Loan deals are not just about game-time for MK Dons' academy youngsters
The academy boss explained why some players go out on loan and don’t get games
Sending youngsters out on loan from MK Dons is not just about getting game time for academy manager Ben Smith.
The club’s prospects aged between 17 and 19 racked up more than 350 appearances away from Stadium MK last season on various loans at levels throughout the footballing pyramid. Notably, defenders Charlie Waller and Callum Tripp got game-time in the National League before being called back and playing a part in the first-team.
Goalkeeper Seb Stacey is about to embark on a loan spell at National League South side Worthing to better prepare him for the rigours of first-team football, but just racking up minutes is not the sole purpose for Smith - he wants to see how the players adapt to life as a player who doesn’t play as well.
“Loans aren’t just about going out, being brilliant and having a career,” he said in the Marvee Woods Football Academy Podcast. “We’re testing them. Loans teach us so much, and we’re so grateful for the clubs who help us. They help us help these young players.
“We had a player go out on loan, moving from one club to another knowing he wasn’t likely to play a lot of football. He’d be on the bench, playing 10, 15 minutes at a time, all as a test. We wanted to know whether he could get into that team, and what his attitude would be when he came back.
“He told me ‘I think I should leave’ and I told him this could be his career for the next two years. If he gets into the first-team here, that could be his career, coming off the bench, being a squad player.
“We need to know whether they can handle that. I need to know if I hand this player over to the first-team manager, he can be that player, who can do the running afterwards, or will celebrate if they haven’t played.
“You have to be resilient, take the bops that come along, you have to be accountable and have to have discipline. The loans programme offers us that.”