Wes's little bro has put his bad games behind him
It has been a mixed season for our loanees with many of them getting a good number of games under their belts, whilst others struggling to make a mark when given an opportunity. Some loans have been cut-short due to suspensions, injuries and lack of game-time, but despite the differing fortunes, all will have learnt an awful lot from their time away from United.
Reece Brown put a couple of shaky displays behind him as Oldham drew 0-0 at Bury. The 20-year-old was determined to put in a good performance as his form dipped after a bright start to life at Boundary Park and will hope to round-off his loan experience on the weekend in Oldham’s final game against Carlisle.
John Cofie started for Antwerp in their 2-1 loss to bottom-side Standaard Wetteren which left our feeder-club with a 10th position finish in the Belgian Second Division. Cofie managed three goals in 13 appearances for Antwerp but will hope to learn from the experience just as former United players John O’Shea and Darron Gibson did when learning their trade. Cofie will be hopeful of a 6-month loan next season, possibly to a League One side, but may have to make do with a run in the reserve side.
Oliver Norwood played in a promotion party at Southampton for Coventry, and with The Sky Blues already relegated, they surrendered to Southampton and lost 4-0. Norwood started well for Coventry as Southampton endured a nervy start to proceedings but as the game went on, the home side dominated and Norwood and co faded. After doing well in League One for Scunthorpe, a step-up was what was needed for Norwood who thrived in the experience and became Coventry’s main man as they looked to escape relegation. The Northern Ireland international is tipped for a Premier League loan next term and may travel with United on their pre-season tour.
Joshua King and Robbie Brady were live on Sky as Hull took on West Ham in their final game of the season. King started for The Tigers before being replaced at half-time, while Brady came on for the last 20 minutes. Despite flashes of skill from the two, neither managed to make a lasting impact on the game but both will look back on their time at Hull fondly as they have developed into much stronger players over the last 6 months. King, who got little football at Borussia M’gladbach in the first half of the season, really took to The Championship and is in line to go back on loan next season. However, King’s success was to Brady’s detriment as he ousted him from the team in recent weeks. All in all, Brady had a good year at Hull and there have been calls from Hull fans to sign up the Irish forward.
Scott Wootton was an unused substitute as Nottingham Forest ran-out 2-0 winners over already-relegated Portsmouth at The City Ground. The young full-back struggled to regain a starting place at Forest after suffering an injury when joining after enjoying a more consistent run of games whilst at Peterborough from August to July.
Tomasz Kuszczak missed Watford’s final game of the season due to the birth of his daughter and will be a free agent from July 1st.
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