Is the loan game just pain?

January 28, 2014

Categories: Loan Celts

“Haw mate, gaunnae tap me a fitba’ player man?”

For anyone who has lived around Glasgow, they’ve probably heard something very similar to the above question, although, change “fitba’ player” to “ten bob” or perhaps “some money for ma bus fare/ cuppa tea” depending on the person who is asking the question to you.

This seems to be quite a common thing at Celtic these days, I have wrote about it before and how I am fed up with us signing players for them to sit on the bench and then go out on loan, never to be heard of again.

But is there really a benefit to players going out on loan ?

So far, I’ve already lost count of the times that Mo Bangura has gone out on loan. Over the years, similar things have happened with some of our younger players.

This transfer window, Bahrudin Atajic has gone out on loan. Tony Watt is already on loan, there’s talk of Dylan McGeouch going on loan. We have a player at Notts County on loan, one at Kilmarnock. I’m sure with the help of Google, I could find some more but the point is that we have a lot of players already out on loan.

In the past, I’ve said that I’d rather players are sold instead of going away on loan but really, there is no other option.

Of the players mentioned, we were unable to offer them first team football which of course is a different argument. In my mind, if a player is going to be good enough to play for us then they should be given a chance.

I think Darnell Fisher is a good example, he has looked decent and he’s been given a few matches to prove himself. But that seems to be quite unusual for our youngsters.

The big problem is that when these guys are too good for the youth team but not quite ready for the first team, we have nothing for them.

Until a few years ago, we had a reserve league, the SFA, I believe decided to get rid of this. We are not allowed to put a youth / reserve team in the lower leagues. The SFA, I believe have decided not to allow this.

Perhaps Celtic haven’t asked for this to happen? Or perhaps Celtic don’t want to have a second team in another league? It could well be the case that Celtic are quite happy to send players out on loan but in my opinion, it’s a rubbish way to work things.

Too often, we hear of players who are “the next big thing” but they end up not doing very much. On the other hand, most top flight clubs in Scotland have at least one player who is a product of Celtic’s youth set up.

Are we now becoming a feeder club for the rest of the SPFL ?

Surely instead of a loan deal, the best option for us would be to give these guys the chance to play. With no real challenge in the league, I think we should be having at least two or three young players in the first team squad for a prolonged period of time.

If the Scottish authorities will not allow Celtic to play a second team in the lower leagues, why not set up an agreement with a non Scottish based club that we can use to send players on loan ?Back in the day, an injured player or a player suffering a loss of confidence or form used to play in the reserves for a while and for me, that was the best way to get them match fit.

When reserve football was first cancelled in Scotland, after the season that our team had won eight in a row, we were told that this was because some teams couldn’t afford to have a reserve team.Well, that’s fine, don’t have one. Celtic can afford it so why should we have to suffer because some other teams can’t afford a reserve team ?I’d rather our players are kept with Celtic instead of another club but if that’s not an option, I really do think that we should be linking up with a non Scottish based club so that we can keep our young players playing together and playing competitive, first team football when we can’t offer it.

Over the years, Ajax have been well known for having a great youth set up. I watched a programme before saying that all age groups from Ajax play the same formation and the players go up to the next age group together.

By the time these players reach the first team, they’ve been playing together for years, they’ve played most positions on the pitch and they’re used to the tactics, formations etc.

Perhaps, we could learn a thing or two from the Dutch ?