Spurs loanee update 15/11/09

Currently we have the following players out on loan:

Oscar Jansson – Exeter City (until 1st December 2009)
Troy Archibald-Henville – Exeter City (until December 2009)
John Bostock – Brentford (until 13th December 2009)
Sam Cox – Histon (until 13th December 2009)
Andros Townsend – Leyton Orient (until 31st December 2009)
Jake Livermore – Derby County (until January 2010)
Jamie O’Hara – Portsmouth (until January 2010)
Tomas Pekhart – Slavia Prague (until 2nd Feb 2010)
Adel Taarabt – QPR (until the end of the season)
Kyle Walker – Sheffield United (until the end of the season)
Jon Obika – Yeovil Town (until the end of the season)
Ryan Mason – Yeovil Town (until the end of the season)
Steven Caulker – Yeovil Town (until the end of the season)
Mirko Ranieri – Ipswich Town (until the end of the season)

Now returned:

Adam Smith – Wycombe Wanderers
Ben Alnwick – Norwich City
Lee Butcher – Grays Athletic
Dean Parrett – Aldershot Town
David Button – Crewe Alexandra
Sam Cox – Cheltenham Town
Danny Rose – Peterborough
Lee Butcher – Leyton Orient

The headline-grabber this weekend is, undoubtedly, John Bostock, who scored two goals in the first 25 minutes of his Brentford debut. Brentford manager Andy Scott has already lavished praise on Bostock:

John Bostock is a special player, we are delighted Tottenham have allowed him to come here and it is an opportunity for him to play.

It is first team, competitive football.

He will have a great career.

We need to get him on the ball, we did that today, although not all the time.

His first goal was a neat finish into the bottom corner after a good turn, and the second was somewhat wind-assisted, and came direct from a corner! Bostock’s debut.

It’s pleasing to see Bostock fully recovered from injury and now finally out on loan, as U18 football didn’t seem to be doing him any good; despite his obvious technical ability and physical presence, I’ve never seen him have a particularly good game at U18 level. Hopefully being pushed up into league football will help his development.

Another debutee this weekend was Sam Cox, who played his first game for Histon. No sign yet of a match report, but I wish Sam well – he had a tough league debut for Cheltenham Town (as mentioned in my previous loanee update).

Goalkeeper Lee Butcher wasn’t involved for Leyton Orient yesterday, and I believe that his loan expired this weekend without him getting a game. I’m sure we’ll now look to move him to another club, as he searches for league experiences.

21-year old Troy Archibald-Henville was an unused sub for Exeter City, having found himself demoted to the bench several weeks ago. Oscar Jansson wasn’t involved at all, as Exeter didn’t name a goalkeeper on their bench. These are another two players that we must be considering recalling.

Jon Obika (19), Ryan Mason (18), and Steven Caulker (17) each played 90 minutes for Yeovil, with Ryan winning the Man of the Match award. Meanwhile, Steven Caulker has won Yeovil Town’s Player of the Month on a fan-site. Some comments on Caulker:

The partnership that he has formed at the heart of the defence with Terrell Forbes is arguably one of the best in the division. What I like most about Caulker is his fantastic ability to read the game and it is this ability that in both my opinion and those that I speak to that make us believe that he has a future at the very top level of the game – Mr. Redknapp this lad is for keeps. He looks assured on the ball, is quick and despite his slight build is strong, I don’t think I’ve seen him lose to many headers or 50/50s. We are very lucky to have this lad for the rest of the season and we should enjoy his undoubted talent whilst we can.

Ryan Mason was fourth in the vote – probably not helped by the fact that he has been shifted around this month, often playing from wide areas.

Some positive comments from the Yeovil Town forum on Mason’s performance yesterday:

[Ryan Mason] IMO just looks leagues above anyone else in our side, with regards to general quality, on and off the ball.
I thought his contribution today, and throughout the season so far has been vital in us grinding out results.
With the exception of Mildenhall (who i think runs close) Mason was superior to any other out there today, and at such a young age, I’m starting to wonder how far he can go in the future…

The three of them have extended their loans for the rest of the season, which is great news for both clubs in my opinion.

Yeovil highlights – well worth watching as Obika and Mason are very involved. Some encouraging signs from Skiverton in the post-match interview too, seems to know his stuff.

Andros Townsend came off the bench on 83 minutes for Leyton Orient, as they searched for an equaliser. Having started the previous Orient game, Andros was taken off at half-time, and is clearly struggling for form. Interestingly, though, Spurs didn’t give him permission to play in Orient’s FA Cup tie last week – whether this means we’re considering playing a young side in the early rounds of the FA Cup, I’m not sure.

Mirko Ranieri, our U18 goalkeeper, has moved to Ipswich Town in order to get some regular games for their U18 side (and in particular, to play in the FA Youth Cup). He conceded three on his debut yesterday.

Tomas Pekhart wasn’t involved yet again for Slavia Prague, despite the fact that they couldn’t name a full bench – he must be injured, as he’s yet to feature this season.

20-year old midfielder Jake Livermore should be back in action next Friday, but has found himself on Derby’s bench since Paul Green returned from injury. He’s had a mixed time at Derby so far, but will undoubtedly have learnt a lot under Nigel Clough.

Jamie O’Hara is in fine form for Portsmouth, and scored a long-range effort against Blackburn last week. He has played all sorts of roles for them – wide left, attacking midfield, and as the deepest-lying midfielder, and it’s this position which they seem to have settled on. This encourages me, as I remember him playing this role for us on his first start (against Arsenal) and doing a really decent job – I’ve often said that I’d like him be used primarily in this role.

Adel Taarabt is another player who has had a mixed time. His recent form at QPR, though, has been excellent – in his last three games he has scored a goal, won them a penalty, and got an assist. He has made it clear, however, that he sees his future away from Spurs.

Kyle Walker played for Sheffield United last week having returned from an injury which he sustained against Newcastle. It was a shame, because he had a really excellent match that day, with a solid defensive display coupled with some attacking forays and, as ever, plenty of his dangerous Delap-style long throws. He was called up to the England U21 squad (joining Danny Rose and Kyle Naughton), but didn’t make it off the bench.

Speaking of Danny Rose, he has been recalled from Peterborough – partly, I presume, because of the managerial situation there, and partly because he was having a bit of a torrid time. He did, however, manager to score with an excellent finish for England U21 yesterday, and picked up the Man of the Match award – congratulations to him.

Click the image below for information about our loanees appearances so far.