Reliance on loans in the last few years have played a part in where we are now I reckon.
Look at any side near the top of any division and virtually none of them will be reliant on loan players. The spine of those sides will all be permanent signings.
Of course, the loaners we attract are usually readily available because the bigger clubs have a never ending supply of hopeful 19 year olds with no league experience and crucially, they’re ridiculously cheap which fits our business model.
The problem of course is you are just padding out the squad numbers on the cheap, and as you slip down the league structure your chances of striking lucky with the loan system (an Ivan Toney or Beckford etc) diminish to virtually nothing.
Does anyone seriously think there is a premier of championship club out there who will do a subsidised loan deal with Scunny – and provide us with a player they think anything about at all?
Would they send a player who fits in with their long term plans to Scunthorpe in the state we’re in to try and bail us out for 4 months in a League 2 relegation dogfight?
The answer is ‘no’, and so that’s why in the recent past we’ve got lads who are more likely that not going to be playing non league football in the not too distant future – and the parent club knows they probably aren’t going to make it, so it matters little where they send them.
I thinks it’s almost certain that only permanent and experienced signings in this window will stand a chance of possibly saving us.
