Cardiff striker Joe Mason returns to Bolton Wanderers on a mission

Joe Mason was finally nailed down as a Wanderers player yesterday – with Dougie Freedman promising fans he’ll be worth the wait.

The Cardiff City striker arrives on a 50-day loan, having already spent 43 days with the Whites earlier in the season.

On that occasion, the 22-year-old failed to build fully on an encouraging start and a goal against Doncaster Rovers on his home debut.

But Freedman feels that having waited patiently for a second chance to work with the Ireland Under-21 international, he has plenty more to offer.

“He is a terrific finisher and he will help us get some more goals,” he said. “There is much more to come from him. But I had seen enough to know there is huge potential there. He just needs some game time.

“He wants to improve so it is a really good signing. Without putting too much pressure on him there is a lot more to come which will come naturally through games.

“I have already seen what he can do for the team.”

Mason was poised to rejoin Wanderers in January but had to put the move on hold for personal reasons.

He also came close to leaving Cardiff on a permanent basis, with Bournemouth and Brighton both vying for his services – but once those moves fell though, Freedman knew it would be only a matter of time before he was able to bring him back to the club.

As a result, Craig Davies was allowed to join Preston North End on loan – a decision that proved controversial with Whites fans, but that Freedman hopes will now be rewarded with goals in Mason’s second spell at the Reebok.

“We are very lucky to have him back,” he said. “When Craig Davies went to Preston I had Joe up my sleeve but I couldn't express that.

“Craig wanted to play every week and I couldn't guarantee that. Preston came in to take him on loan and I can use that money on Joe.

“I am a big believer in waiting for the players you want. Craig has got his games every week but he will be back with us.

“I couldn't guarantee him week in week out and he is the sort of lad who wants that.”

Source

Why wouldn't any player not want to play every week?

I slated this guy, glad I was wrong as he was superb yesterday.

I still don't get why Dougie CAN guarantee game time to a loan signing but CAN'T with our own player when we were down to one fir striker who wasn't even our own player. I take nothing away from Mason's performance yesterday BUT why did we need him when Cravies could and should have been here and available?

luckyPeterpiper wrote:I still don't get why Dougie CAN guarantee game time to a loan signing but CAN'T with our own player when we were down to one fir striker who wasn't even our own player. I take nothing away from Mason's performance yesterday BUT why did we need him when Cravies could and should have been here and available?

Because he prefers Mason?

Hipster_Nebula wrote:

Because he prefers Mason?

You miss his point, long-term you have to go with your own players....how can the team play with any consistency if half the squad are loan players?

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Hipster_Nebula wrote:

Because he prefers Mason?

You miss his point, long-term you have to go with your own players....how can the team play with any consistency if half the squad are loan players?

Thank you Nat, that is PRECISELY what I'm trying to say. Last season we had a great late run largely inspired by the likes of Dawson but he's not our player either. Dougie needs to get the best out of Bolton Wanderers players which so far he has signally failed to do and looks incapable of doing. We can't keep shuffling the pack the way Dougie is doing if we're ever to make any kind of sustained improvement. Let's just say we go on another good run with Juke and Mason, summer comes, they go back to their parent clubs and then what? Back to square one with the players Dougie kicked out to fund his loan signings who already know he doesn't really rate them. It's not a good plan, not if he hopes to accomplish anything solid with the club.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Hipster_Nebula wrote:

Because he prefers Mason?

You miss his point, long-term you have to go with your own players....how can the team play with any consistency if half the squad are loan players?

I want him to play the best players, with the best chance of winning the game. 

I don't want some scrub getting in the team because he has a four year deal, loans can make and break you in this league. Look at Watford last year, in fact look at a lot of the teams.

luckyPeterpiper wrote:

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Hipster_Nebula wrote:

Because he prefers Mason?

You miss his point, long-term you have to go with your own players....how can the team play with any consistency if half the squad are loan players?

Thank you Nat, that is PRECISELY what I'm trying to say. Last season we had a great late run largely inspired by the likes of Dawson but he's not our player either. Dougie needs to get the best out of Bolton Wanderers players which so far he has signally failed to do and looks incapable of doing. We can't keep shuffling the pack the way Dougie is doing if we're ever to make any kind of sustained improvement. Let's just say we go on another good run with Juke and Mason, summer comes, they go back to their parent clubs and then what? Back to square one with the players Dougie kicked out to fund his loan signings who already know he doesn't really rate them. It's not a good plan, not if he hopes to accomplish anything solid with the club.

But at least we will be in the Championship.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Hipster_Nebula wrote:

Because he prefers Mason?

You miss his point, long-term you have to go with your own players....how can the team play with any consistency if half the squad are loan players?

I want him to play the best players, with the best chance of winning the game. 

I don't want some scrub getting in the team because he has a four year deal, loans can make and break you in this league. Look at Watford last year, in fact look at a lot of the teams.

Watford loaned a dozen players or so from their new owners SERIE A Club but STILL didn't succeed in getting promoted. I hardly think that's an advert for using the loan system do you?

I'm not sure if you're serious or not with that statement.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Hipster_Nebula wrote:

Because he prefers Mason?

You miss his point, long-term you have to go with your own players....how can the team play with any consistency if half the squad are loan players?

I want him to play the best players, with the best chance of winning the game. 

I don't want some scrub getting in the team because he has a four year deal, loans can make and break you in this league. Look at Watford last year, in fact look at a lot of the teams.

Also Hipster, this "method" relies completely on us being able to find loans in the positions we need and we haven't exactly done well there have we? We still don't have the Left Back Dougie is so desperate to find. Even if we do get loan players every year it's no guarantee of improved results or performances. 

Frankly I feel it makes Dougie look very weak when he sends our OWN players out to bring in someone else's for the same position. It's tantamount to saying "I can't make players perform for more than a few weeks so I keep borrowing new ones while the lads I have failed to reach go to other places."

Hipster_Nebula wrote:I'm not sure if you're serious or not with that statement.

Deadly serious Hipster, Zola got I thnk it was NINE players from Napoli on season long "loans" that got around the usual rules by being counted as transfers and yet he STILL couldn't get Watford promoted. That was a failure, you can't call it anything else. 

He paid with his job. You don't sack someone who's doing well.

Fair enough, respect the opinion but completely disagree with the basis of this whole argument.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:Fair enough, respect the opinion but completely disagree with the basis of this whole argument.

Alright, we'll agree to disagree then.  

Hipster_Nebula wrote:

I want him to play the best players, with the best chance of winning the game. 

I don't want some scrub getting in the team because he has a four year deal, loans can make and break you in this league. Look at Watford last year, in fact look at a lot of the teams.

Leicester didn't have any loan players in their team yesterday. They are walking this league.

They had a similar season to us last season, but their manager made a couple of signings and now they're heading towards the Premier League. We haven't had a settled squad all season and are in a relegation battle.

Why loan out our players?
Why play 2 strikers now?
Isn't it obvious?

Dougie alluded to it in an interview earlier this week. Basically having a decent target man like Juke requires having people around him to get on to the balls he wins and holds up. Before Mason arrived Dougie played 451 because of defensive weaknesses and hoped that midfielders would be able to get up quickly to support Juke. They didn't.
Mason is the only striker with the necessary combination of pace and skill to do this and Dougie has been waiting for him to sign so that he can play 2 strikers. Cavies and Eaves are way too slow - and Eaves has shown at Shrewsbury he's not good enough anyway (wouldn't be surprised if we've seen the last of him and imagine both will be sold in the summer).
Odelusi is quick enough but isn't skilful/streetwise enough yet so has been sent out to get game time and prove himself. The other youth strikers are in a similar situation but will be given more development time. Beckford has been retained and will be an alternative striker when fit again.
So basically, Dougie has been waiting to have the right forwards to play 442 and clearly believes that our own strikers are either not quick enough or not proven. I expect big changes in the summer.

He may still revert to 451 for away games but I hope not as the Watford game showed us that this approach works if we have the calibre of players up front to do it.

Leicester are walking the league with their own players, but those players actually give a damn and are putting in consistently good efforts. Doug thinks most of the players available to him are either shite or not ready. If you are shite there is no point in playing you. If you are not ready, go on loan to a lower level team and get ready. 

If Doug didn't think Cravies was shite, he'd have kept him. As it stands, he thought he'd get better results with Juke and Mason so he sold who he could, loaned who he could get away with for as long as possible, and now the aim (as unfortunate as it sounds) is to stay in the Championship, cut a load of deadwood out of the team (I'm looking at you, Zat Knight) and see what can be done in the summer with either new, hungry players at appropriate wages or hopefully improved young players returning from loans.

Those who can hack it will stay - the others will be moved on, where possible. The club is paying far too much money in wages on a weekly basis for such a consistent shower of shite. That's pretty much the situation, at present.

Keegan wrote:Leicester are walking the league with their own players, but those players actually give a damn and are putting in consistently good efforts.

We had similar ends to last season and finished on virtually the same number of points.

One team then went down the road of permanent signings and a settled side, the other for loan players and chopping and changing.

Not rocket science is it.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Keegan wrote:Leicester are walking the league with their own players, but those players actually give a damn and are putting in consistently good efforts.

We had similar ends to last season and finished on virtually the same number of points.

One team then went down the road of permanent signings and a settled side, the other for loan players and chopping and changing.

Not rocket science is it.

One team has Gartside as Chairman and a crippling debt. The other is Leicester City.