Spurs loanee update 08/03/11
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Currently we have the following players out on loan:
Mirko Ranieri – Basingstoke Town (18th March)
Nathan Byrne – Brentford (21st March)
Ben Alnwick – Doncaster Rovers (9th April)
Andros Townsend – Millwall (season)
Paul-Jose M’Poku – Leyton Orient (season)
Harry Kane – Leyton Orient (season)
Tom Carroll – Leyton Orient (season)
Steven Caulker – Bristol City (season)
David Button – Plymouth Argyle (season)
Adam Smith – Bournemouth (season)
Kyle Walker – Aston Villa (season)
Kyle Naughton – Leicester City (season)
David Bentley – Birmingham City (season)
Ryan Mason – Doncaster Rovers (season)
Jamie O’Hara – Wolverhampton Wanderers (season)
Robbie Keane – West Ham (season)
Giovani dos Santos – Racing Santander (season)
Jonathan Obika – Swindon Town (season)
Now returned:
Oscar Jansson – Northampton Town
Dean Parrett – Plymouth Argyle
Ben Alnwick – Leeds United
Ryan Mason – Doncaster Rovers
Andros Townsend – Ipswich Town
John Bostock – Hull City
Kyle Walker – QPR
Jonathan Obika – Crystal Palace
Jonathan Obika – Peterborough United
Jake Livermore – Ipswich Town
Danny Rose – Bristol City
Andros Townsend – Watford
Andros Townsend starts this evening for Millwall against Watford, having joined them on loan this week. This loan follows an unfortunate spell at Watford, where he only made two starts and one sub appearance. According to the Watford Observer, Watford sent him back to us, rather than us recalling him.
It was the Hornets and not Tottenham Hotspur who ended Andros Townsend’s loan spell prematurely, the Watford Observer understands.
Townsend was signed on loan until the end of the season on January 20 but only made two starts and one substitute appearance in his month at Vicarage Road.
The 19-year-old was left out of the 18-man squad completely in the last two matches and the Hornets decided to send the winger back to Spurs.
Watford manager Malky Mackay said: “We’re very grateful to Harry Redknapp and the Tottenham staff for their help in arranging this loan.
“It is a shame it hasn’t worked out for either us or Andros and we wish him well for the future.”
Having shone in our FA Cup match against Charlton, scoring a fantastic goal with his weaker right foot, Redknapp was quick to send him out on loan again, after a relatively unsuccessful spell at Ipswich.
Hopefully Millwall will be a better fit for Andros, and he will get some game time.
Mirko Ranieri, our Italian U18 international, recently joined Basingstoke Town on loan until 18th March. He made his debut in a 3-1 defeat at Ebbsfleet Town. Basingstoke site report:
The Dragon’s injury crisis hit fever point in this game. With no goalkeeper available Manager Frank Gray was able to bring in 19 year old Mirko Ranieri who has had experience internationally at Italian Youth level.
A quick free kick saw the ball played forward and Smart failed to track Michael West as he calmly slotted past Ranieri.
‘Fleet responded with Ashley Carew, a constant thorn in the Dragons side, playing a neat move with Tom Phipp, Ranieri spilled the shot and Gasson was able to scramble clear.
As Town were adjusting to the changes once more, the Dragons were on the end of a harsh decision. With the defence failing to clear the ball Ranieri was adjudged to have brought down Gareth Williams although there seemed to be little contact between the two players. Carew converted the resulting penalty decision.
Ranieri who had done little wrong all afternoon made a fine save from Williams but Callum Willock was on hand to smash home the rebound.
Nathan Byrne recently joined Brentford on loan until 21st March and made his league debut coming on in the 77th minute as Brentford beat Bristol Rovers 1-0. Congratulations to Nathan! Brentford site report:
Rovers missed another chance when Rene Howe shot across the face of goal while Nathan Byrne shot wide at the near post at the other end.Diagouraga shot over when well placed and Logan kept out a Saunders shot before the keeper got down low to deny Byrne.
Nice comments from Nicky Forster:
“Nathan has been fantastic in training. I thought when he got into the game he got involved. He has played with a smile on his face in training and has scored goals and plays with an intensity which we`re trying to do.”
SPURS youngster Nathan Byrne admitted it was a dream come true to make his professional debut on Saturday.
The 18-year-old loanee came off the bench as a second-half substitute in Brentford’s win over Bristol Rovers, and almost capped his day off with a goal, only to be denied by Conrad Logan.
However, the former St Albans City star insists it will be a day he remembers forever.
He said: “I’ve been playing football since I was five, so it was always a dream of mine to play professionally.
“I’ve been waiting for this day and am happy it came at Brentford.
“I did some good things and some bad things but it’s all a learning curve.
“I went through on goal a couple of times and lost it, but all in all it wasn’t bad.”
Ben Alnwick joined Doncaster Rovers on loan last week, and will be there until the 9th April – he was an unused sub for them this weekend.
Paul-Jose M’Poku has found himself in and out of the team at Leyton Orient lately as one of his positional rivals, Dean Cox, has probably been their player of the season, making 15 goals for them. M’Poku has impressed their fans, though, and the majority want him to return next season (see comments below).
Harry Kane has made himself a first team regular for Orient, having scored four goals in three starts and five sub appearances (315 minutes – minutes per goal an impressive 78.75). Orient fans seem impressed with his goal-scoring, and see potential in him (again, see comments below). Unfortunately he missed the return leg of the Arsenal game, after getting a red card for two bookable offences in the match before.
Tom Carroll too has forced his way into the Leyton Orient side, making his debut against Bournemouth at the start of February, a couple of other late substitute appearances, before coming off the bench against Arsenal and playing very well. Since then, he has started three times, and is attracting glowing praise from their fans:
“Carrol was very good, always looking to pick the ball up and make things happen. Only minus for me, was that he did give up possesion a few times, but this is to be expected when you are trying positive things. Will go on to be a excellent player.”
“I thought he really stood out tonight with his quality. If he was a few inches taller he’d probably already be getting a run-out for Spurs.”
“Carroll wouldnt have looked out of place in an arsenal shirt last night apart from giving the ball away for there third goal. When i first saw him he looked about 14 years old and not big enough but he is gonna be some player.He is perfectly suited to playing arsenal type football.”
“Carroll was probably our best player last night and clearly has a real class about him which belies the average 12-year-old. Definitely destined for better things than us.”
“I would love to see Carroll start a few games now. The kid is absolutely class. As Sharky says, perhaps cost the third, but he did more than enough to deserve a run in the side.”
Prior to the second leg of the FA Cup tie with Arsenal, Alex Inglethorpe also lavished praise on Tom:
Spurs U18 coach Alex Inglethorpe told the club’s website: “I thought Tom changed the game when he came on in the second half of the original tie. He got on the ball as much as he could and I thought he gave Arsenal something to think about.
“I think he’s an outstanding talent and it’s fantastic that he has the stage to go out and prove it. Now he has a real possibility of playing 90 minutes against Arsenal at the Emirates and that will be a great experience for him.”
Well worth checking out this thread on a Leyton Orient forum. Some of the comments make great reading:
“We’ve surely got to try and get all three on season long loans again next season.
I really think we’ve got a chance of gettin Carroll and Kane next season on loan due to their age. At only 17, another full season at Lge 1 level can only benefit them. If they were to be loaned out to the Championship somewhere, they could well struggle to get into a team.
M’Poku i’d love to see return again, but i’ve got the feeling that Spurs will send him into the championship like they did with Townsend. I think it would be a mistake to do so. I think they’d be better of sending him to us where they know he’ll be in the first team all season, wouldn’t have to live away and would be very easy for them to keep tabs on his progress.
I’ve been very impressed with all three players so far.
Kane – Great eye for goal and is improving with every game
Carroll – Superb ability, always wants the ball and has a great eye for a pass
M’Poku – Skillful and will win any team some many points throughout the season”
“M’Poku had already shown flashes of brilliance and is always a handful and Harry Kane is starting to show that he can be a decent addition – strong, pacey etc, but the one I have been most impressed with is Carroll.
When he first joined us and sat on the bench he had the look of a “make up the squad” player. His height and build looked a concern for first team Div One football but the kid has been a revelation. Last couple of games he has almost had to take a senior role as such a tender age. His skills, confidence (without being arrogant), passing and general reading of the game has been very very classy. Whats more he doesn’t look the sort of player afraid to get stuck in.
The final thing is that although they are not “our” players all three look to have a passion for playing in red, not white, enjoying it and proving their worth.
A season long loan for all three might be pushing it, but if we could get one or two of them that would be fantastic”
And finally, here are some pictures of the three of them from this weekend’s game:
As a small addition on Carroll, here are some of my reports on his appearances for our U18s:
The first time I saw him, vs West Ham.
“Carroll – after a slow start he showed plenty of good technique. At one point he brought down a difficult ball before curling a beautifully weighted reverse pass with his left foot in the same movement. Will struggle physically as he’s very small, but deserves another start in midfield on this showing. 7/10″
“Carroll 8 – calm, clever on the ball, with neat close control, and a great range of passing. A player I enjoy watching.”
Steven Caulker continues to impress for Bristol City, but has suffered from injuries in recent weeks. He went off with a hip injury on 14 minutes as Bristol City beat Scunthorpe 2-1, but was back in the team for their next game. Unfortunately he struggled again, and only lasted 34 minutes. He has now returned to Spurs to be assessed:
Steven Caulker is being assessed by Tottenham Hotspur ahead of tomorrow night’s clash with Portsmouth.
The on-loan defender suffered a recurrence of his hip problem in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Coventry and had to be substituted just after half an hour.
Steven spent Sunday back in North London with the Spurs medical team, and City still harbour hopes he could be fit to face Pompey at Ashton Gate tomorrow.
“He’s obviously a doubt at the moment,” said manager Keith Millen on Player. “He went back to Tottenham so they could see the extent of the problem.
“It was obviously a risk playing him on Saturday but we don’t believe the problem has got any worse. We should know late today whether he’s ok to play.”
The manager says there are other “bumps and bruises” in the camp which will be assessed ahead of the game.
Caulker has had another superb season, and you can see from this thread on a Bristol City forum that he is leading the race for their Player of the Year award.
David Button is finding life slightly tougher at Plymouth Argyle, and has recently been demoted to the bench following a 4-0 drubbing at Brighton. From the Plymouth site report it doesn’t sound like he had the best of days:
Argyle were caught, if not cold, then certainly a little bit chilly by the oozingly confident leaders and David Button did well to block a shot by the speedy Elliott Bennett after the Pilgrims had fluffed a free-kick routine in the Brighton half.
Button was beaten by Barnes as the Bath boy climbed at the far post to head a right-wing delivery back across goal, but the ball dropped the right side of the post. From Argyle’s point of view, of course.
Brighton’s second came from out of the blue and white stripes as Wood took advantage of some space carved out by his colleagues’ imaginative movement to firedrive past Button.
Barnes missed a sitter after Button spilled Bennett’s shot at his feet, lifting the ball over the overworked Spurs goalkeeper and the crossbar, before Carl Fletcher sent his team-mates into the break on a high with a curling free-kick that Ankergren tipped around his goalpost.
They were brought down to earth within two minutes of the re-start when Murray ripped in another long-range shot that was riffling the goal netting before Button had completed his despairing dive.
He has, however, received words of encouragement from goalkeeping rival Romain Larrieu:
“Everybody who has actually watched us play this season would have to say he has done brilliant for us.
So he shouldn’t bang his head against the wall now, and I know he won’t because he’s positive and he’s clued up.
Before I got dropped last January, when (David) Stockdale came in, I had played 18 months behind a struggling team.
We just about stayed up one season, and we were then in a relegation fight again.
It’s not easy when you are a goalkeeper and the ball goes in the net all the time.
Experience gets you through it, but when you are young like Butts I could see he was asking himself 20 questions, when he wasn’t at fault for anything.
When you lose goal after goal, your confidence goes down.
Larrieu admitted Button had been very supportive of him on Saturday, as he had expected. “You see the character of people when they get dropped, or when it’s getting tough,” said Larrieu. “There was no doubt in my mind the way he would react to it.”
Adam Smith continues to be a mainstay in the Bournemouth defence, where he has now started 27 games (and come on at half time in the cup game in which he was rested). This has been fantastic experience for him, and the Bournemouth fans have really taken to him. This weekend he had another good game in a 3-0 win against Oldham. The Bournemouth site report describes how he nearly broke the deadlock:
“Despite that early pressure, Bournemouth took the ascendancy as early as the seventh minute when Adam Smith came so close to opening the deadlock. A free kick from Marc Pugh was cleared to the on loan full back and he took a couple of steps forward before unleashing what at first appeared to be a cross but it almost caught Amos out. The on loan Man Utd keeper had to be at full stretch to tip over the crossbar.”
And on a Bournemouth forum, a fan gives a review of his performance:
“Smith 7 – Great energy and good range of passing today”
Kyle Walker has now made eight appearances for Aston Villa (and one sub appearances in the cup game with Man City) and continues to receive nothing but glowing praise from all who have seen him play. He has scored two pretty spectacular goals (debut goal) and just this weekend he got an assist.
Walker interview:
On-loan defender Kyle Walker admits he is enjoying his time at Aston Villa and claims it is the “ideal” place for him.
The 20-year-old right-back has been sent out to get some first-team experience under his belt by parent club Tottenham, and so far has made seven appearances since his arrival, scoring twice.
Walker spent the first half of the campaign on loan at Championship side Queens Park Rangers but has turned in some fine performances at Villa.
The former Sheffield United man is relishing the challenge under Gerard Houllier and is focused on the task in hand.
“A lot has happened over the past couple of years but now I have a job to do here,” he told Villa’s official website.
“I just want to play football and it’s ideal for me at Villa.”
On how he sees himself developing as a player, Walker added: “The modern day full-back gets forward a lot. I believe the best form of defence is attack because wingers have to track back to mark you.
“But I’d rather pass and set someone else up than score myself. My thing is to defend or to set goals up.
“I’m happy to do my job by setting up chances as long as someone else is scoring. For me, asking a full-back to score is like asking a joiner to do some painting.
“It doesn’t make sense. I would prefer someone like Darren Bent to get the headlines.”Villa take on Manchester City in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Wednesday, hoping to earn a place in the quarter-finals against either Everton or Reading.
Walker admits it will be a tough task to earn a win at Eastlands, but he is keen to collect some silverware even at this early stage of his career.
“Manchester City are a very good team so it’s going to be difficult. But there’s a belief in our dressing room that we can beat anyone on our day,” he remarked.
“Everyone wants to win things, and I hate losing. I’ve been told I qualify for a medal if QPR win the Championship – it would be nice to have an FA Cup medal as well.”
If you want to see what the Villa fans think of Kyle, this thread on a Villa forum is well worth a skim read. Some of the comments are very interesting:
“I’d be prepared to pay up to 14 million because i don’t know many other players at his age who can offer so much, i’m sure if he was needed to he could play as a winger too, similar to the role bale has taken on.”
“We collectively as fans should make a massive banner saying “please stay Kyle we love you” and hang it from the Holte End on the last day of the season.”
“We need to sign Walker asap permanently.
Walker, Clark and Albrighton are the most talented players in our squad in terms of potential.Walker is James Milner transformed to RB, great energy, four lungs, good technique and bravery to go forward. I would pay over the odds to get him.”
“Walker has been consistently good for us over the 8 games hes played for us, and gradually his defensive skill has increased. he kept Blackburn’s LW shut up when we played them, and was forcing Petrov up the field, there was a reason our right flank was unassaulted against Bolton, because Albrighton and Walker forced them back, and LYoung helped out when they needed to!
Walker IMo will be one of the best RBs in the country in 4 years time. I’ve seen enough from him to show he’s only going to get better.”
Kyle Naughton, our other right back loanee, is having a fantastic run at Leicester City. He has now played 27 times for the Foxes, scoring four times, including this stunner vs Coventry. According to this thread, he didn’t have one of his better games vs QPR, but still got decent ratings from those contributing. The fans really seem to rate him, and see him as a well balanced full back, capable both defensively and offensively.
I still have a feeling that Naughton will move on in the summer but, at the very least, this loan spell will have done his price tag no harm.
David Bentley has been playing regularly for Birmingham City since joining in January. He has now started all seven league games, one cup game, and been a sub in another cup game. He scored a fantastic goal vs Coventry in the FA Cup.
Bentley gave an interview in the Star this weekend where he suggested that he has “burnt his bridges” at Spurs:
“We [he and Redknapp] did row at times. That’s part of football. It was probably down to me and my frustration because I wanted to be playing.
I left Blackburn for Tottenham because I wanted to force on my career. I thought it was a match made in heaven but it never worked out.
I went there with big ideas, wanting to be part of a team on the up. Not to be a part of that was very difficult to take.
I don’t know if I’ve played my last game for Spurs but a lot of bridges have been burnt. Whether they can be repaired, I don’t know.
But I don’t want to sit at Tottenham until I’m 30, doing nothing. I could do that in north London with everything there for me but I want to play every week. That’s why I came here.”
Ryan Mason has had a really difficult season with injury, but rejoined Doncaster Rovers in January, having recovered from a back problem which kept him out for over three months. Since he returned to Rovers, he has started once and made two substitute appearances. Unfortunately he recently picked up another injury, which has kept him out of a few matches. He has returned to training now, and is on the bench this evening against Coventry.
Jamie O’Hara has had a wonderful start to his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he is expected to stay beyond his loan spell. He has played behind the front man in a 4-2-3-1, and has managed two goals in his four starts and one sub appearance, including goal vs Blackpool and goal vs West Brom.
Mick McCarthy has signalled his intention to keep O’Hara, saying:
“He has already made a difference to us and it’s great to have him around the place as well as in the team.
He makes us play, he gets on the ball and you can see why he’s been a Tottenham player. Hopefully he will be a Wolves player for a long time.
I see him as a bit of a throwback. He’s like an old-fashioned footballer.
He loves playing, he’s chirpy around the place and has always got a comment about something.
He’s brought a lot to the club. He’s a player I want to keep and a player who wants to come here as well. He’s helped us already.
The Express & Star have suggested that we value O’Hara at over £5m, and some Wolves fans don’t seem too unhappy with that:
“If we stay up, O’Hara will be worth every penny. A class above.”
“He’s got the potential to be a Wolves legend. Passionate, classy, gets goals, wants to play for Wolves.
I haven’t liked a midfielder this much since Alex Rae, and as brilliant as he was, we signed him too late in his career for him to be a “legend”.”
“For the record, i would sign him at the drop of a hat for the price spurs want….and like Penk says will be that first step of the next phase of our growth.”
Robbie Keane played two games for West Ham (scoring on his debut vs Blackpool) before he picked up a calf injury, which is expected to keep him out for two more weeks. Keane will join West Ham permanently for £6m should they retain their Premier League status.
Jonathan Obika has had a funny old season. Since I last wrote, he moved to Peterborough, where he made two substitute appearances, scoring twice. When Darren Ferguson took control at Peterborough, though, he cancelled Obika’s loan deal (along with that of Everton’s Kieran Agard). Jonathan then moved to Swindon Tow, and made three starts and come off the bench twice. Swindon currently lie third from bottom, and are really struggling – Obika has struggled to make an impression, and is yet to find the net. Manager Danny Wilson seems to think that he needs a strong strike partner, saying:
“He needs somebody outside of him. We’ve said that before – he needs a strength with him.
He’s got great pace, he’ll go in behind you but he needs people around him and he needs people who can give people a bit of a hit and we haven’t got that at the moment.”
Giovani dos Santos joined Racing Santander on loan in January, and was initially a substitute for them. He scored an excellent goal coming off the bench against Villareal, and was awarded with a start in their last game, playing 81 minutes against Real Madrid.
Finally, Danny Rose is back at Spurs after being recalled from Bristol City. He picked up an injury just after Christmas, and did not seem to be healing quickly. I get the impression that a decision was taken that we would be able to monitor him better if he were back with us permanently. Within a few days of being recalled, he was on our bench for the game against Blackpool. Overall Danny made 13 starts and four sub appearances for City.
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