Loan Stars

Loan players are a bit like marmite - you either love them or hate them! But you can`t get over the fact that Blackpool couldn`t have progressed as far as we have without these temporary additions.

The subject of our poll this week has been about the importance of loan players. In the Seasiders case they have become a necessity. Mo Camara for instance was signed because of injuries to left sided players Joe Martin and Stephen Crainey.

Looking at the poll results it doesn`t surprise me that most of the voters valued the contribution of loan players so long as they display the right commitment to the cause. Sadly for every Carl Dickinson somewhere along the line is an Andrew Barrowman!

Blackpool has been blessed with some terrific loan stars in recent times. Keith Southern and Peter Clarke both turned their temporary stays at the seaside into permanent ones from Everton.

Who could forget the influence of players like Robbie Williams and the Stoke duo of Andy Wilkinson and Carl Dickinson (both of whom are playing Premier League football now) in our promotion season.

And just last season the goal scoring exploits of Paul Dickov helped us to survive in the Championship.

Of course the problem with loan players comes when the player does well alerting his club who are suddenly thrust into an injury crisis and the player is recalled.

Blackpool currently has Mo Camara, Steve Kabba, Sone Aluko, Zesh Rehman and Adam Hammill on loan. It is conceivable that all five of them will be playing their football elsewhere come April. But ultimately if you use the loan system carefully then with a bit of luck it can be to your advantage and so far Simon Grayson has displayed excellent skills in scouring the loan market to bring in some good players.

The reality is we and the majority of clubs in the football league wouldn`t survive without a handful of loanees throughout each season.

Win £1,000,000 every week with Man of the Match®

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.