End of Season Loanee Review

As I was collecting information for my weekly Fighting Cock Podcast youth update, I put out a call for club-specific info about our loanees. The responses were nuggets of gold, so I decided to form a blog from the bulk of them. And so, without further ado…

DeAndre Yedlin – Sunderland (Premier League)

Grant Ward – Rotherham United (Championship)

Or should I say ‘double award winner’ Grant Ward?

Paul Davis of the Sheffield Star sent me this fantastic run-down:

There are flaws in Grant Ward’s game … but not many.

The midfield youngster who celebrated his 21st birthday during his season-long loan at AESSEAL New York Stadium was a key figure in Rotherham United’s successful fight for Championship survival.

He found himself out of favour early in his stay during the reign of Steve Evans, but his pace and direct running earned the admiration of successor Neil Redfearn who picked him for virtually every game.

“He gets you up the pitch. Very quickly,” Redfearn said.

Neil Warnock duly replaced Redfearn and Ward’s dynamism and workrate quickly won over the veteran boss.

Ward’s final ball still needs working on, while learning to give a quick, easy pass would add to his armoury.

But, in terms of attacking threat on the right flank, he was up there all season with the best in the division.

He was given a central role at times but produced his best performances out wide where he was always bold enough to take on his man and quick enough to usually leave him for dead.

He also came up with the Millers’ goal of the season, a thunderous 30-yard effort in front of the Sky cameras against Burnley.

Grant Ward. Honorary Miller. Rotherham fans are very sorry to see him go.

Dominic Ball – Rangers (Scottish Championship)

From @IbroxBuzz:

His best position is DM, loves a tackle, quite physical. His use of the ball and general footballing mind seem to be his best attributes. At centre back he really suits our style of play due to composure. For a young boy he’s very vocal, can tell he’s come from an academy with high standards, talking more experienced pros through games and his media skills are top class. Would 100% take him back in a heartbeat, definitely has a future in the game.

And from Jason from Rangers Report:

Warburton always seemed to rely on Ball whenever a big match came around, not so much in defence but as a holding midfielder. Always came through with solid performances. Did I see anything that screams – “here’s a future EPL player”? No. But I also didn’t see anything that showed that he couldn’t play at that level. Given his role (& the way Rangers dominated) he wasn’t under much pressure defensively. As much as I’d love to see him back at Ibrox – he’d probably be better suited playing going on loan with an English Championship side to better evaluate his future value for Spurs.

Thanks to those gentlemen for the terrific insight!

Federico Fazio – Sevilla (La Liga)

lol

Alex Pritchard – West Bromwich Albion (Premier League)

So, I started with the players who finished the season still on loan. And I wanted to get this out while it was current… but I will revisit this and get something together for the rest of this season’s loanees:

Kenny McEvoy – Stevenage, York City (League Two) NB: now joined York permanently.
Shaq Coulthirst – Wigan (League One)
Harry Voss – Stevenage (League Two)
Christian Maghoma – Yeovil Town (League Two)
Nathan Oduwa – Rangers (Scottish Championship), Colchester United (League One)
Connor Ogilvie – Stevenage (League Two)
Ryan Loft – Braintree Town (National League)

A final thought – Spurs have very clearly changed their loan policy over the past few years, with numbers dropping off significantly from around 30 loan deals eight years ago, to roughly a third of that now – see The Spurs Report’s piece on this for more detailed information. Loans seem to be used for specific reasons now – 1. sink or swim (Oduwa), 2. try before you buy (McEvoy) , or 3. too good an opportunity to turn down (Ward). A fourth category might be ‘to test the player’s temperament’. It will be fascinating to see how this is developed next season too.

Join the conversation

  1. Tottenham are good better then city United Chelsea Liverpool and arsenal this season Spurs are above them all lecister have won the title so good luck to them I'm a Tottenham fan
  2. Would love to see Ball develop into a good cover for Dier
  3. This must have been such a frustrating season for Pritchard. It's easy to forget, but he actually played a few minutes in the 0-0 vs Everton! Can't really see him breaking into the team now, although I'm still entertaining a hope that Poch will use him as an Eriksen backup.
  4. […] you haven’t already seen it, Chris Miller’s crowd-sourced loan round-up was an excellent piece of blogging and offered some hints to future loan […]
  5. […] I mentioned in a previous article, Spurs have very clearly changed their loan policy over the past few years, with numbers dropping […]
  6. […] I mentioned in a previous article, Spurs have very clearly changed their loan policy over the past few years, with numbers dropping […]

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