One player who is having a great season out on loan so far is our 19-year-old midfielder, Sean Longstaff.
Sean is on loan at Blackpool, and he has scored four goals with three assists in his 7 games this season so far.
Earlier in the year, he was on loan at Kilmarnock where he scored 3 goals in 17 appearances for the Scottish Premiership club.
Sean is on loan officially until January 6th at Blackpool and Bristol City, Barnsley and Bolton are all interested in the youngster according to the Chronicle and could be willing to take him on loan in January.
That would be a step up in divisions for Sean, and it depends on whether Rafa thinks that would be good for the teenager.
Sean Longstaff on loan at Blackpool and playing well
He gets games at Blackpool, and he is doing well there so why not leave him on loan at Blackpool for the rest of the season, where he could continue to do really well?
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe is also said to be watching the development of the talented North Shields-born youngster, but Sean wouldn’t get many first team games at the Cherries if he moved there early next year.
The main thing for youngsters going out on loan is to get first-team games and to do well, and that’s exactly what Sean is doing at Blackpool.
And Blackpool are on 17 points from their first 8 games and are joint second in League One, so they are also doing well this season.
We would be surprised if Rafa moves him on loan to another club in January.
What do you think?
Comments welcome.
66 comments so far
catchy in norway
Sep 19, 2017 at 10:07 AM
Comment #1looks a prospect
Lee Charnley Bunga Party
Sep 19, 2017 at 10:10 AM
Comment #2Is Barlaser still in the squad ? Or has he been loaned ? Just wondering if he will get anymore game time as looked half decent whenever he has played for us
Tsunki
Sep 19, 2017 at 10:40 AM
Comment #3With Colback sinking into the shadows we could do with this lad stepping up to fill the ginger void.
Seriously though, he seems to be very comfortable at quite a competitive level. Not an easy place to play ATM too. We seem to have a few young lads trying to break through which is encouraging.
Jail for Ashley
Sep 19, 2017 at 10:41 AM
Comment #4catchy,
Lascelles performances aren’t really helping your campaign against him so you’ve decided to tell him to shut his mouth about the goals. Not that any manager with an ounce of tactical nous who we face next wouldn’t have noticed that he’s scored two in a row with his head, given the wonders of technology these days.
Hail Wor Ashley
Sep 19, 2017 at 10:44 AM
Comment #5Hope the lads are out to prove a point against Brighton, the previous darlings of the Championship. Come full-time show we’ve left them behind and not lamenting another loss against a fellow promoted side. Give everything for a win.
Would set up the Liverpool game very nicely, with them playing Leicester away twice and Spartak Moscow away between travelling up to The Toon.
4pts from these 2 would be a great achievement and solidify our position going into the next break.
hibbit
Sep 19, 2017 at 11:16 AM
Comment #6Lee
last nights u23 team sheet
: Woodman, Kitchen, Yarney, Gillesphey, Cameron, O’Connor, Barlaser, Fernandez (Gallacher 77), L.Smith (Sangare 46), C.Smith (El-Mhanni 74), Charman.
Subs n/u: Woolston, Bailey.
Jail for Ashley
Sep 19, 2017 at 11:24 AM
Comment #7hibbit,
Unless we’re going to be getting a keeper in January and letting Woodman go on loan it still seems strange that Krul was let go, surely it would have made sense to keep him and let young Freddie go to a decent championship team with a good GK coaching set up and come back a top class keeper.
barkel
Sep 19, 2017 at 11:42 AM
Comment #8JFA
I would imagine that Krul was let go purely to get the wage bill down, I don’t know what wage he was on but I would think he was one of the top earners
Lee Charnley Bunga Party
Sep 19, 2017 at 11:42 AM
Comment #9@Hibbit
Cheers mate he has looked decent and I think he would benefit from getting 10 or 20 minutes here and there in the first eleven at full strength rather than a reserve team but doubt he is going to get past Shelvey and Diame who are on the bench at the moment !
Maybe he will get loaned out in January as well
Veltman
Sep 19, 2017 at 11:49 AM
Comment #10Catchy – I was with you on Lascelles all the way until that Swansea game.But the guy has proved he certainly is a leader though, passionated and get us valuable wins.
Plus he started to improve himself in every game.So deserves every credits, the applause and the new contract that’s on offer.I hope Merino will get tied up to a longer contract soon as well.Perhaps you should have jumped on that fool gaz or whatever his blog name is that said Mbemba is poor man’s Dummett.I was lost for words.
Jack Root
Sep 19, 2017 at 11:51 AM
Comment #11Jail
I am not sure whether it’s just your imprecise use of language. But Freddy Woodman is already recognised as a top class keeper. What he lacks is experience.
He’s had 12 years of working with a good goalkeeping coach, his father, who recently turned down a job at Arsenal.
Tsunki
Sep 19, 2017 at 11:54 AM
Comment #12I guess catchy couldn’t make allowances for Lascelles carrying that injury last season, in which he featured in one of the toughest defences btw. Still, there’s a while to go this season, Lascelles has plenty of time to drop some tell-tale clangers to prove catchy was right.
Tsunki
Sep 19, 2017 at 11:57 AM
Comment #13Yes, Jail – get some precision in that language of yours, dammit! We’ve told you about this before. The blog has high standards and you are letting it down. 🙂
Tsunki
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:01 PM
Comment #14“Jack” unless Freddy can take his pops with him to the club that gives him experience, then the language seems pretty spot on.
Tsunki
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:02 PM
Comment #15I still don’t get why Darlow is so brutally shoved aside, it’s not like he was a total flop, had some standout performances last year and certainly did nothing to be ranked less than second choice.
AncientC
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:03 PM
Comment #16Get Longstaff moved up a division – pronto. I cannot see the benefits of Longstaff hanging around in a division he is proving too good for. Keep the challenges coming and let Longstaff progress as far as he can go; lest he becomes too comfortable playing in League 1 and grows an affinity with Blackpool.
Jail for Ashley
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:04 PM
Comment #17carl,
He hasn’t had a competitive PL or Championship appearance yet though has he. Young Jak Alwnick got thrown in at the deep end due to penny pinching and it ruined him. Before you say they are miles apart in class the principle is the same, he needs first team football without the pressure.
Jail for Ashley
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:11 PM
Comment #18Barkel,
Do you think Rafa would have been so bothered about the wage bill if he’d known that they weren’t going to bring in another keeper.
I wonder how we move forward from this window in regards to transfers, is Rafa really going to just accept that his targets who some of he meets personally are just left to Churnleys negotiations with a decision already likely made upstairs on whether or not the negotiations will become successful.
Jack Root
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:14 PM
Comment #19Jail
And I was going to respond to you with additional input!
As well as being prone to an imprecise use of language – You’ve also got a closed mind.
Jail for Ashley
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:27 PM
Comment #20carl,
Put this Jack Root, Ian Toon fiasco behind you and start posting under your first alias, people will soon forget about your mischief, the longer you post under different aliases the more the blog is unnecessarily reminded of it.
AncientC
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:27 PM
Comment #21Benitez has a minus £18 million spend since he has arrived. In my view, an £18 million net-spend on players wouldn’t have been a huge ask, especially considering what Benitez has achieved in such a short space of time.
Imagine what Benitez could have got done with an extra £36 million to spend… plus Gayle could have been cashed in on for £15 million+ had Benitez had the extra funds to replace him. That could have equated to more than £50 million spent on the first team side – with only the loss of Gayle who currently isn’t in the first team.
As good as the side looks now… you have to wonder where the season could have went with some moderate financial input.
martoon
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:33 PM
Comment #22Tsunki @15 – People around me at the match on Saturday were saying that Darlow is injured at the moment. I haven’t read anything about it but it would explain why he’s not even on the bench.
martoon
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:39 PM
Comment #23Just looked on the physioroom – they have him listed with an ankle injury back next week.
Interestingly we are 15th in the list of Premiership teams injuries which is pretty good for NUFC.
Jail for Ashley
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:39 PM
Comment #24Ancient,
Unfortunately is is what it is and we just have to enjoy this season, hopefully we will win a cup this year or next before Rafa leaves for a different challenge. Hopefully I am wrong but I just can’t see Rafa signing a new deal given the two consecutive windows where he was not only let down and misled but quite seriously undermined. Lilongwe Geordie suggested that because of the few flops he signed that he wasn’t to be trusted in the transfer market, if he thinks that the hierarchy feel that way after his other successes then there is no way forward.
Spoof
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:40 PM
Comment #25Tsunki
I agree, I don’t know why Darlow gets so much bad press from some
Jail
Could it just be a case that Rafa believes that Woodman is not far away from being a serious challenger for the first team so he has kept him here to bring him on himself, if the lad is to become a top keeper he has got to be thrown into our first team at some point, perhaps that time is closer that what we think.
Jack Root
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:47 PM
Comment #26Tsunki
Darlow only looked good as an improvement on Sels.
Darlow has concentration and communication issues. He had an outstanding game in the Sheffield Wed defeat at SJP last December.
His bad clearances cost us 2 Points against Norwich in Feb. Likewise in home game against Bristol C in Feb.
Elliot is OK but Woodman will in my opinion be our best since Given.
Jail for Ashley
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:48 PM
Comment #27spoof,
I don’t think so, he has permitted him to go on loan in January so I’m presuming he’s hoping to get a keeper in then, he would have gone sooner imo if we had of got Reina or Caberello.
AncientC
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:48 PM
Comment #28Jail, I would assume Benitez will see out the rest of his contract. There are a few players showing a lot of promise, so as long as Benitez gets a fair budget next summer, he should have opportunities to cash in on some players, if he so wishes. I cannot see him staying beyond 3 years myself either though.
Jail for Ashley
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:54 PM
Comment #29I wonder what the chances are in January if we are on 30 points, selling Gayle for 15M on deadline day and winging it until the summer?
Jail for Ashley
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:57 PM
Comment #30Ancient,
I think he only has this season and next, did he not sign a three year deal when we went down which obviously had some kind of clause in it as he had an option to stay or go. Ashley convinced him to stay with the promise of funds and autonomy on transfers and the rest is history. I too think he will stay until the end of his contract.
barkel
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:57 PM
Comment #31JFA
I’m not going to claim I know what’s going on financially at the club but from different reports I’ve read our transfer budget seems to be fees + wages = budget, so I assume removing a high earner frees up some cash for alternatives. I assume they needed to have those funds available to negotiate incomings.
Possibly also to do with age, his expiring contract and we have adequate cover. At 29 he would be one of the elders at the club. It’s all speculation of course
Veltman
Sep 19, 2017 at 12:59 PM
Comment #32Yes Tsunki, the the blog has high standards and he’s letting it down.You should have made your warnings a bit stronger though or else death will be awaiting him sooner rather than later ha ha ha.
posada
Sep 19, 2017 at 1:00 PM
Comment #33We have not missed Shelvey.
Merino has played instead.
Also, Ritchie has taken the corners and been better at it.
Would we have arrived where we are, but for that stupid sending off.
What will Shelvey be thinking. Hopefully bricking it in case he is out for a long spell.
Might just be the attitude adjustment he needs.
Remember one of the Liverpool greats of the 80’s saying. You played with a knock. You tried to avoid silly bookings, because you knew if you dropped out of the team it might take you three months to get back in.
Tsunki
Sep 19, 2017 at 1:00 PM
Comment #34Well for now i accept that if Rafa has seen enough in a championship winning season to suggest that Darlow isn’t the next number one, then so be it. I definitely don’t want to be in that club who wonder why certain fringe players “weren’t given a chance” or who have decided the club captain and inspiration behind recent successes are still championship quality and should be replaced. 😉
AncientC
Sep 19, 2017 at 1:03 PM
Comment #35Jail, yep… just two seasons left on Benitez’ contract. I reckon 2 seasons is about as far as Benitez will be able to take the club before Ashley’s hindering will stop him pushing on for the European places. Hopefully wrong though.
Jail for Ashley
Sep 19, 2017 at 1:04 PM
Comment #36barkel,
That and Rafa doesn’t seem to fancy him at all. My personal opinion on it is that Rafa seen him as part of the squad that literally didn’t seem to give a fcuk when we got beat four or five nil, it wouldn’t have been lost on him the backslapping incident with Defoe in the SoP tunnel after his goal.
Tsunki
Sep 19, 2017 at 1:07 PM
Comment #37Posada – aye and that’s exactly the way it should be. The planks we’ve had running the show have been guilty of shoeing in their purples no matter how bad they were or in the case of Silent Bob the bobble topped skipper just being a jolly good restaurant date who knew how to keep the ranks in check and his mouth shut.
Thankfully Rafa is not enough of a pushover to let that policy bully him. Shelvey has been around the block, for me he is in danger of dropping into relative obscurity if he can’t pull some professionalism out of his backside. He should be an England regular, it’s his application and discipline that unseams him.
Jail for Ashley
Sep 19, 2017 at 1:07 PM
Comment #38posada,
I’d love to keep on winning without him, I like him as a player but he has got to learn that needless stupidity will cost him, shame that knucklehead Mitro will probably play sooner rather than later due to our lack of options up front.
Tsunki
Sep 19, 2017 at 1:08 PM
Comment #39Yep that matey backslap undid years of kudos for Tim.
Spoof
Sep 19, 2017 at 1:11 PM
Comment #40Jail
Your probably right, however with Darlow out injured and with Elliott’s dubious injury record Woodman’s time may be very very close.
I understand your concern based on how it affected Alnwick, however it did Tim Krul a world of good, and disrespect to young Jak but I certainly do have a bit more confidence in young Freddie than what I did in Jak.
I would like to see the kid get a chance now as I feel that he would thrive on the chance, risky yes I accept that but I would take that risk.