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League Two Rovers (1) v Grimsby (1)

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Tranmere Rovers
1 - 1
Grimsby Town
Nathan Smith 64'
Justin Amaluzor 43'
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Tranmere Rovers
Stats
Grimsby Town
40%
Possession
60%
8
Shots
13
2
On Target
3
4
Corners
4
10
Fouls
10
0
Yellow Cards
1
1
Offsides
3
2
Saves
1
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dollar'sbloke said:
My preference is for long term servants home grown or otherwise and then developed youngsters. Our club is based on this and maybe only exists because of it.
However the first seems out of vogue generally and at our level the latter totally nonviable.
Loans maybe a necessary evil when needs must, but as a general policy are a short term one at best. They will cause instability if it doesn't already exist.
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Ref Tamen and Negru you asked if I preferred Negru. Understandably I believe you were asking me to compare?
More about Tamen later.
Ref the loans evidence. You can look at every club in our league and they will use it and the successful loanees will get plenty of game time. The ones that don't are possible duds, but could be injured (will still be seen as resident of the "foster" club) or may even have maximum/minimum minutes agreed with the parent club. So all that does make it hard to evaluate yes. But a good uninjured loanee with no game time constraints will see plenty of game time - that is good evidence. Lack of game time is not as solid evidence as it could be for any of the reasons mentioned....including the dud.
I have seen the system at at relatively close hand. We don't know how good the recruits were this year due to the catastrophic and chaotic season the club endured. So we'll have see how some of the recruits are rated by others next season, as I reckon Jones, Negru, Tamen, JJ and Obiero will get decent loans as good if not better than us.
I have also seen it close hand at Accy. This year they had Madden (chipped in with goals and great character around the club), Issac Heath (can catch pigeons and likely player of the year. Great lad as well)...deffo ready for L1 or Championship. GK Ollie Wright (player of the year contender) and will get a loan at a bigger club next time. The keeper they got from Man Utd 2023/4 via Les Party - Radek Vitek has had a great season in the Championship with Bristol City and won the player of the year treble this season. Tbh they have core of good honest player and try to enhance the squad (as does anyone at our level) with good loanees. I know the management team put the hours in watching U21 football, especially if a southern team ventures up north.
The trick is to avoid mistakes and get some who can do a job, and hopefully a star like those mentioned, or even an Apter.
 
Rockford's Love Child said:
It was our biggest gate for a home league fixture for twenty years, excluding free entry matches.

As I have said many times, imagine if we were not utterly useless. The potential is significant.

Seventh highest average gate in the division this season, to witness four home victories, the joint worst performance in the club's history.
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best fans in the League i have said it once and will say it again
 
I said I'd preferred Negru I never asked you or anyone else.
The four you listed, three were long term injured maybe from clubs with poor sports science departments? The other failed to be in our top five as did the likeable Blacker. The five rule became an issue because we stopped using our new signings not because our keeper got injured. Why sign Plant and not use him, ok the disregarded negative over dumping managers.
If we develop one too well they get recalled, not a success we have suffered for a while.
If we succeed led by a loanee he leaves without a fee, obviously.
We have in the past used loanees ahead of our own young players, developing for others over our own. A problem remedied.
It is short termism and I doubt anyone has truly identified the balances at clubs who have their dickovs.
Loanees should be used to fill holes that emerge and we should have our own starting 18 first.
I really wonder how long people will swallow this he is really rated by his parent club guff. The produce of stronger clubs than us end up working in non league mainly. Only Apter has even survived at his parent's level. Might make you think.
Finally of all the cunning plans the only one to work out has been recruiting from a level just below us, nors cook and norbury etc. bottom fishing in non league has also been poor as poor early as our youth scheme became
Higgy said:
Ref Tamen and Negru you asked if I preferred Negru. Understandably I believe you were asking me to compare?
More about Tamen later.
Ref the loans evidence. You can look at every club in our league and they will use it and the successful loanees will get plenty of game time. The ones that don't are possible duds, but could be injured (will still be seen as resident of the "foster" club) or may even have maximum/minimum minutes agreed with the parent club. So all that does make it hard to evaluate yes. But a good uninjured loanee with no game time constraints will see plenty of game time - that is good evidence. Lack of game time is not as solid evidence as it could be for any of the reasons mentioned....including the dud.
I have seen the system at at relatively close hand. We don't know how good the recruits were this year due to the catastrophic and chaotic season the club endured. So we'll have see how some of the recruits are rated by others next season, as I reckon Jones, Negru, Tamen, JJ and Obiero will get decent loans as good if not better than us.
I have also seen it close hand at Accy. This year they had Madden (chipped in with goals and great character around the club), Issac Heath (can catch pigeons and likely player of the year. Great lad as well)...deffo ready for L1 or Championship. GK Ollie Wright (player of the year contender) and will get a loan at a bigger club next time. The keeper they got from Man Utd 2023/4 via Les Party - Radek Vitek has had a great season in the Championship with Bristol City and won the player of the year treble this season. Tbh they have core of good honest player and try to enhance the squad (as does anyone at our level) with good loanees. I know the management team put the hours in watching U21 football, especially if a southern team ventures up north.
The trick is to avoid mistakes and get some who can do a job, and hopefully a star like those mentioned, or even an Apter.
Click to expand...
 
Whether the loan system has failed here or not, I'm saying it's used extensively and successfully elsewhere.
I'll revisit your post re Negru.
 
Higgy said:
Whether the loan system has failed here or not, I'm saying it's used extensively and successfully elsewhere.
I'll revisit your post re Negru.
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I'm unaware if it working better elsewhere, I would guess the promoted sides used it sparingly. The worst side in the division used it as it's prime weapon.
In any case can no one see the risk in being a borrowed football club, just one step from being a nursery for a bigger club?
 
The reason the. Loan system works it because these days the big clubs hoard any youngster that looks any good despite the fact that they soon realise that 99-% of them will never make into the PL. it is all about looking for the 1% that saves them big transfer fees. So the rest have to go somewhere just in case they suddenly turn out to be superstars. In reality most of these kids have to find new jobs. Look at the the so called Liverpool Academy. Some of those kids would have been better off starting at Rovers but that is not the way these days. How many L2 players are bought by PL,clubs these days. Are there any?
 
I was reflecting on the LIverpool team of around 50 years ago. Phil Neal ex Northampton, Kevin Keegan Scunthorpe, Larry Lloyd Bristol Rovers, Emlyn Hughes Blackpool. Even Trevor Storeton from Rovers although he did not make it big time. Case and Aldridge started at South Liverpool. I could go on. Fees for the smaller clubs as well. Not big in modern day money but very useful back then. Change is not always for the better.
 
drwhoman said:
I was reflecting on the LIverpool team of around 50 years ago. Phil Neal ex Northampton, Kevin Keegan Scunthorpe, Larry Lloyd Bristol Rovers, Emlyn Hughes Blackpool. Even Trevor Storeton from Rovers although he did not make it big time. Case and Aldridge started at South Liverpool. I could go on. Fees for the smaller clubs as well. Not big in modern day money but very useful back then. Change is not always for the better.
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Blackpool were big back then. Liverpool released anyone at 19 not looking likely to secure a first team spot. As did we buy lower threshold!
 
Bromley made use of loans throughout the season
Examples include

:Zech Medley (CB): Joined on a short-term loan until the end of the season.Jesse Debrah (CB): Joined until the end of the season.Damola Ajayi (RW): Joined in January 2026.Lakyle Samuel (RB): Joined on 1 September 2025.Jemiah Umolu (CF)

And there were others earlier in the season.
 
Over the years we have had a lot of players from the big two. In the sixties and seventies I remember Arnell, Hickson, Yeats, Stevenson, West, Lawrence etc., all nearing the end of their careers. That stopped when players could afford to retire at the top.

More recently, we signed unwanted youngsters like Steve Jennings, Dale Jennings and Aaron Cresswell, who crossed the water at 16 and joined Rovers.

Now we have no youth programme and we see very few young players from Liverpool or Everton academies ending up at PP. There are exceptions like Warrington (via two other clubs) and Tamen (on loan), but not many.

We have had a lot of local-born players on our books over the years, but only well into their careers. Will we ever see another future England international or even an EPL player ex-Tranmere? As things are now, never.
 
Loans can work well for both parties. This season we had some useful ones (and some useless ones) and we offloaded four unwanted players that way. We have signed players initially on loans and ended up signing the better ones - Ridehalgh, Morris, Hawkes etc. Nowadays, some big clubs let younger players nearing the end of their contract go out on loan to find a club.

The secret is to do your homework before signing loanees, as you would with permanent signings. And not to sign too many, as we did this season.
 
bring back the cowshed! said:
Loans can work well for both parties. This season we had some useful ones (and some useless ones) and we offloaded four unwanted players that way. We have signed players initially on loans and ended up signing the better ones - Ridehalgh, Morris, Hawkes etc. Nowadays, some big clubs let younger players nearing the end of their contract go out on loan to find a club.

The secret is to do your homework before signing loanees, as you would with permanent signings. And not to sign too many, as we did this season.
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I agree BBTC. To an extent the issue is mental. How will the individual adapt to being in a less cosseted environment and how will they adapt to a league full of older men whose youthful dreams have been dashed and who have effectively become journeymen in search of the most remunerative crust they can find? Many such players will be happy to give big Club young men a hard time. Resilience is key.
 
FridayNightMemories said:
Bromley made use of loans throughout the season
Examples include

:Zech Medley (CB): Joined on a short-term loan until the end of the season.Jesse Debrah (CB): Joined until the end of the season.Damola Ajayi (RW): Joined in January 2026.Lakyle Samuel (RB): Joined on 1 September 2025.Jemiah Umolu (CF)

And there were others earlier in the season.
Click to expand...
All clubs, I presume used loans,.to claim they worked well at the top and not at the bottom is self satisfying. Any other commonality at either end could be so misdirected as a causation.
The larger number of back up staff for instance, which probably implies a better resourced operation.
Bromley went up as they carried momentum from a previous promotion, has a more solid historic connection.
Our loans came mainly as a result of injuries to other loans.
 
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