The loan signings of the 2011/12 campaign

As most Millwall fans will know, Kenny Jackett loves a loan deal. There's been the good, but there has also been the bad during his 4 year tenure as manager. I'm not going to go into detail about the bad ones, as I'll be here til Christmas. However, the likes of Liam Trotter and James Henry were originally signed on loan deals. Infact, they've both had two loan spells with the club, Trotter's as early as 2006 as an inexperienced 19 year-old, then again in 2010, this time under Kenny Jackett. James Henry's two loan spells both came in 2009. But where are they now?

They're both still at Millwall, permanently this time, though. Trotter is a key part of the team, who has attracted lots of interest from Premier League clubs. Whether Millwall will be able to keep hold of him is another story. Henry however, is on the fringes of the first team and is going through a bad spell. However, in the club's first season back in the Championship he produced some fine displays, which included four assists in the Lions 4-0 home win against Hull City.

Anyway, I'm not here to talk about them two. I'm here to discuss the loan dealings of the 2011/12 campaign. A campaign which hasn't exactly been one to remember, in terms of loan dealings and in terms of the teams performance. We currently lie in 19th place, six points above the drop zone. Millwall fans of the elder generation would say that's pretty respectable, at least we're in the Championship. Most people don't see it that way though, especially as last season we finished as high as 9th and almost made the play-offs in our first season back. How things have changed since then. Right then, shall we get started?

Dany N'Guessan. Signed on loan from Leicester City at the start of the season. A pacy left-winger, who can also play as a striker. He made his debut in the 1-0 away win against Plymouth Argyle in the Carling Cup 1st Round. He scored the only goal in that game. A goal on your debut, you couldn't ask for anything else really. After that he came off the bench in our first home game of the season, against Nottingham Forest. He virtually changed the game, setting up Liam Trotter to make it 2-0, which is how it finished. Millwall fans were pleased with what they had seen so far. However...

He signed a permanent deal on deadline day in August. I personally had high hopes for him, but he's failed to cement a place in the first team. He has scored a further two goals, which came in the 1-0 home win against Portsmouth on Boxing Day, then in the 3-2 away win against Southampton in the FA Cup 4th round replay. In total, he has played 18 games for us, 9 of them starts. Overall rating? 4/10.

Next up, Jay Simpson. Returning to the Den for a second loan spell, this time from Hull City. He too joined on deadline day in August, on a loan deal until January. In his previous spell with us, he won the League One Player of the Year. He only scored 8 goals, but those goals probably kept us up. This time round, he managed only four goals in 16 appearances, 13 of those were starts. There was talk of a potential bust-up between himself and the manager. Jackett then said he wouldn't be looking into signing him, so he returned to Hull in January, as planned. In my opinion he is vastly overrated due to the fact he came through at Arsenal, who are known for having a brilliant youth system. Overall rating? 4/10.

Brian Howard, an attacking midfielder signed on a three-month loan from Reading. When I first saw him play he looked very good, always on the move, dictating the play, keeping the ball. But then I realised he wasn't really all that. Very weak, tried to do the difficult things rather than the simpler ones. Sometimes he took so long on the ball, he got dispossessed which resulted in everyone having to track back, then BANG. 1-0 down. He was played out on the left wing though, not his natural postion, but that's no excuse. He had a brilliant spell earlier in his career at Barnsley, but he isn't the same player. 12 appearances, 11 of those were starts. Goals? Zilch, zero, nowt, none. You catch my drift. Overall rating? 3/10.

Patrick Agyemang was next up, he signed on a one-month loan from QPR. An experienced striker who doesn't have the greatest goal scoring record. A typical Kenny Jackett loan signing. Millwall fans will know what I'm talking about here. Jackett doesn't have the best track record for signing strikers, with the exception of Steve Morison and Darius Henderson. Anyway, I'll keep this short. He turned up unfit. You could tell from when he made his home debut, coming off the bench. He ran half the length of the pitch and was already exhausted. 2 appearances, 1 start, in which he was substituted at half-time for being unfit. Goals? 0. Overall rating? 1/10.

Shane Lowry was up next. Finally a successful loan signing. The Australian born centre back signed on loan from Aston Villa, where he'd struggled to break into the first team. At 22, he needed regular games. He's a typical Millwall player. Commited in the tackle, strong, never shys away. He is also a leader and at 22 that's quite a good thing to have. He'll captain us one day, I'm sure. He eventually signed on a permanent deal in January, which pleased everyone. 13 appearances, all of which he's started. No goals, but he's not expected to score as a centre back. 1 red card however, from stamping on Birmingham's Nikola Zigic in the 6-0 home thrashing. Overall rating? 8/10.

Nathan Baker, who joined on loan at the same time as Lowry, from the same club, Aston Villa. The 19 year-old left-back had also failed to make an impact at Villa, so came to the Den for some game time. He wasn't great, but he was better than what we currently had a left-back. He looked nervy and most of the time just seemed to punt it forward and hope for the best. His loan spell was cut short following an injury he sustained against Portsmouth on Boxing Day. He made 6 appearances in total, with no goals. Overall rating? 3/10.

Harry Kane. A 19 year-old striker who signed on loan from Tottenham until the end of the season. Kane's only real involvement at Tottenham came in this seasons Europa League, where he scored against Shamrock Rovers. A big unit, who doesn't have any real pace, but has quality on the ball. He's scored two goals so far, which both came in the FA Cup 3rd round replay against Dagenham & Redbridge, where we won 5-0. So far, so good. He'll only get better with more games. He probably won't make it at Tottenham, but he has a chance in the Championship. 12 appearances, 9 of those are starts. 2 goals. Overall rating? 5/10.

Ryan Mason. An attacking midfielder who we also signed on loan from Tottenham until the end of the season. He joined us, injured. So he's had a delayed start to his Millwall career. He made his debut against Watford and failed to deliver. Sometimes you forget that he's even on the pitch. Yet another attacking midfielder who Jackett has played on the left wing. However, in recent games we've seen Mason in his natural position. He had a good game against Southampton in the FA Cup 4th round replay, but then I saw him at Brighton and he struggled. Similar to Howard, very lightweight. Hopefully he'll improve, but I can't see it. He's made 5 appearances, 4 of those being starts. 0 goals. Overall rating? 3/10.

Finally, Leonard Sowah. A German left-back signed on loan from Hamburg until the end of the season. Now this is a bizarre one. An agency recommended him to the club as they'd heard we'd been looking for a new left-back. So we signed him on loan, without anyone at the club even seeing him play. Now he's struggling with a back problem. A back problem at 19 years of age? Oh dear. So I can't even really judge this one, but maybe Jackett will learn his lesson. He shouldn't just go on an agents recommendation without even seeing the boy play. 0 appearances then. Overall rating? 0/10.

So, that is that. As you can see, we've not had the best of luck this season when it comes to loan deals. I may have rambled on a bit, but this is an alternative to rambling on and on over Twitter. I hope you've enjoyed this piece, which will hopefully be the first of many.