Bristol City boss may loan out more players
Bristol City boss Gary Johnson says he will consider sending out more players on loan in the near future, writes Andy Stockhausen.
Strikers Lee Trundle and John Akinde are already on loan with Swansea City and Wycombe Wanderers respectively, while centre-back James Wilson is at Brentford.
-
But Johnson, pictured, may send others out on loan if he feels they are not benefiting from regular games. City have only one reserve-team fixture between now and the new year – a home clash with Exeter in the Totesport.Com Combination on December 15 – and the absence of any other games means there is little opportunity to give match practice to players on the fringe of the first-team squad.
Johnson has not ruled out arranging friendly fixtures to fill the void, but says loaning players out is an equally viable option.
He confirmed: "We have four out on loan at the moment and that number could grow.
"We have a bigger squad this season and it's difficult keeping everyone match fit when you don't have regular reserve-team football.
"There are two ways of dealing with that situation; either we can arrange friendly games to suit us or send another couple of lads out on loan.
"We have not yet reached the stage where it is a major problem, because we are approaching a busy time in the season when games come thick and fast.
"But that will not always be the case and there will probably come a time when the lack of reserve games becomes an issue."
Surplus to requirements at Ashton Gate and out of contract at the end of the season, Trundle will remain with Swansea until December 31.
Wales Under-21 international defender Wilson is due to return from Brentford at the same time, while Artus will conclude his short stay with Cheltenham at the end of the month.
Akinde joined Wycombe for a month only last week and featured in their 6-0 drubbing at the hands of League One promotion contenders Huddersfield Town at the weekend.
Johnson said: "The loan system is extremely useful, because it enables some of our younger players to get regular first team football, something they do not get here at the present time.
"We're in the middle of a two-week international break, but John Akinde is still getting match practice. Because he's playing while we are not, he will be ready to come straight back in and challenge when he returns from Wycombe."
9 Comments
by ade, bridgwater
Thursday, November 19 2009, 12:48PM
“"l wonder if Winterbourne would take L/J", no, but I bet the Gash would!”
by Lawrence, Nanaimo B/C Canada,
Wednesday, November 18 2009, 6:12PM
“l wonder if Winterbourne would take L/J,,,,”
by Rob, Bristol
Wednesday, November 18 2009, 12:24PM
“David from Henbury has a pop at Johnson but cannot even spell his first name!!
Nause.”
by True City, Bristol City
Wednesday, November 18 2009, 12:15PM
“To all the wanna be football managers on here knocking Johnsons choice to send Akinde on loan lets remember John is very young and lacking experience in league football . He played 11 games in League 2 scoring an impressive 7 goals and now has the chance to show us what he can do at the higher level of League 1 so if he returns with such stats we will be in a great situation of giving him a run in the first team . If you want to knock GJ in every way possible then get up the Rugby ground .”
by david, Planet Earth
Wednesday, November 18 2009, 11:28AM
“We have two international players up front in Clarkson and Saborio and, whilst we haven't seen anything like their best yet due to various reasons, they have tons more experience than Akinde who has one start in the championship to his name.
Couple that with Maynard and Haynes who are playing really well and it's obvious that Akinde will get virtually no game time just yet.
That should be obvious to anyone who watches City regularly - maybe not so obvious to armchair critics.
Akinde is just 19 and raw. He is learning his trade and will hopefully become a decent championship footballer in time.
But he is nowhere near the 4 players who are competing for the two striker positions at this time.”
by david, henbury
Wednesday, November 18 2009, 11:16AM
“Fred your right of course it's just one of Garry's stirups Akinde won't be one of his regulars and will eventually end up at Wycombe going the same way as Trundle.Saborio can't cut it at this level and won't be here next season.Garry should be thinking more on who he's playing and give Clarkson a good run in the side as so many supporters have said.”
by The Truth Teller, Bristol
Wednesday, November 18 2009, 10:26AM
“Akinde was bought for the future, from a non-league club for a small sum of money. If he was championship standard now he would be playing. The fact is he's not and therefore is best getting games out on loan. He will not go permenantly anywhere as he is a fantastic prospect, hence why we bought him young and raw, rather than spending 2 million plus on an instant first teamer. It called building a team not just for today, but for tomorrow too, Fred.”
by david, Planet Earth
Wednesday, November 18 2009, 9:53AM
“RedFred - who would you drop to accomodate Akinde ?
Maynard ? Haynes ? Clarkson (now fit) ? Saborio ?
Maynard and Haynes are firing, Clarkson is now fit and raring to go and Saborio is still finding his feet but is twice the player that Akinde currently is.
So who would you drop ?”
by Fred the Red, Longwell Green
Wednesday, November 18 2009, 8:16AM
“Problem is Gary you won't play Akinde when he returns regardless of how well he does at Wycombe. He's better off joining Wanderers full-time because he won't get a look in under you.”