Loaner Report May 3 — Football League Special

By: timmyg | May 3rd, 2009

With this weekend ending the Football League’s regular season, all of our lower-league loaners should be coming back before the summer transfer period.

We think.

There’s a lot to discuss as each player’s story away from SW6 comes to a close. Sure, Seoul, Brown, and Leon are still playing elsewhere, somewhere. But their tales will come next week.

Eddie Johnson was an unused substitute in Cardiff City’s 1-0 loss at Sheffield Wednesday. Cardiff City finish the season in seventh place, tied with Preston North End on points but will miss the playoffs because of one less goal scored. (Oh, the irony.) In a full season with the Bluebirds EJ made 30 appearances, starting 5 times. He scored 2 goals and registered 4 assists.

Andranik was an unused substitute in Barnsley’s 2-1 win over Plymouth Argyle. Barnsley finish the season in 20th position. Andranik made 11 appearances and 10 starts for Barnsely. He failed to score but did get a red card in his brief stint with the Tykes.

Adrian Leijer started and played 39 minutes in Norwich City’s 4-2 loss to Charlton Athletic. Leijer was not injured, but probably substituted after the Canaries were 3-0 down, and thus relegated, within 30 minutes. Leijer made just 4 appearances for the club, today being his first start.

Hameur Bouazza was a 71st minute substitute in Birmingham City’s 2-1 win at Reading, which sent Birmingham City up on an AQ (to use a NCAA term). Bouazza made 40 appearances total with Charlton and Birmingham. He made 9 starts and 6 substitute appearances with the Brummies; 22 starts and 3 substitute appearances with Charlton. He scored once with Birmingham, and four times with Charlton.

Volzy was a 73rd minute substitute in Ipswich Town’s 2-0 loss to Sheffield United. Volzy made 20 starts and 2 substitute appearances with Ipswich, who finished the season ninth. Volzy has yet to comment on his website about Roy Keane’s hiring, or his future.

Adam Watts was an unused substitute in Northampton Town’s 3-0 loss at Leeds United. Watts made 5 appearances since arriving in April for the Cobblers, who were relegated because of their loss and Carlisle’s victory.

David Stockdale started and made 6 saves in Leicester City’s 3-0 win at Crewe Alexandria. Since arriving in March, Stockdale made 8 starts for the Foxes, registering a 5-1-2 record and helping them seal promotion to the CCC. Stockdale spent the first half of the season at Rotherham United, where he made 8 starts and posted a 4-2-2 record.

From the look of it, Stockdale sure has a future — with or without Fulham. Expect Bouazza to sign full time somewhere else. Leijer may go elsewhere too, presumably to a lower division. Still uncertain about Andranik and Volzy, as their experiences were a mixed bag.

And perhaps Cardiff missing promotion may be in a blessing for us: we sure could use another striker.

Even if its EJ.