The saddest loans

[RobotCrow]

I remember watching the box scores for Shane Duffy at Yeovil Town each week all season long last year and thinking that it was just the saddest thing ever--especially when Everton was flying so high all season. But I don't think that Duffy for Yeovil Town even scratches the sadness surface of John Lundstram at Blackpool. Have we ever had a sadder loan than this?

 

[BluenosePaul]

McAleny breaking his leg early on his Brentford career was pretty sad. Could of been the making of him that year long loan.

 

[dead_soft]

Are you on something?

 

[L4Everton]

Deulofeu, a strong season where gains were made and then farmed out to nowhere to get little if any playing time having had a tatse of top flight first team action, goals, and a strong season in a Europe qualifying side.

You don't know what you've got till it's gone.

 

[ilikecheese]

I don't get it

 

[royalblue66]

What ?

 

[toffee matt]

Deulofeu, a strong season where gains were made and then farmed out to nowhere to get little if any playing time having had a tatse of top flight first team action, goals, and a strong season in a Europe qualifying side.

You don't know what you've got till it's gone.

He's at a club that won the Europa league last season

 

[L4Everton]

He's at a club that won the Europa league last season

And getting what game time? He might as well be playing tiddly winks for Antarctica's second eleven.

 

[RobotCrow]

I don't get it

Well, it's not super-complicated! Basically, most loans are into situations where the player gets to experience winning, losing, drawing...ups and downs (e.g., Lukaku to WBA two seasons ago, where the club wasn't great, wasn't terrible, etc...). Some are fantastic, where you experience almost entirely positives (e.g., Lukaku to Everton last season, where the club excelled). But then are things like Duffy last year and Lundstram this year where we have sent them into a place where they get to lose, over and over and over and over again.

This is not to debate whether it's ultimately good or bad for the players' development--I have seen it argued that Lundstram needs some adversity to toughen him up a bit. Rather, this is just about loans that, on their face, would make you cry if it was you.

 

[cjohno]

He's at a club that won the Europa league last season

i thought he had returned to barca after falling out with the coach

 

[RobotCrow]

He's at a club that won the Europa league last season

Yeah, but he's not even sniffing the pitch. I think it's a pretty sad loan!

 

[McBain]

 

[toffee matt]

Yeah, but he's not even sniffing the pitch. I think it's a pretty sad loan!

Perhaps he isn't actually that good?

 

[toffeejack]

the saddest loans were ones like anthony gardener, sander westerveld etc.

 

[Azzurri]

Sad?

What are you on about sad?