Loan Watch 2018/19

Samuel Shashoua: Baleares vs Melilla (Sunday 5:30pm)

 

Samuel Shashoua was an unused sub in Baleares' 0-0 draw Melilla, which appears to have confused some Baleares fans too

 

Samuel Shashoua played 78 minutes in Baleares' 1-0 win over Melilia, earning them a spot in the playoff final against Mirandes

 

How is there season still going?!

 

Our next league season will have started before some of those our
loanees are currently playing in have actually ended.

 

I get that, but this is Spain. Barca reached a cup final and their last game was over 3 weeks ago.

 

Promotion from the lower leagues here involve a lengthier playoff system as they are regional

 

As the Spanish third tier is split into four groups, promotion works out like this
i.) The four teams who topped their respective group are drawn into two-legged playoffs, with the two winners gaining automatic promotion while also going forward into a two-legged final to crown the champion of the third tier
ii.) The teams which finished 2nd-4th are drawn into two-legged playoffs, whittling them down from twelve to six
iii.) In the next stage of the promotion playoffs, the two losing group winners join the remaining teams which finished 2nd-4th in a two-legged tie
iv.) The winners of those matches go forward into a final two-legged tie, with the two winners joining the teams from the champions playoff in the second tier

Or, to put it another way, this is how Baleares' calendar has looked for the last few weeks
18th May - final league match vs Hercules
26th May/2nd June - champions playoff semi final vs Racing Santander
(9th/12 June - champions playoff final between Racing Santander and Fuenlabrada)
9th/16th June - promotion playoff semi final vs Melilla
23rd/29th or 30th June - promotion playoff final vs Mirandes

So on the one hand, if Baleares beat Santander at the start of the month their season would have wrapped up a week ago - but because they lost to Santander on away goals (because of course...) they have to go through an additional two rounds of playoffs and Shashoua will be playing for them until practically the last minute of his loan, which means that Baleares are getting their money's worth but I'm going to hazard a guess that it will likely mean Shashoua won't feature in pre-season considering we play Dulwich Hamlet two weeks after his final game for Baleares

 

Samuel Shashoua: Baleares vs Mirandes (Sunday 5:45pm) - just two more games to go!

 

Samuel Shashoua played 90 minutes of Baleares' 2-0 loss to Mirandes

Oh for ****'s sake, this month can choke on a big, fat, veiny one...

 

Samuel Shashoua: Baleares vs Mirandes (Sunday 5:00pm) - and they need to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg to secure promotion

 

Shashoua is the only one not yet returned to THFC ??

 

We can thank Baleares for not getting the job done against Racing Santander for that...

 

Samuel Shashoua played 90 minutes in Baleares' 3-1 win over Mirandes - or, to put it another way, he's learned how to be a Spurs player as Baleares were 1-0 down at half time and 3-0 down in the tie, only to win the match after scoring three second half goals...but failed to gain promotion on away goals (which is also how they missed out on automatic promotion against Santander a few weeks back)

 

I've seen murmurings about us loaning out Oliver Skipp this coming season

To be honest I'm not so sure about this, or to be more accurate I'm not so sure of this right now: the one thing that stands out about Skippy at the moment is he's still pretty lanky, and because of this there's the risk that he'd end up getting outmuscled on a regular basis - and that's definitely an issue with some of our youngsters, be it KWP getting bodied by West Scam players last season or Marcus Edwards looking so waif-like even in the Eredivisie

For me, the U23 players we should definitely consider loaning out this season would be
Kazaiah Sterling - he needs regular minutes to show what he can do, which he didn't get at Sunderland
Jack Roles - he definitely deserves a chance to show he can replicate his youth form in the professional ranks
Tashan Oakley-Boothe - he lost a lot of momentum due to injury last season, so like Luke Amos a loan could work wonders
Alfie Whiteman - while it's assumed he might be our third-choice keeper this season, wouldn't it be better if he has some first-team experience?
Brandon Austin - similar to Whiteman, we have numerous academy goalkeepers, so why not give him the chance to impress?