Stokes - Season Long Loan to Cambridge

[cheddarwedlocker]

Likely to leave on loan with Earthy and Twine in.

Had a lot of enquiries from League one/ League 2 clubs.

 

[Shauntaylor85]

Not surprised. @cheddarwedlocker any news on another Right winger? 

[BritAbroad]

Makes a lot of sense him going on loan. Hopefully it can be to a club who play a similar style to us.

[Rudolf Hucker]

24 minutes ago, BritAbroad said:

Makes a lot of sense him going on loan. Hopefully it can be to a club who play a similar style to us.

I think he’d enjoy Barcelona. 

[Major Isewater]

2 hours ago, Rudolf Hucker said:

I think he’d enjoy Barcelona. 

Nice beach . 

[Street red]

5 hours ago, cheddarwedlocker said:

Likely to leave on loan with Earthy and Twine in.

Had a lot of enquiries from League one/ League 2 clubs.

 

Better off staying at Aldershot.

[RedRoss]

3 minutes ago, Street red said:

Better off staying at Aldershot.

How have you come to that conclusion? 

He's been training with a Championship team for months. Will join a better standard of football on a loan all while getting paid well. Then if he excels and Earthy is gone he gets a chance in our first team. 

 

[alexukhc]

I’d say Cheltenham for 6 months, nice n local to keep an eye, train with us once a week and would just him and the snake together then in Jan, maybe league 1 loan

[Port Said Red]

1 hour ago, alexukhc said:

I’d say Cheltenham for 6 months, nice n local to keep an eye, train with us once a week and would just him and the snake together then in Jan, maybe league 1 loan

Sorry but they aren't good enough. If he has to go, and I would rather he didn't, I would say an Exeter or even Reading loan would be good for him.

[cheddarwedlocker]

5 hours ago, Shauntaylor85 said:

Not surprised. @cheddarwedlocker any news on another Right winger? 

Not really progressing

[W-S-M Seagull]

Exeter would be my shout for him. 

They do a good job with youngsters down there and it's only a hour or so down the road. 

 

[Back of the Dolman]

Having seen the way they tried to play the ball around in pre season with their new manager I’d say Newport could be a shout and we have recent previous in sending players there 

[RollsRoyce]

I thought Stokes was impressing everyone in training ? Out on loan ? Back to LJ era. 

[cheddarwedlocker]

39 minutes ago, RollsRoyce said:

I thought Stokes was impressing everyone in training ? Out on loan ? Back to LJ era. 

Not guaranteed. 

Just had enquiries and its more likely to happen now we have bought in 2 senior players for his position, and have Benarous

[RoystonFoote'snephew]

If Stokes departs on loan I'd hope we'd be looking at a side expected to be in the top 10 of L1. I wouldn't be averse to loaning him to another championship club (provided it's not Cardiff) on the basis he wouldnt play against us anyway. 

[Davefevs]

4 minutes ago, RoystonFoote'snephew said:

If Stokes departs on loan I'd hope we'd be looking at a side expected to be in the top 10 of L1. I wouldn't be averse to loaning him to another championship club (provided it's not Cardiff) on the basis he wouldnt play against us anyway. 

If he does get loaned out, I’m not sure we’ll be able to expect such a high profile loan as top-10 L1, not if we want him to play all / most weeks.

[formerly known as ivan]

35 minutes ago, RoystonFoote'snephew said:

If Stokes departs on loan I'd hope we'd be looking at a side expected to be in the top 10 of L1. I wouldn't be averse to loaning him to another championship club (provided it's not Cardiff) on the basis he wouldnt play against us anyway. 

Would he be more likely to develop better in a side fighting relegation but playing most minutes/games, I.e. Exeter, or being a bit part player at someone like Bolton where he gets a few minutes here and there when they are 2 or 3 up in a game?

Personally I think a bit of tough love at the lower end of league 1 would be better for him.

Not that it’s likely given the number of signings already made amongst other things, but even a year with that lot across the river would be fine if it benefits us and the player in the long run.

[Port Said Red]

38 minutes ago, formerly known as ivan said:

Would he be more likely to develop better in a side fighting relegation but playing most minutes/games, I.e. Exeter, or being a bit part player at someone like Bolton where he gets a few minutes here and there when they are 2 or 3 up in a game?

Personally I think a bit of tough love at the lower end of league 1 would be better for him.

Not that it’s likely given the number of signings already made amongst other things, but even a year with that lot across the river would be fine if it benefits us and the player in the long run.

He's only just got away from a lower/non league club, he doesn't need toughening up, imo, he needs to be working in as a professional environment and set up as possible.

[formerly known as ivan]

5 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

He's only just got away from a lower/non league club, he doesn't need toughening up, imo, he needs to be working in as a professional environment and set up as possible.

Fair point, not gonna get a better education on the rougher side of the game than in no league I guess.

[Johnny Musicworks]

A week ago he was being talked about as a first team squad player but getting Earthy in on loan and then Twine seems to have changed that. Poor lad must be gutted and sending him out on loan again so he can come back in 12 months  time and be in the same position as he was a week ago must be somewhat disheartening. Personally I would keep him around until January as he can cover 8 and 10 in case of our usual injury problems and would rather send Benarous out on loan as he needs match fitness after so long out. Cornick must be likely to go and is Wells going to be happy with a bit part role going forward I wonder. 

[LondonBristolian]

I know it's not necessarily either/or but I'd rather see Benarous loaned out than Stokes. To my mind, Stokes is new to this level and could do with a season of training with and competing for a start against Championship players to learn the expectations and differences in tactics and decision making to step up to a higher level whereas Benarous has faced a long time out of the game and could do with a season of regular football to rebuild match fitness and confidence. 

[Bcfc24]

19 hours ago, cheddarwedlocker said:

Not really progressing

Is it likely we are done for ins this window now? And if we do go back in I presume it’ll be for McNally at CB?

[RedReg]

Makes sense to me, stokes goes out and plays league one for a season and comes back next year to replace Earthy

[steviestevieneville]

23 minutes ago, Johnny Musicworks said:

A week ago he was being talked about as a first team squad player but getting Earthy in on loan and then Twine seems to have changed that. Poor lad must be gutted and sending him out on loan again so he can come back in 12 months  time and be in the same position as he was a week ago must be somewhat disheartening. Personally I would keep him around until January as he can cover 8 and 10 in case of our usual injury problems and would rather send Benarous out on loan as he needs match fitness after so long out. Cornick must be likely to go and is Wells going to be happy with a bit part role going forward I wonder. 

The conference to the championship is a massive step up. Even to league one is big. I think it’s a good idea to go on loan to league one or even two. Get games under his belt regularly . Next season earthy will be back at West Ham & there will be space in the squad for him 

[BobBobBobbin]

It's a shame, I'd have much preferred him to have been the back up here. If we want to hasten his development then being under the direct tutelage of our cherry-picked on the grass coach and supporting Twine should have been plan A. I'm quite concerned about our reversion to loaning out all and sundry. We had the blueprint and the evidence of success. 

I think it's fair to say that we should bank "developing our own here with a first team supplemented by our academy and under 23's" in the same place as we put the five pillars and every other short-lived "identity"...

[cheddarwedlocker]

Whos gunna tell Piercy this is a Ched exclusive?

[cheddarwedlocker]

1 hour ago, Bcfc24 said:

Is it likely we are done for ins this window now? And if we do go back in I presume it’ll be for McNally at CB?

Sell to buy now really

[bcfc01]

41 minutes ago, BobBobBobbin said:

It's a shame, I'd have much preferred him to have been the back up here. If we want to hasten his development then being under the direct tutelage of our cherry-picked on the grass coach and supporting Twine should have been plan A. I'm quite concerned about our reversion to loaning out all and sundry. We had the blueprint and the evidence of success. 

I think it's fair to say that we should bank "developing our own here with a first team supplemented by our academy and under 23's" in the same place as we put the five pillars and every other short-lived "identity"...

What success is that ? Developing and selling ? And staying as a mid table team ?

If the club are serious about top 6 then we need players that can get us there now. We can wait for Stokes to get to that level by developing in a decent league. If he goes out at L1 level, he'll come back a better and more experienced player and Earthy can go back to West Ham having developed in the Championship and contributed here. All round win.

Not sure whats not to like with Stokes going out on loan in L1.

 

[Johnny Musicworks]

30 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

What success is that ? Developing and selling ? And staying as a mid table team ?

If the club are serious about top 6 then we need players that can get us there now. We can wait for Stokes to get to that level by developing in a decent league. If he goes out at L1 level, he'll come back a better and more experienced player and Earthy can go back to West Ham having developed in the Championship and contributed here. All round win.

Not sure whats not to like with Stokes going out on loan in L1.

 

Because next year when Earthy goes and presuming we are closer to challenging at the top end of the table the question will be “do we use Stokes who at best has league one experience or do we spend the money from selling Fally on a proven player at a higher level and put Stokes out on another loan.”

Rinse and repeat as we go back to stockpiling young players on loans elsewhere whilst loaning in Premier league youngsters blocking the pathway. 

[James54De]

1 hour ago, cheddarwedlocker said:

Whos gunna tell Piercy this is a Ched exclusive?

Doesn’t take a lot to guess a week after signing two attack minded midfielder that our other young one would potentially go out on loan. 

[Davefevs]

@Johnny Musicworks I’m with you on the Stokes situation.

Pathway Blocking is emotive, but I think this is the one player where we’ve recruited (Earthy) and blocked a player (Stokes), even if it’s for 12-months.  The academy lads who’ve gone out on loan, I’m not as bullish about their readiness, against the expectations being driven by the club is that we are to really pushing on this season, then the likes of JKL and EY especially are gonna sit in the u21s.  SPH too, but in 10 days he’s gone (in some eyes) from being no worse a bet than Mayulu or Armstrong as an option to “where are the goals coming from” to probably a Cornick replacement.

I think the squad had enough depth with one of Twine or Earthy not both.  The perverseness though is I don’t think Stokes is ready for this level at mo’.  But I’d have carried that in the squad and developed him alongside the true first-teamers, giving him involvement and occasional low-risk minutes (if possible).

Not sure if I’m explaining it very well, but hopefully get the gist.

 

7 minutes ago, James54De said:

Doesn’t take a lot to guess a week after signing two attack minded midfielder that our other young one would potentially go out on loan. 

Think Piercy wrote about last week too.  Scoop.

[mozo]

I'd say let's get him on a local loan until January and then reassess.

[GrahamC]

Crawley, who are mentioned, tick a lot of boxes.

Relatively local to where he’s from, not going to have the biggest squad & in League One, so the highest standard likely to be available to him.

Others have mentioned Exeter & Reading too, both decent shouts at that level.

If he’s played 18 games or so by January this would be very developmental for him.

[Johnny Musicworks]

You’re explaining it fine Davefevs  I feel the same that keeping him with us this season would benefit us and him more, even if it’s cameos now and again. It just feels that we are in danger of returning to old ways that cost us dear before. It’s a difficult balance, great to have a strong bench but will we have to sacrifice a lot of the pathway development. It’s been a great window for recruiting but we could have saved money by handling both the Conway and the Twine situations more effectively and professionally. Sadly the lack of a decent CEO is proving costly. 

Edited August 19 by Johnny Musicworks

[RedRoss]

26 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

@Johnny Musicworks I’m with you on the Stokes situation.

Pathway Blocking is emotive, but I think this is the one player where we’ve recruited (Earthy) and blocked a player (Stokes), even if it’s for 12-months.  The academy lads who’ve gone out on loan, I’m not as bullish about their readiness, against the expectations being driven by the club is that we are to really pushing on this season, then the likes of JKL and EY especially are gonna sit in the u21s.  SPH too, but in 10 days he’s gone (in some eyes) from being no worse a bet than Mayulu or Armstrong as an option to “where are the goals coming from” to probably a Cornick replacement.

I think the squad had enough depth with one of Twine or Earthy not both.  The perverseness though is I don’t think Stokes is ready for this level at mo’.  But I’d have carried that in the squad and developed him alongside the true first-teamers, giving him involvement and occasional low-risk minutes (if possible).

Not sure if I’m explaining it very well, but hopefully get the gist.

 

Think Piercy wrote about last week too.  Scoop.

It very much depends on what you consider better experience. very limited minutes + weekly championship training vs regular games at a League One club. I don't think there's a definite answer. I fall on the side of EFL experience personally. I think the experience of playing regularly as a first team player in the EFL, battling for points. Directly experiencing the ups and downs of the season rather than on the periphery is invaluable. 

It's certainly worked in the past re Vyner. I don't think there's a one size fits all with the development of players. 

 

[Davefevs]

3 minutes ago, RedRoss said:

It very much depends on what you consider better experience. very limited minutes + weekly championship training vs regular games at a League One club. I don't think there's a definite answer. I fall on the side of EFL experience personally. I think the experience of playing regularly as a first team player in the EFL, battling for points. Directly experiencing the ups and downs of the season rather than on the periphery is invaluable. 

It's certainly worked in the past re Vyner. I don't think there's a one size fits all with the development of players. 

 

I think there’s a cost implication too.

+++++

Vyner needed a manager to give him a chance imho.  I don’t think he needed a loan to Aberdeen aged 22, when he’d just played a full season at the level City were in at Rotherham.  Holden gave him that chance, Nige grew him.  Hopefully Manning elevates him further.

[RedRoss]

1 minute ago, Davefevs said:

I think there’s a cost implication too.

+++++

Vyner needed a manager to give him a chance imho.  I don’t think he needed a loan to Aberdeen aged 22, when he’d just played a full season at the level City were in at Rotherham.  Holden gave him that chance, Nige grew him.  Hopefully Manning elevates him further.

A season at Rotherham where the fans slated him almost all season. At that stage I had serious doubts he'd make it as a Championship player. He was weak, couldn't win a header. Wasteful in possession and was bereft of confidence. That's why I hold hope Bell could develop late. Holden/Pearson had to give him a chance somewhat by necessity and it worked out however he had plenty of experience under his belt which I think served him well. Realistically what is the cost implications of George Earthy.. 500k? A million? Is that worth 10 points theoretically if it pushes us into the playoffs. These questions will get answered this season. 

[Davefevs]

Necessity is no bad thing…especially if you have a manager who is meant to an excellent coach.

We will indeed.

[TammyAB]

Necessity is the mother of centre backs

[Port Said Red]

1 hour ago, RedRoss said:

A season at Rotherham where the fans slated him almost all season. At that stage I had serious doubts he'd make it as a Championship player. He was weak, couldn't win a header. Wasteful in possession and was bereft of confidence. That's why I hold hope Bell could develop late. Holden/Pearson had to give him a chance somewhat by necessity and it worked out however he had plenty of experience under his belt which I think served him well. Realistically what is the cost implications of George Earthy.. 500k? A million? Is that worth 10 points theoretically if it pushes us into the playoffs. These questions will get answered this season. 

He was also played right back in a system that gave him no support or cover at all. For example they played Man City in the cup and he was left 1 on 1 against Sane and Sterling, I think it was, over the 90 minutes. According to Rotherham fan of mine, "there were times throughout the season, I just wanted to go out and give the hug"  The fact he ever came through that period in his career is massively to his credit.

[internetjef]

Don’t see the issue here. Earthy is meant to be a real high quality talent.

if we get a bit of momentum going he could be the kind of option that makes the difference and boosts us from mid table towards playoffs.

Although in general principle I don’t want to see loads of loans and pathway blocking , having the odd one now and then if it’s someone a bit special seems reasonable. 
 

getting Stokes a loan himself for a least half a season seems a good idea , esp as we are now out of the cup early doors. That’s if he fancies it of course . If he would rather stay and train with first team , accepting he will prob see limited first team action this side of Xmas then no probs there either 

[The Masked Man]

Stokes was a low risk punt on a player who at worst we will get our money back on and at best might make the first team. I'd love to see him successful in a red shirt but given a choice between him and Earthy, Earthy every time. Earthy is talked about in the same context as David Silva and if he's going to deliver on that expectation should be making a meaningful contribution in the Championship now.

I'd like to see Stokes go to L1 if he is loaned out. He was too good for the Conference and I don't think the step up to L1 should be beyond him. A good season at that level should see him ready to fight for a first team shirt next season. In the meantime I hope Earthy is the player people think he is and we feel privileged to have had him spend some time with us. Who knows if we get promoted maybe he signs permanently.

 

[LondonBristolian]

1 hour ago, RedRoss said:

It very much depends on what you consider better experience. very limited minutes + weekly championship training vs regular games at a League One club. I don't think there's a definite answer. I fall on the side of EFL experience personally. I think the experience of playing regularly as a first team player in the EFL, battling for points. Directly experiencing the ups and downs of the season rather than on the periphery is invaluable. 

It's certainly worked in the past re Vyner. I don't think there's a one size fits all with the development of players. 

 

There's certainly no one size fits all but I'd argue Vyner is potentially an argument against overly loaning players out. Once he got into the team, he needed the best part of two seasons to adjust to this level and I'd argue that loaning him out repeatedly just meant that those two seasons were at age 23 - 25 rather than at age 21 - 23. Similarly, I think that Burns and Szmodics could have become exceptional Championship level players for us at an earlier stage in their careers if we'd taken a chance and let them play through their development periods. And I think there's even an argument that we could evnen harmed the career of players like Taylor Moore and Joe Morrell who perhaps had the potential and not the opportunity. Of course we'll never know for sure.

I'm excited by the signing of Earthy and think it is a great coup for the club and if he turns us into promotion challengers (or very unexpectedly becomes a permanent signing) then his loan may be a masterstroke but, if we don't challenge, then the likelihood is Stokes will still need a year or two to adjust to this lever but another year will have passed before he starts trying to do so. 

[cheddarwedlocker]

5 hours ago, James54De said:

Doesn’t take a lot to guess a week after signing two attack minded midfielder that our other young one would potentially go out on loan. 

yeah i was taking the piss mate, chill out

[Phileas Fogg]

16 hours ago, Davefevs said:

If he does get loaned out, I’m not sure we’ll be able to expect such a high profile loan as top-10 L1, not if we want him to play all / most weeks.

It’s a shame FGR went down. A L2 loan where he’s playing every game would be better than L1 where he’s not always first pick.

Local enough to still do some training with City and a great manager to develop under.

[BobBobBobbin]

14 hours ago, bcfc01 said:

What success is that ? Developing and selling ? And staying as a mid table team ?

If the club are serious about top 6 then we need players that can get us there now. We can wait for Stokes to get to that level by developing in a decent league. If he goes out at L1 level, he'll come back a better and more experienced player and Earthy can go back to West Ham having developed in the Championship and contributed here. All round win.

Not sure whats not to like with Stokes going out on loan in L1.

 

The success is that we've developed our own players by playing them. Cameron Pring was one more loan away from dropping down the leagues, Vyner, Max too. It wasn't until those players were given chances to develop under championship level coaching and playing games at championship level that they developed into championship level players. 

they weren't ready when they broke through, they tread water and learnt to swim. Semenyo, Conway, Bell and Scott wouldn't have reached their levels as quickly as they have had they continued to be loaned out. That's £40m worth of player plus an England youth international still here by the way. It's also upwards of £10m of transfer fees saved not needing to recruit a GK, CB and LB. 

You think we can continue to lose as much as we do even when we sell high and remain a viable business? 

If we go up then the gamble pays off, but if we don't we are back to square one and only once have we managed to stay a Championship club when we are forced to hit the reset button. History tells us that the likely scenario when we invest heavily is a relegation within 3 years, not a promotion. We were building something sustainable with gradual incremental progress. I bought in to that because the club sold it well. I am entitled to worry about the consequences of pieing that off as soon as possible. 

 

[Bat Fastard]

When we get into a long spell of two games a week. we are more likely to suffer from our AMs getting injuries and suffering fatigue. It would seem sensible to have someone like Stokes ready to play a part. After Earthy returns at the end of the season, he will need to be ready to play a more regular part next season.  Unlike Earthy, he doesn't look like he needs any more building up!!

[Son of Fred]

12 minutes ago, Bat Fastard said:

When we get into a long spell of two games a week. we are more likely to suffer from our AMs getting injuries and suffering fatigue. It would seem sensible to have someone like Stokes ready to play a part. After Earthy returns at the end of the season, he will need to be ready to play a more regular part next season.  Unlike Earthy, he doesn't look like he needs any more building up!!

Don't tell him about the Clarks Pie shop on North Street!

[ashton_fan]

Loan him out until January to a lower L1 club with a recall. If Earthy or Twine get injured we might need him, but we don't want him wasting his time now.

[MythikRobins]

Unless we can get a L1 club with a real good set-up and a proper place for him, keep him at the club. I'd wager we may end up needing him at some point.

[Port Said Red]

Looks like it could be Cambridge Utd, a nice brace against the Gas on Saturday then.

[Gillies Downs Leeds]

6 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

Looks like it could be Cambridge Utd, a nice brace against the Gas on Saturday then.

Korey Smith can look after him.

[Mr Popodopolous]

Euell is there too.

His time here didn't coincide with the time we got Stokes though.

[trickytimes]

30 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

Looks like it could be Cambridge Utd, a nice brace against the Gas on Saturday then.

Could be a problem as rovers are not playing Cambridge.

[Port Said Red]

9 minutes ago, trickytimes said:

Could be a problem as rovers are not playing Cambridge.

Sorry yes, Saturday week.

[Jerseybean]

15 hours ago, Port Said Red said:

Looks like it could be Cambridge Utd, a nice brace against the Gas on Saturday then.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/josh-stokes-bristol-city-loan-9497529

[SecretSam]

On 19/08/2024 at 19:48, Davefevs said:

@Johnny Musicworks I’m with you on the Stokes situation.

Pathway Blocking is emotive, but I think this is the one player where we’ve recruited (Earthy) and blocked a player (Stokes), even if it’s for 12-months.  The academy lads who’ve gone out on loan, I’m not as bullish about their readiness, against the expectations being driven by the club is that we are to really pushing on this season, then the likes of JKL and EY especially are gonna sit in the u21s.  SPH too, but in 10 days he’s gone (in some eyes) from being no worse a bet than Mayulu or Armstrong as an option to “where are the goals coming from” to probably a Cornick replacement.

I think the squad had enough depth with one of Twine or Earthy not both.  The perverseness though is I don’t think Stokes is ready for this level at mo’.  But I’d have carried that in the squad and developed him alongside the true first-teamers, giving him involvement and occasional low-risk minutes (if possible).

Not sure if I’m explaining it very well, but hopefully get the gist.

 

Think Piercy wrote about last week too.  Scoop.

I think he needs game time. L1/2 would work well. I think Earthy is a strategic move, maybe opening a channel with WHU. 

[Northern Red]

Done.

 

[Sleepy1968]

No mention of a Jan recall clause on the website, but we'd be mad not to have the option.

Cambridge finished 18th last season, and I'm guessing they are looking to finish midtable. Hopefully they'll make good use of Josh, and he comes back ready to challenge regardless of who else is here.

[cityal]

This should be good for him - a few levels above where he was playing last season, but perhaps a better chance of gametime than in the championship.

Back in Bristol before the end of the month at the swamp. Lets hope he helps Cambridge come out on top!
 

[bcfc01]

2 minutes ago, Sleepy1968 said:

No mention of a Jan recall clause on the website, but we'd be mad not to have the option.

Cambridge finished 18th last season, and I'm guessing they are looking to finish midtable. Hopefully they'll make good use of Josh, and he comes back ready to challenge regardless of who else is here.

I hope they have a good season but they are one of the favourites to go down.

Plus side is that he shoud get lots of game time there.

[petehinton]

Don’t really see the outrage with this tbh. 
 

Sign him as a proper back up at 10 “it’s a big ask and a big step up”

Loan him out to a side where he’ll get proper minutes for the season and it’s “stock piling players” 

[RoystonFoote'snephew]

Sensible move imo. He should get regular game time in a decent league. It has to be remembered it wasn't that long ago that he was playing at step 8 and he has had a really rapid rise up the levels. With Korey Smith around to guide and support him I expect further progress to be made. 

[Leveller]

Cambridge seems to make sense as he’s from Suffolk and started off at Ipswich and Sudbury. This move is possibly close to family.

[Phileas Fogg]

He’ll improve more as a player playing as a starter every game (barring injury) than making the odd cameo here.

Assuming Earthy goes back to WHU nest season, that makes him backup to Twine. 

Good move and should benefit him a great deal.

Edited August 21 by Phileas Fogg

[JoeAman08]

I have been critical of how we loan players out before but I don’t see it here. 
 

Firstly, he was given a platform this summer to see how good he was. I would say he impressed but was probably looked at as could use some seasoning. Massive step up and once Twine became a saga, I don’t blame city for securing Earthy to go along with Stokes. The Conway and Twine thing wasn’t guaranteed. So he was given opportunity and now gets a loan at the step below coming off a good preseason at a championship club. 
 

Secondly, this is not loaning out someone with league experience when we should be the next step. Stokes is missing that league year of football. What I mean is, we have loaned out Vyner after L1 and SPL loans. That was ill advised imo. The Palmer and Szmodics thing was crazy where we ended up loaning Szmodics out. Earthy is one season and Stokes is right back in the mix next summer. Hopefully with a strong league campaign under his belt. 
 

The problem city have had with loans and pathway I think is in the past. I hope it is. The players we loaned out, imo, needed another step to really be able to come back and compete. I get the SPH argument to some degree but off first impressions, it could be tough to keep both of them past one season! Also, I think that front line is still under construction to some degree. SA may be needed to play wide before all said and done if Bell, Mehmeti, Sykes and Yu struggle to make impacts from those positions. 
 

For the first time that I can remember, I think we are planning properly. We are signing the right types of players and we are planning for them. If we have interest next summer for our players, it feels in many spots we have young players ready to step in and play a role if not win the jobs left. 

[mozo]

27 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

He’ll improve more as a player playing as a starter every game (barring injury) than making the odd cameo here.

Assuming Earthy goes back to WHU nest season, that makes him backup to Twine. 

Good move and should benefit him a great deal.

Agreed. I don't see a pathway problem with this one.

[Davefevs]

On 19/08/2024 at 15:26, Davefevs said:

If he does get loaned out, I’m not sure we’ll be able to expect such a high profile loan as top-10 L1, not if we want him to play all / most weeks.

Believe Shrewsbury were another team interested.

[City Rocker]

5 hours ago, Sleepy1968 said:

No mention of a Jan recall clause on the website, but we'd be mad not to have the option.

Cambridge finished 18th last season, and I'm guessing they are looking to finish midtable. Hopefully they'll make good use of Josh, and he comes back ready to challenge regardless of who else is here.

LM confirmed we have a recall clause in January. 

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/liam-manning-bristol-city-transfer-9500082.amp

[stortfordred]

Cambridge will struggle this season. Korey looked way past his best on Saturday and in Lavery I can’t see where the goals are coming from. It will certainly be a baptism of fire for Stokes but he certainly won’t make them any worse.