Interviews

Gordon Greer's loan report ahead of the run-in

Albions's loans manager discusses the progress our players have made at home and abroad this season.

By Charlie Hanson • 24 March 2023

By Paul Hazlewood
Gordon Greer.

EFL Championship

Aaron Connolly - Venezia / Hull City - five appearances / six appearances, two goals

He’s injured at the moment, but we’re hoping he will be back soon. Hull have been really pleased with him and Aaron is enjoying his time there. Liam Rosenior worked with Aaron as an under-23 here and that connection has worked well.

Reda Khadra - Sheffield United / Birmingham City - 16 appearances, one goal / Eight appearances, three goals

Reda had a really tough first half of the season with Sheffield United – it didn’t work out for anyone as they didn’t play with wingers, so he was playing out of position as a wing-back or a forward. Now he’s a lot happier at Birmingham as he can play on the wing or through the middle. We hope he can finish the season strongly as he’s already got a couple of goals. He has a lot of potential.

Taylor Richards - QPR - 13 appearances

Taylor has had a difficult year, he got injured early on but really enjoyed working with Michael Beale. They appointed Neil Critchley when Taylor was returning to fitness and he struggled to get into the team. We're now hoping that he can get more game time in the coming weeks working with Gareth Ainsworth, their new manager. 

EFL League One

Carl Rushworth - Lincoln City - 38 appearances, 15 clean sheets

By Chris Vaughan / Lincoln City
Carl Rushworth is on a season-long loan with Lincoln City.

Carl has had a really solid season, he’s made the step up from League Two to League One seamlessly. He’s been consistent. We think he can kick on again to the next level next season.

Haydon Roberts - Derby County - 37 appearances, two goals, three assists

Haydon has had a mixed season as he’s played at left-back. The year started with him working under Liam Rosenior, who he worked with here when he was in the under-21s. He had a bit of a dip after Liam left as it took him time to adjust to the new manager’s style. He’s progressing well now and is involved in every game, whether that's starting or off the bench.

Jensen Weir - Morecambe - 43 appearances, nine goals, two assists

Jensen is similar to Marc Leonard, we’ve been very happy with how he has progressed. He’s got a number of goals from midfield, so he’s had a productive time with Morecambe. He’s another one we believe could make a step up again next season.

EFL League Two

Todd Miller - Doncaster Rovers - four appearances

Todd has struggled to get into the Doncaster team, but it’s been a good experience for him in terms of being involved in a first-team environment and preparing for games. But we want him to play more.

Ed Turns - Leyton Orient - ten appearances, two goals

By Simon O'Connor
Ed Turns joined Leyton Orient on loan in January.

Ed has done really well. Leyton Orient are flying. It was a baptism of fire for Ed, they played Stevenage who at the time were breathing down Orient’s neck. Ed has said it’s something he wasn’t used to. He got taken out of the team afterwards but that helped him knuckle down and that’s been a really pleasing development to see. He got back into the team and he’s done well. He’s scored a few goals and is good in both boxes. We’re pleased for him, as this is a great opportunity for him to enjoy a promotion.

James Beadle - Crewe Alexandra - five appearances, one clean sheet

He has done brilliantly. We felt like he was ready for a loan, but getting one for an 18-year-old goalkeeper can be difficult. There are no guarantee with any loan, but we took a calculated risk that he would get opportunities to play. Since he’s got into the team he’s been excellent, I’ve been to a few of his games and now for him it’s about finding that consistency and playing as he is for the rest of the season. The level of maturity he has shown has been incredible.

Jack Spong - Crawley Town - two appearances

Spongy has struggled to get into the team. Crawley are in a difficult position in the league and that means it can be a tough place for any young player to make that breakthrough. He’s done well, he’s doing what he can and we hope he gets that opportunity to play a bit more regularly.

Marc Leonard - Northampton Town - 38 appearances, one goal, one assist

Marc has done well and consistently improved over the course of the year. He’s had his ups and downs which happens with every loan and that’s part of the learning curve. We think he can make the step up to a higher league next season and we’ve been impressed with him.

Teddy Jenks - Crawley Town - 21 appearances, one goal

It’s a shame for Teddy because he’s had a few injuries this season, having not really had any in his career apart from one major one. He struggled at the start of the season after getting injured, got into the team and started performing well, then got injured. When he came back he was flying, it was his best form and then he got injured again and that’s ruled him out for the season.

Scotland

James Furlong - Motherwell - seven appearances

He has got a lot of minutes since he went there. He’s adjusted really well to living up in Scotland. There are aspects of his game that he’s had to taper a bit with Motherwell who are finding a system that works for them. They are picking up points and pulling away from the relegation zone. All this is a new experience for James and it’s great to see him making it work.

Lorent Tolaj - Salford City / Dundee - 17 appearances, one goal / three appearances

He’s had a tough season, he didn’t play as much as he or we would have liked at Salford City, his performances were actually good there. In January he had the chance to move on and we got him to Dundee. He’s been unlucky as he’s been ill recently, but we hope to see him get some games between now and the end of the season.

Europe

Abdallah Sima - Angers (France) - 27 appearances, four goals, one assist

In the last six weeks or so he’s done really well, despite Angers struggling at the wrong end of the table. In the first half of the season he struggled to get into good goalscoring positions, but he’s turned it around recently and he’s scored a few goals. We’re confident he can finish the season well.

Andi Zeqiri - Basel (Switzerland) - 36 appearances, 14 goals, two assists

It’s been a bit of a crazy season for Andi, because he went there to be their first choice forward, but Basel had a culture change where they wanted to focus on bringing their own young players through, so Andi was on the bench. But he’s worked his way into the team and he’s scored quite a few goals in the last few months, and has arguably been their best player. *Gordon spoke before Basel's game on Sunday, when Andi was stretchered off with a foot injury.

Michal Karbownik - Fortuna Dusseldorf (Germany) - 18 appearances, one goal, six assists

Michal started slowly, but has really grown into things with Fortuna in the last six months. He’s been their best player and he’s loving it over there. We're confident he can finish the season with a flourish.

Kjell Scherpen - Vitesse Arnhem (The Netherlands) - 18 appearances, three clean sheets

Kjell has had a very up and down season. He’s got parts of his game that he still needs to work on, but there have been times throughout the season where he’s also impressed.

Kacper Kozlowski - Vitesse Arnhem (The Netherlands) - 22 appearances, two goals, four assists

He has definitely improved since the start of the season, he has done well. He’s enjoying it and he’s made an impact on their season. We want him to find a level of consistency in his performances. He has played in a couple of different positions which has been good for him – he gets on the ball and he’s brave in possession.

Simon Adingra - Royale Union Saint-Gilloise (Belgium) - 39 appearances, 12 goals, 11 assists

Simon started the season really well. He had a small dip, but in the last few weeks he’s come back with a bit of a bang. He scored and set one up against Genk last week in what was a massive game at the top of the table [Union won 2-1]. He’s done well over the season. As a direct comparison to Kaoru [Mitoma] playing there last season, Simon has actually played more.

Steven Alzate - Standard Liege (Belgium) - 22 appearances, two goals, two assists

He has shone in the last few months. They sold Nicolas Raskin to Rangers which allowed Steven to move back into the holding midfield role which is a position we’re more familiar with seeing him play. He's been a consistent starter throughout the season which is exactly what we had hoped for when he made the move.

Antef Tsoungui - Lommel (Belgium) - three appearances

He’s played well at right-back for Lommel. They’ve been relatively happy with him. It’s a good league for young Premier League 2 players as there are top-tier teams who have their under-21s teams playing in that division – Club Brugge, Genk. He’s settled over there, but I think he wants to play more at centre-back so we will see what happens between now and the end of the season.