I was going to do this later on in the week, but in light of the Chris Baird rumours today I figured I may as well do it today- because I need all of the material I can get. In this blog I intend to identify potential (and realistic) loan signings who would benefit the team, and all going well get us up the table as quickly as possible. The key areas we need to strengthen in my opinion are in defensive areas as in my opinion we're ridiculously top heavy.
Chris Baird (West Brom)- Cutting right to the chase, Baird coming back is a rumour that could very realistically come to fruition and I would be greatly in favour of it. Its no secret that Zverotic isn't exactly "good", and when Hoogland is injured we need to keep a level of consistency in terms of quality in our back four which will in turn lead to more clean sheets and us climbing the table. Baird as well all know can also play as a Holding Midfielder- which we've lacked in the purist sense for the last few seasons. We're currently using a combination of LVC, Parker and G. Williams as our 3 Main Midfielders- with the potential for Kavanagh and Stafylidis coming in if we're to go by previous team selections. Baird would provide a good option to add to this midfield, and would provide Parker a necessary rest in some games in the runs such as the one we've just come off of of 7 Games in 21 Days. Baird could also provide a good option from corners- which I think a few people have forgotten, and with Blackpool being the prime example we need to do better from corners, and you only have to look at games such as Aston Villa when Baird lost his man and ran to the near post and won us the game.
Robert Huth (Stoke)- Aside from Burn and Bodurov we're severely lacking in good options at Centre Back. Amorebieta is best at Left Back in my opinion because of the mistakes he is prone to making, and also his crossing ability. This leaves us with Hutchinson, who will probably Two-Foot someone the minute he gets on the pitch. Cameron Burgess who showed he wasn't ready earlier on in the season, and then to an extent Casasola and Liam Donnelly. None of these options would be good enough for the Championship in my opinion, and Burn and Bodurov need competition for their places- and we also need to be wary of any injuries one or the other could sustain. Huth would be a really good option for us because of his height, experience and general ability. Although the stumbling block on this deal would be Huth would presumably want guaranteed football- and I wouldn't necessarily want to upset the Burn, Bodurov, Bettinelli back three thats served us so well so far.
Harry Maguire (Hull)- He would be useful for similar reasons to Huth, although he would be the second choice option to Huth as he has more experience. Maguire is someone we were reportedly after in the Summer, and I was very much in favour of it- as I'd seen him semi-frequently whilst he was at Sheffield Utd the year before. Although a Loan probably wouldn't be the best option for us as he still needs some developing he'd still provide a good enough option to challenge Burn and/or Bodurov so he should be at least considered as an option.
Jon Flanagan (Liverpool)- I've seen conflicting reports over whether Flanagan has a Knee injury or not, however with Manquillo, Moreno, Jose Enrique and Glen Johnson I can't see him getting near the first team unless some circumstances change. As such I think he would be a very viable option for a Loan offer- and would be a very good signing as well. I was really impressed with Flanagan from what I saw of him last season, and he provides the added bonus of being able to play both Left and Right Back to a sufficient standard- both of which are areas we seem to constantly struggle with- although I have been impressed with Stafylidis in the last few matches. He would be a similar signing to Baird in order to rectify the Full-Back situation, however as said he would provide an option for us at both positions so would be a very useful player were we to Loan him.
Wilson Palacios (Stoke)- I've never been the biggest fan of Palacios, but if we were looking for a Holding Midfielder who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty Palacios would be a very good option- similar reasons to Baird from the Holding Midfield aspect he would provide us with a different option as we are quite thin once you get past LVC and Parker for proper Box-to-Box midfielders. I considered putting Sidwell on this list, but I think he's valuable enough to Stoke that they wouldn't consider a Loan Offer were we to put one in- and in any case I'm not sure the combination of Parker and Sidwell would be the best option for us.
Scott Sinclair- Although we do need to focus primarily on our Defensive frailties, I still think we should look at options such as Sinclair to add to our attacking capabilities. Sinclair has been somewhat lost since he moved from Swansea, and by all accounts he wasn't very good at West Brom last season. However I think he would provide a good alternative to George Williams if we are to stick with the current combination of Midfielders in terms of styles of play. Although Wages would presumably be a stumbling block, we would probably be able to get City to pay the majority of his wages as they've done previously with players like Bellamy and Adebayor- which would mean we would get a good value for money deal.
As well as potential Loan Signings we also have a number of players out on Loan, some of which I've seen a number of fans saying we should recall
Alex Kacaniklic- He would be a good option, similar to the Scott Sinclair loan in terms of what they offer in the short-term, I wasn't in favour of us loaning out Kaca in the first place, however in my opinion we should leave him in Denmark this season as I've previously said we're already quite top heavy, but I would still at least consider bringing him back as he would be a good option to have as I'm not convince Williams can play every game, and the current alternatives we have are either bad (Chihi) or not ready to start (Roberts).
Kostas Mitroglou- Once again I wasn't in favour of us loaning him, and I thought we should either sell him or start him. The question would of course be whether he would be as good in a Fulham shirt as he is in an Olympiakos shirt. That question is by-the-by in my opinion, and once again I'd leave him where he is this seasons. However you can't deny Mitroglou is a natural finisher, and had we have had him in games such as Blackpool- and undoubtedly in the future we will have equally frustrating games so he would be a good option to have were to pull the trigger.
Ryan Tunnicliffe- I've spoken about our lack of depth for his type of Midfielder, and out of the three I've discussed so far- he would be the most likely to recall in my opinion. I was one of the people who wanted Tunnicliffe to play under "him" earlier in the season. However I'm not convinced Tunnicliffe would get the playing time he needs at this stage of his career in the current Fulham team, so I personally would leave him to develop at Blackburn- although he could obviously come back and make an impact at Fulham, I don't think he would currently be best served in a White (and Grey Stripes with random Orange Bits) shirt.
Maarten Stekelenburg- People seem to have forgotten about Stekelenburg- perhaps for the greater good. With Bettinelli currently playing the way he is I don't see a place for Stekelenburg, and thats the end of that.
The question surrounding most of these players are whether or not Kit could turn around their fortunes at the club, and get them to play for the shirt, however thats impossible to say without actually pulling the trigger and recalling them- and at this stage I don't think we should risk upsetting the balance of the squad.
I also think we should Loan out a Number of Players to help out with player development, and also to shrink the squad down a bit which would in turn allow us to sign players in January.
Moussa Dembele- He's shown what he's capable of in recent matches, specifically Derby in that he's a very good goalscorer. I would loan him to a Top 6 League 1 (not MK Dons though, they can go fuck themselves) team as he would provide a very good acquisition for them, and would aid in the development of Dembele.
Cameron Burgess- I see the situation surrounding him similar to Dan Burn, and not just because of the similar heights. Arthurworrey has recently gone to Yeovil (which Burn did previously) and I would look at Loaning him to another League 1 team which would once again aid in his development.
Chris David- This may not be a popular opinion, but I'm not a huge fan of David in his current form. I still think he needs some work, and I would loan him to the Eredivisie and hope he uses the less physical league in order to develop his game, and if he doesn't we can sell him. The argument to keep him is of course centered around Ruiz's uncertain future at the club, however with McCormack playing the role he is anyway it wouldn't be the end of the world for McCormack to drop a bit further back and bring in one of our numerous striking options.
There are numerous other players I would loan out, however these 3 have gotten near the first team so I decided to focus on them. This is purely who I think we should Loan out, and if it were up to me on the 1st January Fazlic, Fotheringham and Chihi would be gone permanently. I also think Pat Roberts should be sent to the U21s for the moment because he needs to develop his game a bit more before he's ready for first team football as he hasn't really made much of an impact so far.
Thanks for reading, and if you've made it to the end credit where credit is due because this is one of my longer blogs. As always I appreciate any feedback on these blogs- and of course with this type of blog I'd also like to hear your thoughts on who we should sign, and your thoughts on the players I've suggested. Thanks again.
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