Loans Coming Back

We have two players out on loan – Aaron Lewis and Alex Bradley. we’ll start with them, before looking at current squad players who might benefit from a spell out on loan.

Alex Bradley

Bradley only joined Yeovil at the beginning of November after a couple of outings for us. He’s since played four times, twice in the FA Cup and twice in the league. He is due to return on January 10th and having already played for us this season, he can either remain at Yeovil or come back here – there is no third option. He has missed the last two matches for the Glovers with an injury but is firmly a part of the manager’s first-team plans.

Speaking to the local press, Michael said the following of the two loan players today: “We’ve got a couple out on loan with Alex and Aaron at the minute. Whether they stay out on loan or turn into permanents…”

That could be a hint that Yeovil want to turn the Bradley deal permanent and being brutally honest, I don’t see a first-team squad place for him here. My gut feeling is this gets turned into a permanent deal and he remains at Huish Park.

Aaron Lewis

The situation with Aaron is a little different, as he hasn’t appeared for us this season. His loan spell at Newport is due to end in early January, so he could feasibly head back here but go elsewhere on loan. I must question whether he will stay with the Exiles… they’re flying high and since joining them he has appeared just once, this weekend, as they lost against Orient. I fear this poor loan spell, for whatever reason, might leave him with a touch of the Jordan Adebayo-Smith syndrome, or the Juan Luque syndrome – liked by supporters but left by the wayside as the squad progresses. I think Aaron will return to the club in January, but I think efforts will be made to secure him another loan deal elsewhere, somewhere he is likely to get regular football.

Possible Loan Deals Out

Finally, Michael has hinted at the possibility of other players heading out on loan. This would be with a view to achieving a double target – getting someone else in with perhaps more immediate quality, and giving some of our fringe players a chance to play regular football and show why they deserve a place in the Lincoln City squad. I can see two players who I feel would benefit from a stint in League Two, playing regular football, and both were excellent last week against Shrewsbury.

The first is Remy Howarth. He’s such a likeable lad and he does get stints from the bench when he’s fit as was shown at the weekend against Sunderland. However, his position is one you could see us trying to bring someone in to cover, the versatile attacking berth that demands flair and directness. This is no disrespect to Remy, who has done well in patches, but I haven’t seen him yet be able to impact a game as a sub. I think he just needs more senior football, maybe in League Two, to prove what he is worth.

The other I could see heading out is Zack Elbouzedi. The issue we have with Zack is that the left side is fairly well covered by him, Theo Archibald, Jorge Grant and even Brennan Johnson or Anthony Scully. Even if we are looking for impact from the bench, Theo brings that in abundance. I suppose it might even be a toss-up between the two as to who heads out, but I think one has to. They are the only two I can see going out for the second half of the season unless transfers in mean a current first-team player, or ‘first reserve’ leaves the club.

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