Loan stars

Glovers owe debt to band of borrowed players

I know there is still a game to go, but finally the Yeovil Town bums have stopped squeaking!

What can only be described as a ‘comfortable’ victory over Oldham ‘already-on-their-holidays’ Athletic means that Yeovil Town have safely negotiated another season of League One football and boy does that feel good – I actually don’t care what happens next Saturday against Brighton, another 5-0 spanking and who would really bat an eyelid, not me!

The Glovers season has come to an end, we are safe, again. I’ve already mentioned how some fans aren’t happy with a constant aim of just being safe every year, but to be honest I’m not sure just how much we can expect from a team with an average of less than 5,000 fans and seemingly not a penny in the pot.

We live to our means, we don’t get into debt and when we did it was quickly erased. I think a lot of other teams could learn a lot from the way Yeovil Town is run.

So the planning begins for next season rumours of Manchester United and/or Chelsea coming down for pre-season fixtures as well as the youngsters from Tottenham too is already a mouth-watering prospect.

We look forward to what Terry Skiverton refers to as constant improvement something which I for one, and four thousand others should really like the sound of.

We look set to finish somewhere in the lower reaches of mid-table, and quite frankly when teams like Leyton Orient, Wycombe and Southend are finishing below you, I don’t really suppose you can complain.

Three teams based in London with far more resources and a wider supporter catchment area are not getting above Yeovil, it is these tiny little factors that make a season a success.

Safe

Who would have thought that a month ago we would have looked home and hosed, safe as houses, playing sensational football before a few unlucky late goals seemed to throw us right back in the mix.

But never fear because we have our hero – is it a bird? is it a plane? No it’s SUPER GAV!

Gavin Williams is one of the most gifted players ever to pull on a Yeovil shirt, you don’t leave Somerset for the Premier League if you are not a bit good – even if his stay at West Ham didn’t work out.

Oh how Gav does like it here, he played 555 minutes, scored five goals, created five more and just about kept us up on his own. In fact the only other person to score whilst Super Gav was on the pitch was the other Gav – Gavin Tomlin. Maybe its the name?

He is under contract at Bristol City and everyone expects him to complete that final year but if, and it is a huge if, the opportunity to come back to Yeovil presents itself we have to get him back.

List

In fact it is probably time to thank all the loanees we have had this season, the list is pretty long.

Alex McCarthy – fantastic keeper will go far at Reading; Steven Caulker – we’ll talk more about him in a moment; Luke Ayling – likely to be back next season in some form, looks like a good defender; Shaun MacDonald – nearly as good as Williams, Swansea dont want him, we do!

Jon Obika and Ryan Mason – great young lads from Spurs, watch out for them in the Carling Cup next year; Arron Davies – technically a loan player, with a bit more fitness he’ll be back; Owain Tudor Jones – only a Glover for a month, but I’ve never seen such composure on the ball. Scott Davies – bit unlucky to be honest, but added depth when it was needed.

Skiverton has been shrewd in his signings but trying to fill the huge gap that he left when taking over the reigns was probably always going to be his biggest task. In comes Stefan Stam and the Glovers rejoiced, but injury followed injury and that did no-one any favours, so we turned to a kid, a young whipper-snapper, called Steven Caulker, and before Yeovil fans could even search his name on Football Manager we were all so very happy.

How that guy is only 18 amazes me, his ability at this level is second to none, try and find me another 18 year old defender who has had a better season in the football league, you wont find one. Simples.

Caulker cleaned up at the end of season awards, in fact Dean Bowditch and his top scorer award was the only thing that prevented a complete clean sweep.

Considering he not only had a young keeper behind him, but a young right back and an inexperienced left back on either side and just Terrell Forbes for company in the middle makes his season even more remarkable. Throw in an England under 19 call up or five and you have the makings of a top, top defender.

People who have seen him play expect him to be loaned out again next season, I think I might stick my neck out and suggest that he wont be far off a Premier League (and potentially Champions League) starting place for Spurs next season he is that good.

Nervous

Terry Skiverton has said that he has already made his mind up on who will stay and who will go, I’m actually a little bit nervous about the decisions, I fear a shock of letting Dean Bowditch go for nothing, or transfer listing Andy Welsh but maybe that is just me thinking the worst.

What has impressed me the most is the clubs continued effort to communicate off the pitch, Skiverton now has a Twitter page, as does Andy Welsh, Alex McCarthy and Dean Bowditch there have been stories of players adopting a local school, which involves a signed shirt, some free tickets and some great publicity.

So, we have come to the end, were safe and that means another couple local derby games as Plymouth and Bournemouth join us in League One, another trip to London to face Peterborough and former manager Gary Johnson. Whilst for me in Yorkshire, two fixtures within driving distance, Rochdale and Sheffield Wednesday.

Safety is Job Done, it is as much as we could hope for from Skiverton’s first full season as a manager, but he is right in saying even if it is baby steps at first now we progress up the table and try within a couple years to knock on the play off doors.

Now, who have Tottenham Reserves got that we can borrow this time round?