is loving life in league one and is putting in some excellent performances as a Left-Back in a flat back 4. He has started and completed 90 minutes in all 4 of the last fixtures, averaging over 7/10 in that period.

I love the player, he is a supreme talent, is extremely versatile and just looks like he loves the game when he plays. The switch to a Left-Back may be a stroke of genius from Joey Barton (WHAT!!!) he has all of the attributes and more to play there.

Charlie Webster:

Charlie has been back on the bench (unused sub) in the last two fixtures after his 3-match suspension, I think it may take a little bit of time for Charlie to earn his manager’s trust back, but I am more than confident the will and will cement the place had earnt in that team.

Diego Moreira:

Another player who has been an unused sub in the last two fixtures is Moreira, after a less than impressive full debut, Diego is yet to see the pitch since, he is away on U21 duty with Portugal over the next 10 days and will hopefully re-build his confidence and help him break back into that Lyon starting XI.

I think Diego has the toughest task out of all of our loan players.

Mason Burstow:

Mason has taken to life up in Sunderland pretty well, clearly impressing Tony Mowbray as he has started all 3 games since my last report, unfortunately the goals haven’t come yet but his all round play looks decent.

I watched their Friday night game with Sheffield Wednesday a few weeks back and he was a real menace, dropping into space where Centre backs don’t want to go, but also running in behind to cause issues, he played an incredible 40 yard pass over the Sheff Wed defence which set his team mate through to score, his only goal involvement so far, positive signs though.

He got subbed at HT in their last fixture, but any one of the Sunderland players could have, they were very poor and went on to lose the game 4-0.

David Datro Fofana:

DDF is having a very hit and miss loan spell so far and in the last few games he has started once, come off the bench once and not been in the squad once.

He is a real pain to defend at times, but is also so raw and makes the complete wrong decisions at times, I still believe this will turn out to be a really good loan spell for him.

Angelo Gabriel:

Angelo has started both of the last 2 games for Strasbourg, completing 90 minutes in each.

From what I have read it has been a tough couple of games for Strasbourg having lost both by fine margins to two good sides, Angelo has had a couple of quieter games as well, which may show they need him to be firing to win games, I haven’t seen any of the last two games but I will be tuning back in after the int’l break to see how he is getting on.

Dion Rankine:

Dion is still out injured, no news on when he is due back.

I hope you all enjoyed this longer version, it will be back to a weekly report from next week, where I will be reviewing any international performances over the break and back to league action the following week.

Which of the 3 below would you like an individual detailed report on, to be released tomorrow (Thursday 12th)?

Luke Rushbrook