Lad got some game time on loan and now we're short on numbers in midfield especially players who are defensively minded. Sounds a common sense move to me.
Incidentally how many players have we had that have come through our academy and played 50 plus first team games for us? Kay, Adeboyejo, Butterfield.. Maybe count Jacob Brown but not sure how long he was in our academy.
Shep & Bland out on loan. In Sheps case, "we'd prefer him to be getting game time than hanging round Oakwell" But for Bland, vice versa. It seems to me. (I agree he seems a decent player)
My worry is that it means one of our central midfielders has got an injury that’s going to keep them out for a while.
Massive difference - Shep is playing L2, Bland ain’t. Either someone is injured, or they rate him and want to assess how far he’s developed in a higher quality environment. Playing well at a lower level is good and will bring him on, but proves nothing for L1 readiness.
It’s a possibility. But either way - Bland being involved in and around the 1st team provides him a stage to showcase himself for next season.
Have we not got Connell and Nwakali as defensive midfielders, who we seem unable to play together, so we need another one? Connell's only 1 game out? Yes, no complaints on Bland, he's a rare future talent, and maybe should be at a higher level but that should have been sorted in January. Is this Mladen's call, and DC will leave him unused on the bench to prove another point?
He's played two dozen games with regular first team Football. The day before we play we get told he's been brought back to integrate with the first team squad. We won't have brought him back not to at least be on the bench. My feeling is someone has got injured in training leaving us short on numbers. All to be revealed at 2 pm tomorrow.
Difference in divisions, no difference in principle. In fact you'd assume the player loaned out to the lesser team would be the one needing absolutely more game time. Back for a reason, and as others say we will be clearer tomorrow
He’s covering centre half. MDG is suspended and Pines injured. Which leaves Robbo, Earl and McCarthy who will all start. The other option would be Oliver Wilkinson who has only just turned 16 so all seems sensible to me despite the whining and bairning on here.
We've known since Tuesday night about that, yet we only got told late yesterday he'd been recalled. I would expect it to be a surprise injury we wasn't aware of.