With half of more of Town's present matchday squad belonging to other clubs, it's easy to ask exactly how we can expect the players concerned to put as much effort in as, in theory, a permanent player might do. A lot of people are fiercely critical of the loan system and our use of it at the moment, and that got me thinking back over recent years to some of the loan players we've seen in a Town shirt. Some good, some bad, some best forgotten, some embedded in Town legend for ever. In no particular order.

Gio Dos Santos - Arguably one of the most gifted players to pull on a Town shirt in recent years. I remember being stunned when I got a text saying we'd signed him, and equally impressed when I first saw him play. Quick, classy, great passer of the ball, I remember his perfect ball for Alan Quinn's equaliser against the Budgies with particular fondness.

Martijn Reuser - Easy to forget he was taken on loan at first, during our promotion push. I remember being in the dark depths of the old North Stand, aware a mysterious Dutch forward was on the bench and being unsure of where he would fit in. But minutes later, deep into injury time against a Fulham side happy to hold on for a point, he slipped the ball under the advancing keeper to send the ground into wild celebrations, and almost getting himself booked for taking his shirt off when no other celebration seemed to come to mind.

Mike Pollitt - Amidst a fairly bleak season, one of the funnier moments was Jim Magilton's upsetting of eventual replacement Roy Keane, by signing Pollitt at very short notice from Wigan instead of Tommy Miller from Keane's Sunderland. His one game was the derby with Norwich, in which, a short time before the 10 minutes now known as Danny Haynes v NCFC, he pulled off a crucial save from Rob Earnshaw to keep matters level. Never seen in his number 40 shirt again, I even voted for him as player of the year, such was my admiration of his one appearance.

Matt Bates - Put Luke Chadwick through an advertising board. Enough said. Injured in next match and not seen again.

Stern John - I knew things were going wrong for Roy Keane when John joined the already desperate squad in November '09. Unfit, not needed by Palace, Keane clearly saw something in him that I for one did not. I remarked after one game that we could have moved the statue of Sir Bobby inside the ground as a replacement for him and not noticed a great deal of difference.

Simon Walton - I for one really liked him, really thought he could have been a good signing. The partnership he formed with Mark Noble had real potential until Noble went back to Upton Park to become the backbone of West Ham's midfield and Walton, well, went just about everywhere else, regular red cards seemingly following him.

Daryl Murphy - Basically a Town player for the last two years. If Celtic don't want him, he can stay with us for me. Transformed under Mick McCarthy after filling a square hole with his round self out on the left under Jewell.

DJ Campbell - Probably top of every Town fan's Christmas list, and almost certainly Mick McCarthy's, but surely represents the nightmare scenario for a club like ours; drop down a division to get fitness and confidence restored, do exactly that, and move on at the end of three months leaving us looking for his replacement, he having been just that in the first place.

I for one hope Mick McCarthy brings a bit more long term thinking to our squad over the next two transfer windows. Loan players used to be bought in to add a last bit if strength to an already solid squad, not to plug the gaping holes in a squad that should have been filled during the longer than normal close season.

I'm probably not alone in longing for a squad of committed, longer term, permanent signings, and hope that Mick McCarthy can find those in the next six months.

yorkshire added 15:08 - Dec 21 Surely Bullard and Colback of recent signings deserve a mention - both had great original loan spells with us
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murraybrunning added 15:30 - Dec 21 Interesting blog but there are some noteable ommisions, Clapham, magilton were also loanees before making moves permanent. There were some other awful ones as well, Gerry Creaney, David Kerslake(who bafflingly we signed permanently). Nice blogthough always enjoy a trip down memory lane :-)
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apm_77 added 15:44 - Dec 21 I remembered Bullard after a sent the blog! Sorry!!
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DurhamTownFan added 15:56 - Dec 21 more quite poor ones from longer ago than the author seems to remember... Lee Chapman-ineffectual! Somassi abou-thought we were booing him when we shouted his name Mark burchill-did burley just get.him because he was Scottish? Marlon harewood-tried to nick David Johnson's goalbound effort, only succeeded in mystifyingly missing from a yard. Class entertainment! Anyone know any older stories? When did loans actually begin, for example?

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DurhamTownFan added 16:01 - Dec 21 I'm not trying to be difficult, just think it's a bit silly when this and the previous 'nostalgia' blogs only manage to go back a couple of years, eg, campbell and Murphy, the second of whom has been an average 6 out of 10 for most of his time here (negative marks coming up...!)
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ParisBlue added 16:18 - Dec 21 Alan Mahon, David Unsworth and Matt Elliott were fairly decent. Shefki as well (first time round) and I liked Jimmy Juan. And Sixto of course. Bobby Howe - perhaps the most forgetable loan signing ever? Or David Whyte, Jonathan Hunt, Paulo Vernazza, Samasi Abou (outside of the first 11 at that time we had no strength in depth whatsoever). Though fondly remember Kerslake's cross for Mark Stein to score vs the budgies.

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Steve_M added 17:07 - Dec 21 Some other memorable: Scott Houghton, John Moncur, Niklas Gudmundsson....
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MattinLondon added 17:42 - Dec 21 @DurhamTownFan I remember that Marlon harewood miss and I think that it was against Oxford.
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murraybrunning added 08:47 - Dec 22 Indeed it was MattinLondon. Indeed it was.
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murraybrunning added 08:50 - Dec 22 DurhamTownFan.... Lee Chapman was never on loan!
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Lightningboy added 13:27 - Dec 22 Christ..hardly an in depth blog..that's 2 minutes of my life I won't get back.
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Bluesaway added 15:06 - Dec 22 Plenty of others to consider, here's a few more to add to the list - Chris Bart-Williams, Mark Fish (for all of 45 mins!), Danny Simpson, Keith Andrews, David Unsworth, David Healy, Darren O'Dea, Liam Rosenior, James McEveley, Moritz Volz, Rory Fallon - not meant to be a complete list, more a representation of the good, the bad and the ugly!!
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Nthsuffolkblue added 18:54 - Dec 22 Mark Stein and Marcus Bent were classic loan players. Both had fantastic records whilst on loan and very ordinary ones when signed permanently, if my memory serves me correctly.
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truebluedaz added 10:43 - Dec 23 Sixto Peralto
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bigolconnor added 09:12 - Dec 25 How about karbasyoun? I think he broke his leg or something and is now a youth coach at arsenal.
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IamSpartacus added 23:52 - Dec 25 No loan blog is complete without a mention of Alan Sunderland from the end of the '83/84 season... one of the most amazing turnarounds in a season ever seen when we looked dead certs for relegation until AS helped turn things round. Jason Cundy being loaned in as a preface to his more permament signing in '96 is one to mention, as was Jamie Clapham the season after, also from Spurs (that season we also loaned in the 'long throw specialist' Andy Legg for a couple of months.... interesting times) Finally, possibly the greatest loanee-to-ITFC full time player in the history of the club was Paul Cooper, initially loanee in '74 from Birmingham but then to become permament- the fastest keeper in the league, the best penalty saver in the league and perhaps the best keeper of the 70's & '80's never to get an England cap.... heady days.

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IamSpartacus added 00:00 - Dec 26 This got me wondering who the first ever loanee in to the club was and it seems that (from looking at transfers history on the 'Pride of Anglia- ITFC website) it was indeed Paul Cooper holds that accolade. Additionally, the first loan out was Dave Mitchell to Cambridge City in 1968 I'd never heard of him, but a nice story for his grandchildren etc.
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mathieshattrick added 14:07 - Dec 26 As a loanee that we wanted to keep but missed out on, how about Franny Jeffers. Four goals in 9 games and always looked like he had more in him, we missed out as Sheffield Wednesday nipped in with a better offer and he subsequently disappeared into a mire of injury and mediocrity. Close shave? Or might things have turned out better for him and us if he had stayed

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blockb_steward added 07:53 - Dec 27 Super Cooper, we never seemed to worry when we conceded a penalty. I could be wrong but I think one season in the old Div 2 he only failed to save one penalty?
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IamSpartacus added 09:20 - Dec 27 @Blockb Steward: I think that was in old Div 1 in around 1979-80 when he saved something like 8 in 10 pens during the season.
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Lombokblue added 10:24 - Dec 27 Good blog. Some of the players mentioned I can't remeber. I don't know how many players we've had on loan since Keane but it doesn't work in the long run. The ones we want to keep tend to leave. I'm not sure when the transfer windows came into force but this seems to have changed the loan system from taking a player on trial ( Paul Cooper) to half the team made of loan players

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HereWeGoAgain added 11:24 - Dec 27 For me, one of the worst loanees was Tony Dinning, from Stockport I think. He would have been the worst had It not been for the previously mentioned Bobby Howe!
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UhlenbeekDownTheWing added 16:45 - Dec 27 Tony Dinning was on loan from Wigan. Until a couple of years ago I held him up as "the worst player I have ever seen play for Ipswich"... it is a benchmark that has been moved on to headier hights since... we have had some great loan signings (as mentioned above Jim Magilton and Sixto Peralta spring to mind) and some total dross too (in particular the aforementioned Tony Dinning as well as Michael Clegg, a truly terrible output from the Old Trafford factory line).

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amydownes added 13:20 - Dec 28 Alan Mahon was the biggie for me, made such a difference when he was here and gutted us when he left. Also Noble, who has since proven his quality at West Ham. Finally, as has been pointed out by many above- Sixto Peralta. What a guy! Loans don't have to be all bad!
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IronBlue29 added 09:57 - Dec 31 Loans are not to bad, but the amount that we have got is ridiculous. Make Campbell and Henderson permanent and maybe try and get another defender in.
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