The Loan Report: October 20-26

October 26, 2014

After a decent week of loan football last time out, things were much quieter over the past seven days to the extent where nobody really did anything to be Headline-worthy. So… England Ryan Bertrand continues to impress for Southampton and completed another full match in their 1-0 victory over Stoke, for whom Victor Moses played 79 minutes without great success. Saints manager Ronald Koeman revealed on Friday that he would…

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The Loan Report: October 17-19

October 19, 2014

We return to club football after an extended international break and whilst things haven’t changed dramatically on the loan front, we do have a goal to bring you this weekend. Headliners It comes from the Eredivisie and is courtesy of Burkina Faso international winger Bertrand Traore. He netted the second of four Vitesse goals in a comfortable 4-1 win away to Willem II (with former blue Ben Sahar providing the…

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Under-21s: Chelsea 2-2 Fulham

October 18, 2014

Chelsea’s Under-21s remain unbeaten in 2014-15 but drew their second successive league fixture – both having held leads – on Saturday as they were held to a 2-2 scoreline at home to Fulham at Aldershot. Izzy Brown’s early strike gave way to an impressive display for the most part, but despite Jordan Houghton doubling the lead before the hour mark the young Chelsea side hadn’t done quite enough to deserve…

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The Academy’s ‘Ten Year Plan’

October 12, 2014

In early September, Brentford owner Matthew Benham held a question and answer session with the club’s supporters. A city trader turned betting professional and football league team supremo, Benham has ushered in a forward-thinking era at Griffin Park where many of the sport’s accepted conventions have been brushed aside in the search to find the all-important edge. During the discussion, he was asked about young Patrick Bamford and whether he’d…

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Under-18s: Chelsea 12-2 Aston Villa

October 11, 2014

Chelsea’s Under-18s produced a remarkable and perhaps record-breaking performance on Saturday morning as they demolished Aston Villa 12-2 at Cobham. The result was all the more staggering for the fact that they found themselves trailing by two goals inside the opening quarter of an hour. They would swiftly be rendered mere footnotes in an unbelievable fixture that then saw the Blues net six goals in each half. Jeremie Boga and…

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The Loan Report: September 29 – October 5

October 5, 2014

Following a record-breaking week of loanwatch football seven days ago, everything calmed down somewhat this week and whereas we had eight goals to watch last time out, there were none this week. In the search for suitable headliners, we’re forced to focus on two players for unfortunately negative reasons. Headliners Nathaniel Chalobah hasn’t had the opportunity to play much competitive football so far in 2014-15 and so Burnley gave him…

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The Loan Report: September 22-28

September 28, 2014

It’s been as productive a week of loanwatch football as there has been in some time, as numerous Chelsea youngsters hit the headlines for the right reasons. With plenty to talk about, let’s dive right in. Headliners So many made the headlines that this section will dominate much of the report, but it does so deservedly. We begin with Middlesbrough’s midweek trip to Liverpool in the League Cup; the fixture…

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Under-18s: Tottenham Hotspur 2-4 Chelsea

September 27, 2014

Chelsea’s Under-18s were involved in another action-packed goal extravaganza on Saturday morning as they came from behind away to Tottenham to record a 4-2 victory. Luke Amos had given the hosts a first half lead but the Blues responded well later on and although Tammy Abraham missed a penalty he went on to atone for the error by completing a superb hat-trick, with Swiss forward Miro Muheim also contributing in…

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The Loan Report: September 15-21

September 21, 2014

Things haven’t been tremendously positive on the loan front so far this season and, indeed, quite a few Chelsea youngsters didn’t play a single minute of football this week, but there remains reason to be positive as for the first time in 2014-15 we have multiple goalscorers to kick things off with. Headliners The first of those was Patrick Bamford, who capped a first start for Middlesbrough with his first…

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Under-18s: Chelsea 5-0 West Bromwich Albion

September 20, 2014

Chelsea’s Under-18s recorded their most impressive win of the season to date on Saturday as they handed out a 5-0 drubbing to West Bromwich Albion at Cobham. The Baggies experienced travel woes on their way to the match and the subsequent delays may have affected their performance to degree but Chelsea were on their game throughout and were good value for the result. Swiss winger Miro Muheim got things underway…

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