20 minutes ago, werstayinup said:

I have no doubt at all that i will be on my own here but i actually think that Loft will come good(he wont be a top scorer) with a pacy striker alongside him and a run of games

 

That's called blind optimism. Nothing at all wrong with that, but I can't see how he's shown any sort of promise whatsoever in anybody's eyes.

 

Our current loanees have been a mixed bag really haven't they.

Arblaster - Obviously an excellent prospect. Did expect him to get one or two more goals than he did for us, but still did a great job and leaves with everyone's best wishes.

Devine - Not as big on him as some people here. I mean he's a talented little player but considering all the hype he came with, his stats leave a bit to be desired. Would no doubt be much better next season on the back of a full season in League One. Needs to have a big second half of the season for us if we're to stay clear of those relegation spots.

Thomas - Has a bit of pace but not much else. Still young and raw so hard to judge properly. May as well have left the club months ago really.

Balmer - Looks miles away even at this level. Constantly looks like he's terrified of making a mistake, and makes them too often.

 

Edited January 8, 20242 yr by Valiiant

20 minutes ago, JRC said:

Fair enough if you have an agenda against him. The personal issues were linked to a death in his family. The other seasons he was playing under 23 football when not with us, not out injured.  

No agenda what so ever, I posted that he, grant and Wilson are injury prone. Though the personal issues were gambling, unless this is earlier  

For me there was enough there in the summer for us to target someone else and I think that’s been proven this season. Be interesting to know how many starts he had in a row before getting some kind of knock, before this bad injury. 

18 minutes ago, Valiiant said:

 

Our current loanees have been a mixed bag really haven't they.

Arblaster - Obviously an excellent prospect. Did expect him to get one or two more goals than he did for us, but still did a great job and leaves with everyone's best wishes.

Devine - Not as big on him as some people here. I mean he's a talented little player but considering all the hype he came with, his stats leave a bit to be desired. Would no doubt be much better next season on the back of a full season in League One. Needs to have a big second half of the season for us if we're to stay clear of those relegation spots.

Thomas - Has a bit of pace but not much else. Still young and raw so hard to judge properly. May as well have left the club months ago really.

Balmer - Looks miles away even at this level. Constantly looks like he's terrified of making a mistake, and makes them too often.

 

I think Devine will be class in a side going for promotion. I did prefer Arblaster though. Thomas very average , Balmer not league 1 

1 minute ago, valiant_593 said:

I think Devine will be class in a side going for promotion. I did prefer Arblaster though. Thomas very average , Balmer not league 1 

 

Maybe I just expected a little much from Devine. But some Spurs fan genuinely talk about him as Maddison's understudy from next season. I just don't see that happening at all. He's a million miles away from that sort of level yet.

Edited January 8, 20242 yr by Valiiant

26 minutes ago, Valiiant said:

 

Maybe I just expected a little much from Devine. But some Spurs fan genuinely talk about him as Maddison's understudy from next season. I just don't see that happening at all. He's a million miles away from that sort of level yet.

I think Alfie was somewhat a slow starter albeit I felt he looked decent enough at the start but say compared to Arblaster he came to us after the season started so has taken a different path with getting used to his teammates and what we are asking of him etc. I'd say he looks one of our best players each week now. I think he will ultimately be a very good PL player but yeah he's certainly not ready yet. My expectation would be say Plymouth stay up they loan him to them to play Championship level next season then start including him thereafter.

18 hours ago, Rampant Zebra said:

More goals and appearances in league 1 than James Wilson last season. Just saying...

After past mistakes I try not to judge a player by stats .

Having seen Loft in person. Other than Wigan and Blackpool he's been one of the most disinterested donkeys I've seen down the Vale.

Any comparison with Wilson based on stats is pretty comical. 

Loft needs carting off. Cut our losses, pay him up whatever.

 

1 minute ago, darren1810 said:

After past mistakes I try not to judge a player by stats .

Having seen Loft in person. Other than Wigan and Blackpool he's been one of the most disinterested donkeys I've seen down the Vale.

Any comparison with Wilson based on stats is pretty comical. 

Loft needs carting off. Cut our losses, pay him up whatever.

 

I'm afraid that I'm with you on this one. I usually try and adopt a "glass half-full" approach and give a player a dozen games (to account for adapting to the geographical move, new team mates, gaining match fitness if injured etc) but his record for Vale (I'm not concerned about what he did for other clubs) is one goal in twenty appearances. Even only counting starts it's one in eight. 

However, stats aside, it's the lack of goal threat which worries me. If you compare with Uche then he has had been shots blazed over, headers go narrowly over, runs into the box etc. I genuinely can't recall Loft having more than about two or three attempts on goal in those 20 appearances. That's awful!  To be fair to Loft, he does ping a decent pass from time-to-time but he's not there for that - he's there to provide a goal threat and he's just not done that.

I would add that I would dearly wish to be eating humble pie and for him to suddenly find form. I don't want any player in a Vale shirt to fail. But twenty games, one goal and a handful of attempts on goal are dreadful stats for what's supposed to be an important striker signing. 

26 minutes ago, robf said:

I'm afraid that I'm with you on this one. I usually try and adopt a "glass half-full" approach and give a player a dozen games (to account for adapting to the geographical move, new team mates, gaining match fitness if injured etc) but his record for Vale (I'm not concerned about what he did for other clubs) is one goal in twenty appearances. Even only counting starts it's one in eight. 

However, stats aside, it's the lack of goal threat which worries me. If you compare with Uche then he has had been shots blazed over, headers go narrowly over, runs into the box etc. I genuinely can't recall Loft having more than about two or three attempts on goal in those 20 appearances. That's awful!  To be fair to Loft, he does ping a decent pass from time-to-time but he's not there for that - he's there to provide a goal threat and he's just not done that.

I would add that I would dearly wish to be eating humble pie and for him to suddenly find form. I don't want any player in a Vale shirt to fail. But twenty games, one goal and a handful of attempts on goal are dreadful stats for what's supposed to be an important striker signing. 

He never seems to be in and around it in the area when we get the ball in to be honest, not sure if hes told to do that (up until recently though none of our strikers seemed to be getting into those positions)

1 hour ago, valiant_593 said:

No agenda what so ever, I posted that he, grant and Wilson are injury prone. Though the personal issues were gambling, unless this is earlier  

For me there was enough there in the summer for us to target someone else and I think that’s been proven this season. Be interesting to know how many starts he had in a row before getting some kind of knock, before this bad injury. 

The gambling wasn't the personal problem at Vale. What caused the issue at Vale may have led to the gambling issue. Clark wasn't injured at Accrington at the start of his first season. For a while he just wasn't picked. I believe they were playing Harvey Rogers at rightback. He ever present for the rest of the season after he regained his place in the team,  other than a 3 match ban. The only time he was injured at Accrington was Jan 23. He's basically had his injury this season and a short injury last season  .... when he actually played 49 games.

12 minutes ago, valefan16 said:

He never seems to be in and around it in the area when we get the ball in to be honest, not sure if hes told to do that (up until recently though none of our strikers seemed to be getting into those positions)

Yep - but I still reckon Uche had more chances in the Charlton game alone than I've seen Loft have in twenty appearances so it is possible for some of our attackers to be, well, attacking...

According to Alan Nixon us and Exeter are bidding for Jake Young at Bradford. Was prolific in first half of the season on loan at Swindon and looking at a six figure fee for him.

I agree Rob  , Loft's goal tally is woeful and it's not going to get any better no matter how many more games he plays because for me he non league standard . 

21 minutes ago, Guppys left peg said:

According to Alan Nixon us and Exeter are bidding for Jake Young at Bradford. Was prolific in first half of the season on loan at Swindon and looking at a six figure fee for him.

Always thought he looked a tidy player at FGR. Would certainly be a decent statement to sign an in form striker even from L2.

Joe Taylor been recalled by Luton, presume want to send him to a league 1 team, 12 goals in 25 games in a side in the bottom 3 of league 2.  After speaking to a Colchester friend recently, said one of their best forwards they had in 20+ years, would not mind a chance on someone like this, very similar to Thomas in being Welsh under 21, small and quick but clearly has something about him.