What have the loanees brought to the team

[slingsbypobble]

I'd be interested to know our loan-to-perm ratio of the squad v other L1 teams. I too have always felt we've relied on loaners too heavily, but I've always assumed it's been driven by (lack of) budget.

There are plenty of counter arguments to OP's rant, but I would agree we've picked some right duffers this time around.

Does anyone seriously expect it to change much in the summer?

 

[Dreamgreen]

I´m not blaming the loanees. They did their best, they made mistakes, but they gave 100% in my opinion.

The performance of the loanees was no different to the players on the books. Sometimes good, sometimes, not so.

I think it is unfair to look at them as scapegoats for our season. We are mid table, be grateful.

 

[oldage]

I´m not blaming the loanees. They did their best, they made mistakes, but they gave 100% in my opinion.

The performance of the loanees was no different to the players on the books. Sometimes good, sometimes, not so.

I think it is unfair to look at them as scapegoats for our season. We are mid table, be grateful.

They gave 100%? Nowhere near it. They have already given up.
How is 16th midtable ? We are 4 places below midtable and with some teams below us having games in hand we could drop further.

 

[oddball]

Loanees bring a good standard to the team that local youth team players may not ...so you get an advantage...plus normally the host club pays the bulk of the wage in return for some games at EFL division one in return...so Argyle get a decent player for little outlay...win win until you have to give them back....when Argyle are back to square one yet again..as we will see at the end of this season....there you go...

 

[xmastree]

I´m not blaming the loanees. They did their best, they made mistakes, but they gave 100% in my opinion.

The performance of the loanees was no different to the players on the books. Sometimes good, sometimes, not so.

I think it is unfair to look at them as scapegoats for our season. We are mid table, be grateful.

They gave 100%? Nowhere near it. They have already given up.
How is 16th midtable ? We are 4 places below midtable and with some teams below us having games in hand we could drop further.

Why band them all together - they are individuals some of whom will have greater professional pride than others? Actually thought you were more consideredthan that, Oldage. And is it really that clear that the loanees to a man have given up, whilst all then contracted players are still playing their hearts out? I think not.

 

[oldage]

I´m not blaming the loanees. They did their best, they made mistakes, but they gave 100% in my opinion.

The performance of the loanees was no different to the players on the books. Sometimes good, sometimes, not so.

I think it is unfair to look at them as scapegoats for our season. We are mid table, be grateful.

They gave 100%? Nowhere near it. They have already given up.
How is 16th midtable ? We are 4 places below midtable and with some teams below us having games in hand we could drop further.

Why band them all together - they are individuals some of whom will have greater professional pride than others? Actually thought you were more consideredthan that, Oldage. And is it really that clear that the loanees to a man have given up, whilst all then contracted players are still playing their hearts out? I think not.

Ok, I accept that I over generalised but put it down to the frustration at seeing youngsters making schoolboy errors on a regular basis and seemingly giving up .Some of our own players are hardly leading by example. Call me old fashioned but give me the desire and passion of Paul Wotton, Coughlan, McElliney, Green, Morrison ,Provan etc etc any day of the week.

 

[Knibbsworth]

I´m not blaming the loanees. They did their best, they made mistakes, but they gave 100% in my opinion.

The performance of the loanees was no different to the players on the books. Sometimes good, sometimes, not so.

I think it is unfair to look at them as scapegoats for our season. We are mid table, be grateful.

Well said.

Which loanees aren't giving 100%? Or play like they don't care?

They make mistakes because they are young, inexperienced and perhaps just not as good as our fans/management expect them to be.

As Dreamgreen has said, all of our players regardless of age have experienced up and down form.

I remember watching Edwards sliding hopelessly to stop that first goal on Saturday, and wondering how different the reaction would be if it was Adam Lewis doing that.

 

[oldage]

I´m not blaming the loanees. They did their best, they made mistakes, but they gave 100% in my opinion.

The performance of the loanees was no different to the players on the books. Sometimes good, sometimes, not so.

I think it is unfair to look at them as scapegoats for our season. We are mid table, be grateful.

Well said.

Which loanees aren't giving 100%? Or play like they don't care?

They make mistakes because they are young, inexperienced and perhaps just not as good as our fans/management expect them to be.

As Dreamgreen has said, all of our players regardless of age have experienced up and down form.

I remember watching Edwards sliding hopelessly to stop that first goal on Saturday, and wondering how different the reaction would be if it was Adam Lewis doing that.

You seriously think that they have given 100% recently? The season has already finished for Opoku, Fornah, Lewis and Watts. Why should they care if we finish 16th or 20th?

 

[Quintrell Green]

I´m not blaming the loanees. They did their best, they made mistakes, but they gave 100% in my opinion.

The performance of the loanees was no different to the players on the books. Sometimes good, sometimes, not so.

I think it is unfair to look at them as scapegoats for our season. We are mid table, be grateful.

Well said.

Which loanees aren't giving 100%? Or play like they don't care?

They make mistakes because they are young, inexperienced and perhaps just not as good as our fans/management expect them to be.

As Dreamgreen has said, all of our players regardless of age have experienced up and down form.

I remember watching Edwards sliding hopelessly to stop that first goal on Saturday, and wondering how different the reaction would be if it was Adam Lewis doing that.

You seriously think that they have given 100% recently? The season has already finished for Opoku, Fornah, Lewis and Watts. Why should they care if we finish 16th or 20th?

I think those aforementioned loanees would be living in cloud cuckoo land if they feel that on return to their mother clubs they will be assured of a regular playing place, or even a renewal of a contract, especially in the current financially straightened pandemic times for professional football. I accept every player is an individual, but I reckon they should be sufficiently motivated to perform at their best, in order to impress Argyle's management that they have a skill set good enough to earn a transfer/ permanent signature next season. If they cannot recognise their position / limitations themselves, surely their agent should be counselling them appropriately.

 

[Manchesterlala]

Can we just rewind and remember that this season has been one played in amongst a global pandemic? Relocating seasoned pros to the backwaters of sleepy Plymouth is difficult enough at the best of times, let alone during all of this when there's restrictions on travel and socialising. So perhaps loanees are all we've been able to get? They're young, free of commitments and looking to build their careers. We've kept ourselves in the division without any fans in the ground to cheer us on and minimal additional income and we'll go into the next transfer window with a decent block to build on when everything looks a bit more stable COVID wise. If we can't get the experience in then, I might get worried. But for now we're a league one club with a relatively clean slate that's finally managed to rid itself the dross that the previous manager brought in. The rest of the world has been at a standstill - what gives us the right to expect Argyle to be any different?

 

[ngs]

I´m not blaming the loanees. They did their best, they made mistakes, but they gave 100% in my opinion.

The performance of the loanees was no different to the players on the books. Sometimes good, sometimes, not so.

I think it is unfair to look at them as scapegoats for our season. We are mid table, be grateful.

Well said.

Which loanees aren't giving 100%? Or play like they don't care?

They make mistakes because they are young, inexperienced and perhaps just not as good as our fans/management expect them to be.

As Dreamgreen has said, all of our players regardless of age have experienced up and down form.

I remember watching Edwards sliding hopelessly to stop that first goal on Saturday, and wondering how different the reaction would be if it was Adam Lewis doing that.

You seriously think that they have given 100% recently? The season has already finished for Opoku, Fornah, Lewis and Watts. Why should they care if we finish 16th or 20th?

So how would that reflect on them as they move on with their careers? When managers/coaches/scouts talk to each other and ask about players do the players want them to turn round and say oh yeah just gave up near the end of the season because they didn't care if we finished 16th or 20th? I very much doubt it, what they do now and how they act and go about work will reflect on any future moves and contracts.

 

[The Doctor]

Can we just rewind and remember that this season has been one played in amongst a global pandemic? Relocating seasoned pros to the backwaters of sleepy Plymouth is difficult enough at the best of times, let alone during all of this when there's restrictions on travel and socialising. So perhaps loanees are all we've been able to get? They're young, free of commitments and looking to build their careers. We've kept ourselves in the division without any fans in the ground to cheer us on and minimal additional income and we'll go into the next transfer window with a decent block to build on when everything looks a bit more stable COVID wise. If we can't get the experience in then, I might get worried. But for now we're a league one club with a relatively clean slate that's finally managed to rid itself the dross that the previous manager brought in. The rest of the world has been at a standstill - what gives us the right to expect Argyle to be any different?

I was going to come onto PASOTI this morning to make a point in this thread but you have made it pretty much perfectly for me!

To answer the original question - what the loanees have brought to the team is (presumably) that we have been able to field a full squad that has done well enough to retain League 1 status (almost certainly) for relatively little financial outlay and no long-term financial commitment. As Manchester points out, in the summer there was significant uncertainty about the existence of football clubs and so keeping long term financial commitments down would have been absolutely crucial. As the season has gone on, and as the financial position has become clearer, Argyle HAVE invested longer term with the signings of Hardie and Ennis (to add to G Cooper in the summer). I am sure we'll see more of this in the summer.

Given that the squad has relied on these young loan players Ryan Lowe has had little choice but to back them fully. There would have been no point whatsoever in being negative about any of them when they were the sole resource he had to work with. Now, as we get towards the end of the season and with League 1 status all but ensured, he is being a little more open with his comments because it matters less what happens on the pitch.

I do think the accusation that players are not trying by Oldage and others is completely unfair and also not backed by the evidence that I have seen watching games. Certainly individuals have made mistakes an certainly there are question marks about whether the young players have the necessary quality but that is all completely unrelated to their level of effort.

 

[Abbotts Ann Green]

I would just ignore what Oldage says, he admitted earlier this year that he is not actually watching the games this season anyway. I’ve watched around 40 games now and I’ve not seen any evidence of lack of effort. Mistakes, defensive howlers, misses when it seems easier to score yes, but the players have given their all including the loanees.

It’s the inconsistency that gets me, summed up by recent goal conceding mistakes from Grant and Opoku for example. And I wish the Camara we saw earlier in the season would re-appear.

 

[The Doctor]

And I wish the Camara we saw earlier in the season would re-appear.

I wish the Ryan Hardie we saw last season would re-appear!

 

[up the line]

You get what you get with young loanees...
To expect Argyle to have started this season with a fully functioning squad of permanent signings, given the backdrop of massively reduced income, is lunacy.
RL was always going to have to apply sticking plasters to parts of the squad and operate within tightened budgetary controls (despite what one poster constantly comes on to tell us).
Some of them have improved (Opoku) others have plateued (Fornah), some have regressed (Watts) and others are flops. The Palace centre back (whose name escapes me) is still a relative unknown.
If we're working with a better budget next season due to increased, normalising revenue, then I expect more permanence across the squad (with the return of G Cooper to action and possibly the introduction of Randell to first team affairs). But they will still need to gamble here and there. For the foreseeable future that's the way it is for a club like Argyle who don't have a sugar daddy owner or one who finds unscrupulous means of circumventing FFP rules.