Academy & PL2 2025/26
So far we have Gideon Kodua (Luton, with an option to buy) and Michael Forbes (Northampton) out on loan for the season. Kodua has 35 career appearances (none for West Ham) and 3 goals, and this is his third loan after spending two previous spells with Wycombe. Forbes made 12 appearances for Bristol Rovers on loan last year, and also previously went on loan to Colchester United but didn't play, and has one cap for Northern Ireland.
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https://www.whufc.com/player/403
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It seems that Gideon Kodua is having a good time at Luton Town. He's made 16 appearances, scored 3 goals and got two assists. He mostly seems to be playing as a right wing back, as Luton regularly play a 3-4-2-1 system. Luton are doing alright in League One, and currently sit in 9th with a game in hand on their playoff rivals.
Someone else having a good time out on loan is Michael Forbes, down at Northampton Town. He's made 14 appearances at centre back so far - and has captained Northern Ireland U21s three times in Euros qualifying. Northampton are having a slightly less good season in League One, sitting in 13th. They also play with a back three, and Forbes seems to be playing on the right of that three.
Mason Terry is in the National League at Braintree Town. He's a 20 year old goalkeeper, who has been with Concord Rangers and Hornchurch over the past two years. He started as Braintree's number 1 keeper this season, and started 15 games in a row. He has missed the last four matches, though, including the 4-1 defeat away to the mighty Chelmsford City 11 days ago. Not sure if he's injured or been usurped.
Stepping up into the Championship, Kaelan Casey has recently started to make his way into the Swansea City team. He didn't make it off the bench for the first couple of months, but he played 90 minutes against Charlton, and has started all of their EFL Cup matches - including a game against Man City. Swansea have mostly played a back 4 this season, but when he's recently been in the side it's when they have switched to a back 3. Seemingly, he's currently 3rd or 4th choice, so hopefully they stick with a back 3 for the foreseeable so he can get some appearances under his belt.
Finlay Herrick appears to have become #1 keeper at Boreham Wood this season, and has started the last 10 games. Boreham Wood are flying at the moment, up in 2nd place in the National League, so it's great that he's nailed the spot down.
Sadly, there are a couple of loanees that don't seem to be having the impact they would have hoped. Junior Robinson, at 21 year old right back, went up to Scotland to play for Livingstone this season in the Scottish Premiership. He's not yet made an appearance, and seems to just be warming the bench. Livingston are dead last, so not a great endorsement of Robinson's skills. It seems that he can't dislodge Danny Finlayson at right back, and Josh Brenet seems to be ahead of him in the pecking order too. I'd hope the club are considering a change in approach in January.
And lastly, Lewis Orford is down in League One with Stevenage. He's only managed three appearances so far, with only one in the league. The silver lining, though, is that that appearance was in Stevenage's last match against Reading, where Orford came off the bench for a 16 minute cameo, having also come off the bench the match prior against Chesterfield in the cup. Stevenage are playing a pretty rigid 4-2-3-1 system, and seem to have a really settled side. Jordan Houghton and Harvey White have played pretty much every game as the two in the middle, and former West Ham youth product Dan Kemp has is the first choice #10. Stevenage are having a good season - up in 5th - which may be why they aren't giving a young loanee much of a look in.
Turns out, Finlay Herrick (now referred to on the OS as 'Fin Herrick') was recalled from his loan on 29th October.
Welcome back
Junior Robinson was recalled from his loan to Livingstone last Friday having only made one appearance, and was sent of to join National League side Boreham Wood (and immediately got smashed 5-0 against Burton Albion on his debut. His contract with us is up at the end of the season, and, at 21, he's very likely to be leaving in the summer.
This is old news but not mentioned on here - Lewis Orford was recalled in November, having made 3 appearances and scoring 1 goal for Stevenage.
Krisztian Hegyi has been sent back to Hungary on loan to MTK Budapest. Officially, he was regarded as a first team player, but at 23 it seems unlikely he'll ever make it here so hopefully a good move for him. He does still have a contract until 2027, with a year option.
And then over the course of the past week, we've had Callum Marshall go out on loan to Bochum in the German Second Division, and George Earthy head back to Bristol City for a second loan in two seasons.
Gideon Kodua is probably having the most successful season of our loanees - with 9 goals in 27 appearances for Luton making him their top scorer. His contract is up at the end of the season, and he's 21 now. I think he's likely to be off in the summer, but having a season like this suggests he might have a decent EFL career ahead of him
I think what you say is true of other managers but Nuno has actually given young players a chance and a couple of cameos for Kante and Earthy too - not just in the last 5 minutes either.
I’m always keen to see a youth player given a chance, even if all they can ever be for us is an average player who gives depth (because that’s better than buying in average/below average players) but I think it’s quite often the case that the player who shines against other young players isn’t as capable against full adults. He’s obviously doing well but maybe he needs more time to develop. It would be nice to extend his contract and just loan him out again though if that was an option.