USING the loan market isn’t always the best way to get the most out of the club’s young players, according to Oakwell’s coaching hierarchy.
Aiden Marsh was recalled from his loan spell at National League outfit York City earlier this week.
Marsh made six appearances during his time with the Minstermen, joining initially in September.
The 20-year-old played his final game for Neil Ardley’s side on October 28, starting in a 1-1 draw against Halifax Town at the LNER Community Stadium.
But both head coach Neill Collins and academy manager Bobby Hassell don’t necessarily think that the loan market is the way to go.
Bobby told the Chronicle: “Non-league managers will ask for players, they’ll get them and if they don’t hit the ground running they’re quickly dismissed.
“That’s the problem with loans.
“They need time to develop.
“Jacob Brown and Jacob Butterfield both failed whilst out on loan but they came back and were sold for multimillions. In my time we didn’t go out on loan we just went straight into the first team. Not many of Barnsley’s loans have been successful in recent years.”
Collins said that there’s a large number of youngsters who have had opportunities for the first team so far.
“We’ve got a lot of different options, Theo Chapman, Fabio Jalo is highly-talented and Aiden Marsh,” he said.
“We’ve got a real production line coming - how we get them ready for Barnsley is a constant discussion.
“Bobby, Tom Harban and myself talk about it but we’re trying to keep the balance right - I’ve got a lot of guys to keep happy as well.”
But he admits the loan market for those youngsters is something the club has to be wary of.
“We want to create opportunities for these players but we also know that Barnsley need to be near the top of the league,” he added.
“The logic (in the loan market) makes perfect sense but the reality can be very different. If you look at Fabio he has certain strengths that are specific to certain types of football. So when you start dropping down the leagues, do they play every week? Does it become detrimental?
“The loan market is a real difficult one so we just keep an eye on it.”
The Reds currently have four players out on loan.
Neither of Barnsley’s Scottish loanees managed to make an impact as they faced each other in the Scottish Premier League last weekend. Andrew Dallas’ Kilmarnock side beat Oli Shaw’s Motherwell 1-0 on Saturday.
Dallas was an unused substitute whilst Shaw came on for the final ten minutes of the game - neither have scored for their clubs so far this season.
Kyran Lofthouse played 65 minutes in Gateshead’s 3-2 defeat away at Yeovil in the first round of the FA Cup on Saturday.
Aaron Leya Iseka’s Israeli outfit Hapoel Hadera have not played since September 30 due to the ongoing crisis.
