Loan Deals Expiring Soon

[menzinho]

Tom Walker and Matty Wolfe's loan deals are expiring on 3rd Jan.

Do you want to keep either of them for the rest of the season?

Personally I don't think we've seen the best of Walker, but with Roberts hopefully fit mid Jan I'm not sure he'd get much game time. As for Wolfe - given he's played 1 FA Trophy game -I don't think Barnsley will let him come back!

I think we'll need another CM to provide competition for Reeves/Doyle (they aren't getting much at the moment), someone actually good enough (in NA eyes) to displace one of them.

[Piethagoram]

New Years Eve wish list:

Centre forward

Agree with @menzinho that a Doyle /Reeves addition is needed

I would return Walker and Wolfe, if we have identified better options

 

[liampie]

i would keep tom walker in favour of allowing enzio to play as a secondary striker/advanced attacking midfielder who sits behind the strikers. hes a waste on the wing and its why we never get the best out of him. giving him a position to play further up would allow him to be more attacking minded imo without needing him to drop back too deep,

[Chris]

There's a requirement for both players, at least in terms of covering their positions.

The issue with Matty Wolfe he requires regular game time to improve, Neal Ardley has insisted on using Michael Doyle and, Jake Reeves (both of whom have played quite well). I think an argument could be made for Doyle to sit out the odd game here and there, but this won't happen simply because he's still the clubs captain.

If Ardley could find someone in the age range of 23/27 with a good level of experience, then I wouldn't be against seeing Wolfe's deal expire.

However, if this isn't the case I think it only makes sense to extend.

Tom Walker is a decent player, he's no Cal Roberts, but he changes what we have at the club and plays in a way which would work better if Roberts were in the team himself.

There is a requirement for another striker, Jimmy Knowles can fill in some gaps but another clinical striker would be an added boost. Wes Thomas should be getting himself back into the squad which will be a bonus, despite some suggesting his pace has gone - I still believe he's one of our fastest players.

I think we just need a bit more experience with pace, players who can take the sting out of the game and just sit on the ball at those times we aren't as organized as we should be.

[menzinho]

Also, according to the Nottingham Post, there's a chance that both Sam Graham and Jimmy Knowles could be recalled. So we could potentially be 4 players lighter in the coming days...

I quite like Knowles, I think he'll turn out to be a good player but it's a big ask for 18 y/o to make a big contribution in his first real spell of competitive football.

Graham is a useful player to have - but again, I think clubs send players out with intention of them getting game time. He's not going to get ahead of Lacey/Rawlinson... 

You kind of feel we should have academy players that could be our "4th choice" type players (that's a discussion for another day!)

I think we'll be seeing a couple of new faces this month.

[DangerousSausage]

Wolfe wasn't really challenging for the first team even before his illness, and Graham seems to be fourth choice at centre half. I'd be amazed if either loan was extended. As for Knowles, I'm quite happy for him to carry on being the impact sub and playing the odd match (whether Mansfield are is another question), but we also need someone to seriously push Wootton for his place. So I agree we're going to be seeing some new faces over the coming weeks - let's hope they're at least as good as what we've already got.

[Super_Danny_Allsopp]

I'm fairly happy with pretty much all of our permanent signings. Our loan signings, however, have been a disappointment. 

Sam Graham - Return - I wasn't a massive fan last season before injury and I haven't seen anything this season that indicates he's improved. He's not even pushing Turner, who has been inconsistent at best, for that 3rd spot.

Matty Wolfe - Return - He was bought in as a replacement for Sloth who you think would have been more of a starter. Wolfe, however, we've barely seen. On one of the interviews either Ardley or Abbott said he's improving all the time by just being on the training pitch with people like Doyle or Reeves......sorry, but that's not good enough. He isn't our player, why develop him if he's not going to be good enough for this season? Wolfe can't even push O'Brien for that bench spot.

We need a CM in that is a different type to Reeves and Doyle, somebody who can push either of those two and rotate with them.

Jimmy Knowles - Return - It was a weird signing when it was announced and it hasn't got any better. Again, he has hardly featured and isn't going to be starting games. We've been affected by injuries and loss of form in positions he can play in, yet he still only comes on for 2 minute cameos to run about. We need somebody who will push Wootton for that starting spot and indeed rotate and give Wootton a rest. He does seem to be in the right places and has scored goals, but his general play is really poor. 

If Cal Roberts and Wes Thomas had been fit, plus Sam, Enzio etc.... Knowles would never have even made the bench. Such a strange signing. Surely we'd have been better off giving Sam Osbourne a 2 year deal.

 

Tom Walker - Keep - He's clearly not a complete player and his end product is lacking, but that's why he is at this level. He does offer something different from our other wingers and he can play on either wing, which is good versatility. He will be at the very least a good option on the bench that can come on and do something game-changing. 

[allardyces tash]

@Super_Danny_Allsopp is bang on with his assessment.

Just keep Tom Walker, Notts requires a winger at this point and its doubtful better is out there. He's decent enough for what the club requires.

[Super_Danny_Allsopp]

So Ardley has almost done the opposite of what I would have expected/wanted. 

Walker has gone back, but seems that was more down to him. Not majorly disappointed in that. Graham has gone back (or is going back) and again that's because Sheffield wanted him back. Knowles is still here for now, although I hope Mansfield recall him and we can get a pacey striker who challenges for a first team place.

Wolfe still here. Let's see if Ardley actually uses him in the league. 
 

[Chris]

TBH, all could return with minimal fuss.

It looks like Tom Walker was only here to regain his fitness, either he'll feature for Harrogate or they'll try to offload him. It would be the latter that I would imagine to happen, since his loan deal here ran out just in time for the transfer window.

Jimmy Knowles has been getting calls to start, I can't see him as an effective solution personally but I think he's useful to have around.

I just don't see him as first team material myself.

Matt Wolfe I think could easily be replaced with experience and stronger legs, he's not as creative as the club needs but beggars can't be choosers.

Supposedly, Notts are still looking to sign a central midfielder.

[Super_Danny_Allsopp]

11 hours ago, Chris said:

 

Supposedly, Notts are still looking to sign a central midfielder.

Yeah? 

I would expect a CB to come in now Graham is leaving. Our loans have got to be the most disappointing part of our squad - as a collective they've barely featured.

The excuses for Wolfe and Knowles are laughable - 'they needed to develop'. Well we've spent 6 months developing players that we don't (and won't) own and they still aren't ready to start games that don't amount to our reserve squad in the FA trophy. 

The calls for Knowles to start are baffling, but then again, they're coming from the same voices that thought we played well against Stockport Reserves (we didn't and probably should've lost). Let's put it into perspective, so far this season we've had:

- No starting striker (Thomas)
- No starting winger (Roberts)
- Out of form winger (Enzio)
- Out of form striker (Wootton)
- Bench striker not playing well (Sam)
- Poor performance of bench winger (JOB)

And still Knowles hasn't started. In reality, he hasn't even came on to impact the game, only to run around a bit. Would you start him ahead of Cal Roberts, Enzio, Wootton, Rodrigues? Nobody would. I don't think he'd start ahead of Miller or Effiong either... so when would he start? It's not fair on the lad, either, he wants to play and I doubt he will.

The loan signings really have baffled me. Why would anybody loan a player to us, when we won't play them? Have we loaned them purely on the base of backup cover? I doubt it. That's why Graham has gone back, that's why Knowles might be going back. I think we might be pissing off other clubs when it comes to loaning their players who we have no intention of actually fielding. 

[DangerousSausage]

Knowles is a strange one. I can't see what he gains by going from being a bit-part player at Mansfield to being a bit-part player for us. He's still very young so he won't be the finished article, but from his point of view it'd have been more sensible to drop down another level and be playing more regular football. It's done Osborne a world of good and helped Roberts get his mojo back before he came to us. It's moot now anyway. Likewise Wolfe - I'm not sure what him, us or Barnsley have gained by him playing two FA Trophy matches. With the squad being thin anyway, we need our loanees to be in or around the first team. At the minute the loanees aren't really competing for a first team place (or aren't being given the chance) and the team virtually names itself.

[Chris]

I have read that we want a left-back (which we can do without), unless Chickensen is out for the most part of the season - McCrory not sure what's going off with him but DKE does well enough.

CM/LB are the rumoured positions Ardley is chasing.

On 18/01/2021 at 08:46, Super_Danny_Allsopp said:

I think we might be pissing off other clubs when it comes to loaning their players who we have no intention of actually fielding. 

I don't think we are, Sam hasn't done that well here and that's down to him. Clubs understand the risk of loaning out players, it's a gamble and the stats show in football a lot of the players pushed out are the ones managers are unsure about. Yes, everyone hyped Sam up originally after the NEP did the story about him being destined to break into the Sheffield United squad. Truth be said, it's unlikely unless he takes what chances he gets when he plays.

[Super_Danny_Allsopp]

17 hours ago, Chris said:

I have read that we want a left-back (which we can do without), unless Chickensen is out for the most part of the season - McCrory not sure what's going off with him but DKE does well enough.

CM/LB are the rumoured positions Ardley is chasing.

I don't think we are, Sam hasn't done that well here and that's down to him. Clubs understand the risk of loaning out players, it's a gamble and the stats show in football a lot of the players pushed out are the ones managers are unsure about. Yes, everyone hyped Sam up originally after the NEP did the story about him being destined to break into the Sheffield United squad. Truth be said, it's unlikely unless he takes what chances he gets when he plays.

McCrory is out for pretty much the season, he has just had surgery.

Chicksen I have no idea... maybe Ardley doesn't fancy him anymore? None of the journalists have bothered to ask him. 

Every club up and down the land wants their loan youngsters to be playing games, without exception and anyone claiming the opposite is simply wrong. It's exactly the point of the loan, to see if the player progresses with first team men's football experience and it is these performances they will judge them on and see how they perform on the training pitch when they return.

What they are not looking to do is send them from their academy/reserves whatever, to go and train with a non-league club with an inferior training setup. That achieves nothing and the respective clubs aren't going to see how they've advanced based on a training report from Greg Abbott and be gleaming that 'they've learnt well from a 55 year-old Michael Doyle'. If you are a player or coach or manager from one of these clubs, looking in at a loan offer from Notts, do you think 'well x went there and played 2 fa trophy games', or do you check their past loans and see that none of them get any game time?  I know I would.