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Holmes joins Yeovil Town on emergency loan

Duane Holmes Huddersfield Town (Getty Images)

By FRANCO PANIZO

Duane Holmes has struggled to find the field consistently for Huddersfield Town this season despite showing glimpses of quality, but he will now have an opportunity to do so elsewhere. At least momentarily.

Holmes has been loaned by Huddersfield to fellow Championship club Yeovil Town on an emergency one-month loan that runs until March 23. The 19-year-old midfielder from Atlanta could be recalled by the Terriers any time before the end of the loan, though that seems unlikely.

“I’ve been keen to keep Duane in and around our squad because he’s made an impact this season, but in terms of taking the next step in his development this move to gain further experience in the Championship is a very good one for him, and of course for us,” Huddersfield head coach Mark Robins told the club’s website. “I have spoken with (Yeovil manager) Gary Johnson and he assures me that he will be given a good opportunity and we are looking forward to him taking the chance to get time on the pitch.

“Yeovil are desperately trying to get out of the bottom three and the experience will do him good. We hope that during his loan with them he progresses and gains more Championship experience, enabling him to come back here with more knowledge on what is required at this level.”

In his professional debut season, Holmes has played 11 times for Huddersfield Town but only one of those appearances came as a starter. He has not played for the club since a Jan. 11 win over Millwall.

Yeovil Town are currently dead last in the 24-team Championship. The Glovers are six points away from safety with 16 games left to play in the season.

Holmes is expected to be available for Yeovil’s home game vs. Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.

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What do you think of Holmes joining Yeovil Town on loan? Think he will make an impact at the club? Hoping the loan ends up running through the end of the season?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Most players have holes in their game when they first sign as professionals (regardless of age & league). The question is can they improve enough in those area’s to remain relevant to their employers. If this loan gives him a chance to play more often and become a more consistant player, great for him & his parent club. If it shows his weaknesses to be greater than his talent his parent club finds out sooner rather than later, without if negatively impacting them…good for them.
    Hope he does well and progresses. The more players we have to choose from for the future the better the compitition, and hopefully the better the team.

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  2. makes sense, if he actually plays, he’ll get the experience of a relegation battle. they are 6 points below the safety zone, so this should be good for his development if he can help them climb out of that.

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  3. Well, if he’s been reported on this website, we better start discussing if he’ll start for us at the world cup, since that’s where every conversation on here turns to when discussing yanks abroad. It’s as if y’all don’t realize they only take 23 players.

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  4. What was the emergency exactly? Is it Yeovil Town’s concern about being regulated and they needed a bench player from another C team to save the day or getting him some PT.

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    • Reading in between the lines the coach is hoping a stint with a desperate relegation candidate will teach him a lesson about professionalism and get him to push himself. (“experience will do him good” “We hope that during his loan with them he progresses” “come back here with more knowledge on what is required at this level”)

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    • The “emergency loan” clause in England is pretty much crap.
      In point, QPR took Ravel Morrison on “emergency loan” from West Ham this week. QPR sent a player on loan recently who started in the UCL yesterday.
      Morrison’s issues at West Ham seem to be from his signing with an agent that WHU’s front office doesn’t like.

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  5. “Extraterrestrial…STRAIGHT FROM ATL!” – ‘Kast

    (i know he was raised in England, but proud to see someone from the A tearing it up across the pond!)

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    • I wouldn’t exactly classify not being able to break into a mid-table Championship side, and being loaned to a dead-last championship side as “tearing it up”.

      Don’t get me wrong, I certainly hope this turns around his fortunes and he lights the league on fire, gets picked up by a top 4 league team and earns his way into the USMNT and has an incredibly productive career…but tearing it up at the moment is a stretch.

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      • I don’t think its a mater of him not being able to break into the squad.

        When he first started getting minutes his manager stated that he was going to be really cautious with how many minutes he would let him play. Common practice for players his age who may not completely ready for whatever reason.

        I hope he does see minutes while he’s there though

  6. Very impressed by the highlights I’ve seen and what I’ve read of this kid. Seems to have both speed AND playmaking ability. I don’t think we’ve had that combo since LD came on the scene. Small guy and who knows what will happen with guy this young but he definitely profiles as a fun guy to watch for the future.

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    • But he has to have some flaw in his game, or mental issue, when the coach of the Only Team He’s Played For (since U9) sits him a month and half, then ships him out to a relegation fighter. Keen to keep him but wants to see improvement and understanding how the game works.

      At this juncture, some players like Dempsey become more than stepover merchants (eg, get a work rate and finishing prowess), and some become Freddy Adu (either remain flawed players or ignore their problem areas). We can talk upside all we want but sometimes the most important thing is do they fill the holes in their game or at least learn to hide them well. There are lots of players who clawed their way up to the PL, Lambert, Gayle, et al. But there are also academicians who just slide down the ladder. We can talk up Holmes all we want but he’s not at an incredible level of play — MLSish — and he’s at a crossroads.

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      • He’s not at a crossroads, he’s NINETEEN and got lent out for a month to get more time. Freddie Adu is at a crossroads. Duane Holmes is an exciting prospect getting some great experience in a good league.

      • My family’s from Sherborne which is just east of Yeovil (although it is in Dorset, and Yeovil is in Somerset). It’s in the southwest of England (nearly due south of Bristol). Yeovil is the smallest town to have a team in the Championship with a population around 40,000 (Yeovil Town also have the smallest stadium).

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