England's lower leagues began play this weekend, and it provided for an enthralling start to the loanee season, as Alexander Kiwomya, Kasey Palmer and Tammy Abraham (in that order), all scored debut goals for their clubs.
Just seen the timing of the Chelsea loan boys goals 79,80,81 ridiculous ! @Kasey_Palmer10 @Golden_Kiwomya well done bros ❤️
— Tammy abraham (@tammyabraham) August 6, 2016
I guess Me @tammyabraham and @Kasey_Palmer10 Timing is still a joke, 79,80,81 Love it boys ❤️
— Alexander Kiwomya (@Golden_Kiwomya) August 6, 2016
Kiwomya, on loan at Crewe Alexandra in League Two, was named only to the bench but after his 62nd minute introduction, the pacy winger notched an assist with an inch-perfect through ball then added an excellent goal after some fancy footwork to help his team to beat Stevenage 2-1.
Kasey Palmer, who missed a large part of Huddersfield's pre-season due to injury, also started on the bench. David Wagner, the former coach of Borussia Dortmund's developmental team, called on the Chelsea loanee in the 78th minute and his decision proved a masterstroke a few seconds later. With just about his first touch as a senior professional, Palmer scored the winning goal. Not a bad way to announce your arrival, eh?
Oh, and Kasey did this too.
Kasey Palmer's Huddersfield debut wouldn't have been complete without at least one nutmeg...https://t.co/gX4oHu5Vzp #CFC #LoanArmy
— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) August 7, 2016
Here's Palmer himself post-game, visibly chuffed to bits.
There were positive words from Wagner as well for the youngster.
Huddersfield coach: "When I sent Kasey on I said to him: 'Enjoy it and decide the game.' I think he enjoyed it!" pic.twitter.com/ONp3JBL2LK
— ChelseaLoans (@ChelseaLoans) August 6, 2016
DW: "@Kasey_Palmer10 is a talent. It's nice to have this young, exciting player here. We'll get him fit for the @SkyBetChamp" #htafc (DTS)
— Huddersfield Town (@htafcdotcom) August 6, 2016
Next, it was Tammy Abraham's turn to get his name on the scoresheet. Despite confirmation of his loan to Bristol City arriving only a day prior to the game, Tammy made the bench and was called upon in the 67th minute, with his team 1-0 down to a Wigan Athletic side starring THE Will Grigg. But it was Tammy who was on fire, scoring the equaliser in the 2-1 comeback win for his team.
Bristol City's coach was very happy with Abraham, calling him a £20m-striker already.
Bristol City coach: "We put an awful lot of work into signing Tammy Abraham, meeting his parents and convincing Chelsea of our philosophy."
— ChelseaLoans (@ChelseaLoans) August 6, 2016
Bristol City coach: "We felt he was worth waiting for. He is a top talent & we now have two CFs capable of getting lot of goals this season"
— ChelseaLoans (@ChelseaLoans) August 6, 2016
Bristol City coach: "[Abraham] is a very grounded lad with great parents and we need to keep his feet on the ground and help him develop."
— ChelseaLoans (@ChelseaLoans) August 6, 2016
Bristol City coach: "No one is quite sure how tall Tammy Abraham is because no one can reach him to measure him!"
— ChelseaLoans (@ChelseaLoans) August 6, 2016
Meanwhile, back on Friday night, Tomas Kalas started for Fulham who clinched an unlikely 1-0 victory against big-spending title favorites Newcastle United. Kalas, by all accounts, put in an impressive defensive showing as the right-sided center back.
Jordan Houghton, whose loan to Doncaster Rovers was only announced the day before, started and played 74 minutes of their 3-2 loss to Accrington Stanley.
Mitchell Beeney was on the bench for Crawley, who are currently managed by none other than Dermot Drummy, as was Matej Delac for Royal Mouscron, who are currently managed by someone other than Dermot Drummy.
The Eredivisie season kicked off this weekend as well, with Vitesse making light work of Willem II, marking the beginning of the Henk Fraser era with a 4-1 victory. Lewis Baker played the whole 90, while Nathan was hauled off in the 64th minute after scoring Vitesse's third and fourth goals. As usual, Baker ran the show in midfield, making up 8.8% of the match ball possession and completing the most passes in the game. With respect to last season, the midfielder's defensive work-rate seemed to have increased markedly, along with aerial ability. Despite his brace, Nathan looked average for most of his appearance.
The first of Nathan's two goals for Vitesse yesterday. pic.twitter.com/h2Cz7Gaxjw
— ChelseaLoans (@ChelseaLoans) August 7, 2016
Nou vooruit, de 0-4 alsnog. Op verzoek. #vitesse pic.twitter.com/C3EUq2gwE0
— Pim Roelofs (@PimRoelofs) August 6, 2016
All in all, it was a highly eventful first weekend for the Loan Report, which saw a whopping five Loan Army goals scored! Hopefully, many more will follow.