Players on loan

[Imy]

Hobbs dropped by Scunthorpe? Oh dear.

Bad news really, with signing Skrtll i can't see him getting an opportunity and won't be surprised if he is sold.

The thing about some of the youngsters we've signed is that some are not fast enough especially for the premiership and for some technique is lacking, why on earth sign them then? Hobbs has the size, but certainly not Skrtle/Agger quick or have the technique of Agger.

[LadyRed]

Bad news really, with signing Skrtll i can't see him getting an opportunity and won't be surprised if he is sold.

The thing about some of the youngsters we've signed is that some are not fast enough especially for the premiership and for some technique is lacking, why on earth sign them then? Hobbs has the size, but certainly not Skrtle/Agger quick or have the technique of Agger.

I think it's a shame, I would have liked to have seen Hobbs be given a chance as the 3rd/4th CD of the books this season, obviously Skrtle looks a good signing and Sami's probably managed to earn himself another year now, so looks like the end for Hobbs, sadly.

[dww]

Hobbs dropped by Scunthorpe? Oh dear.

Bad news really, with signing Skrtll i can't see him getting an opportunity and won't be surprised if he is sold.

The thing about some of the youngsters we've signed is that some are not fast enough especially for the premiership and for some technique is lacking, why on earth sign them then? Hobbs has the size, but certainly not Skrtle/Agger quick or have the technique of Agger.

I'm not too worried about the Hobbs thing actually (having read some Scunny blogs - heaven help me) he seems to be quite well regarded. I would imagine they just had to make some changes to stop the rot and unless you are a world beater loan players and youngsters are usually the first to go as the manager knows they are unlikely to be there in the future. He does need games though if he is ever to progress - hopefully he will be starting again soon.

The others it is a bit of a kick in the pants about to be honest - it is definitely true there is no point loaning them for them not to play. I guess we were unlucky with the timing of the Hammill loan but if we could have we should have recalled him in January when their problems were clear.

[dww]

Aston Villa 1-1 Middlesbrough
By Matt Braithwaite

Gareth Barry's penalty rescued a point for Aston Villa against Middlesbrough.

The England star struck home from the spot in the second half after Luke Young was harshly judged to have handled Ashley Young's shot.

Stewart Downing had given the visitors a deserved lead when he latched onto Zat Knight's poor clearance and struck low past Scott Carson's right hand.

Carson was the busier of the keepers though Boro had Mido to thank for a goal-line clearance from John Carew.

Middlesbrough dominated the first half, Robert Huth's early header over the bar signalling the visitors' intent.

Gareth Southgate's men nearly took the lead when Tuncay Sanli broke clear in the area but Carson was alert to make an excellent point-blank save, the ball rebounding to Mido, who fired narrowly wide.

Boro continued to press and Mohamed Shawky fired over from the edge of the area following a sweeping move.

Middlesbrough just can't seem to avoid controversy at the moment

Villa were guilty of repeated unforced errors and it was Knight's mistake that set up Downing for the goal.

The hosts finally had a sight of goal shortly after but Young screwed his shot well wide from 20 yards.

But Boro continued to threaten, Shawky firing a foot wide of Carson's right hand post from 25 yards, and Gary O'Neil's defence-splitting pass nearly setting up Tuncay.

Villa nearly equalised through Carew but his shot from six yards was cleared by the lively Mido with Mark Schwarzer beaten.

Two half-time substitutions by Martin O'Neill, bringing on Marlon Harewood and Olof Mellberg, helped his side make a better fist of things in the second half.

But despite a Barry chip onto the roof of the net and a weak Young header directly at Schwarzer, they rarely looked like scoring until the penalty was awarded.

Boro could feel aggrieved as a shot by Villa's Young hit his Boro namesake on the elbow and referee Steve Bennett pointed to the spot.

Barry struck the penalty calmly to Schwarzer's right as the keeper went the wrong way.

Tempers began to fray towards the end as Boateng and Huth were booked for needless offences.

Aston Villa: Carson, Gardner (Mellberg 46), Knight, Laursen, Bouma, Maloney (Harewood 46), Reo-Coker, Barry, Young, Agbonlahor, Carew.
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Salifou, Osbourne.

Goals: Barry 74 pen.

Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Young, Huth, Wheater, Pogatetz, O'Neil, Boateng, Shawky, Downing, Sanli, Mido (Cattermole 83).
Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Rochemback, Johnson, Grounds.

Booked: Shawky, Schwarzer, Mido, Boateng, Huth.

Goals: Downing 23.

Att: 39,874

Ref: Steve Bennett (Kent).

[dww]

Update: 15/03/08

Hobbs: Unused sub as Scunthorpe loose 3-1 to QPR
Hammil: Not in Southampton match day squad (they lost 5-0 to Hull)
Threlfall: Played the last 10 minutes of Herefords 1-0 win over Wycombe
Carson: Match reports he had a bit of a 'mare against Pompey
Antwi: Not in the match day squad as Hartlepool lost 3-1 to Tranmere

[Shaggy]

Carson really is poor - I hope Villa cough up sharpish, before they change their minds.

As for the rest - it seems fairly obvious that none of them will ever play for the Reds again.

[dww]

Carson really is poor - I hope Villa cough up sharpish, before they change their minds.

As for the rest - it seems fairly obvious that none of them will ever play for the Reds again.

Does look that way. I guess the Scunthorpe loan was always a bit of a risk at the **** kicking end of the Championship though.

It will be interesting to see how we treat Anderson who is the only one who is not playing for reasons other than being not deemed good enough.

[dww]

25/03/08

As far as I can tell none of them even made the bench except Hammil who failed to get onto the pitch anyway.

[dww]

Update 31/03/08

Progress for Hobbs as he gets on the bench as Scunny lose 1-0.
Hammill goes one better getting into the Southampton team (and even having a shot) that lost 1-0 to Cardiff.
Antwi on the Hartlepool bench to watch them loose 1-3 to Swansea (Anderson is still injured).
Threlfall not even in the match day squad at Hereford.
Carson had another day to forget for Villa as they went down 4-0 to United.
Mihaylov not in the team for FC Twente either (they don't give the unused subs on their website).

[Shaggy]

Threlfall ....poor lad. I hate to see LFC youngsters plummet down the ladder like this.

[lfcchris]

Threlfall ....poor lad. I hate to see LFC youngsters plummet down the ladder like this.

He's been out for a while with an injury mate. Think it could be a result of that

[dww]

Anderson set to stay?

April 1, 2008



Swansea City manager Rerberto Martinez has revealed plans to try and keep the young Liverpool winger Paul Anderson at Swansea next season.

Paul Anderson had been injured for the last two months with a hamstring injury, and he is planning to return to action against Bournemouth this weekend. The on-loan Liverpool player was in impressive form before his injury.

Martinez is hoping to use the 19 year old footballer stays injury free for the rest of the season in order to secure Championship football for next season and is hopeful that the next five weeks will not be Anderson’s last in a Swansea shirt.

“We definitely want to keep Paul beyond this season and we’ll do all we can to make that happen.” said Martinez.

“First of all we need to listen to what Rafael Benitez thinks, then we need to listen to Paul.

“We will never force anyone to stay at this club if they don’t want to be here, but the way Paul has settled in it’s quite clear in my eyes. Paul is definitely a Swansea City player.

“Paul’s enjoyed his time here, which is a big thing, and he has improved immensely as a player. We want to improve as a club season after season and being able to keep someone like Paul would certainly help us do that.

“At the moment Liverpool are in the thick of their season and we are too.

“But there will be a number of ins and outs at Liverpool in the summer and Paul is someone they will have to discuss.

“We have made it very clear we’d like to have Paul here again next season, whether that’s on loan or on a permanent basis.” he added.

Anderson has displayed immense potential in his first six months at Swansea by giving them an extra attacking dimension with his pace, scoring nine goals in 28 starts.

[Colemere]

Jimmy Ryan at Shrewsbury doesn't sound as if he will be getting 90 minutes before the end of the season

[dww]

Jimmy Ryan at Shrewsbury doesn't sound as if he will be getting 90 minutes before the end of the season

He was one of the two loan players in the lower leagues to have played since I last updated with 10 minutes at the end of their 3-0 win over Wrexham. Antwi and Hobbs have made the unused subs position their own at their home clubs. Hammill has been dropped and I assume Threlfall is still injured (either way he didn't make the squad).

Carson played against Derby but as expected basically got the day off.

[southern red]

Robbie Threlfall played a couple of weeks ago as Hereford Reserves beat Westfields 3 - 0 in the final of the Herefordshire FA Senior Cup. He was booked after 11 minutes and doesn't seem to warrant a mention in the match report after that. Since then, he hasn't been in the 16 for any of the following 3 games.