Loan deals are a key tool for managers in the Scottish Premiership.
There are currently 57 players in the division on temporary transfers.
That’s an average of just under five per team.
Dundee, though, blow that average out of the water – they currently have 11 loan players in their squad.
Manager Tony Docherty could name an entire starting XI featuring only loan players.
Jon McCracken in goal with a defence of Ricki Lamie, Owen Dodgson and Aaron Donnelly in front of him.
Owen Beck and Dara Costelloe on the flanks with a central midfield of Malachi Boateng and Ryan Howley and a front three of Amadou Bakayoko, Michael Mellon and Zach Robinson.
Not a bad XI.
So what is behind the reliance on loan deals?
Why loans
The most basic reason behind loan deals is they are a cheap way to get good players into your team.
Players you wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford on permanent contracts.
It’s been that way for years at all levels.
Bigger clubs want their youth players to get experience, clubs like Dundee want to improve the quality of their squad. A loan satisfies both needs.
The key is to get the right players and the Dark Blues have, on the whole, done that this term.
A lot of work has gone into the recruitment under Tony Docherty – Beck from Liverpool has been a star, the likes of Bakayoko, Boateng, Robinson and Mellon have all excelled at times, too.
Dundee fans don’t have to think back too far to see what can happen when the wrong players come in on loan – Jim McIntyre’s failed January rebuild in 2019 showed just that.
Young players are sent out on loan to gain first-team experience. Often that means making mistakes and learning from them.
The key for clubs like Dundee is making sure the pros of that extra talent outweigh the cons of youngsters making errors.
Burnley
Another major factor in Dundee’s reliance on loans is the link-up with Premier League outfit Burnley.
Player development has been the watchword around that deal.
And this season is likely to be only the start of a regular Clarets presence in the Dundee first-team squad.
Over the season, four young prospects have been sent up from Turf Moor.
Marcel Lewis didn’t work out in the first half of the campaign. Owen Dodgson has had a tricky start at Dens while Dara Costelloe has made a positive impact.
Michael Mellon, meanwhile, has had an up-and-down time – excelling on debut at Livingston but then suffering that nasty head knock last time out against St Johnstone.
Rules state clubs can only have three players on loan from another club at any one time.
There will be more Burnley loans in the seasons to come.
Long-term plan
However, Docherty doesn’t expect to have quite so high a number of loan players going forward.
The Dens boss is fully aware of the limitations of being the newly-promoted side and being in his first season in charge.
But he’s not just looking at the games in front of him. There is a long-term plan at Dundee.
“You need to build foundations and go through a process – you can’t put the whole foundations down straight away,” Docherty said.
“We have a plan here, a recruitment strategy and in this first year back up this was always going to be the way.
“I have done it twice before, being the newly promoted team coming back up to the Premiership, so I know what you need to do.
“You need to set up building blocks, but always with the view of looking to the long-term.
“The first objective has to be to stay in the league and consolidate, that’s what we’ve been trying to do.
“It’s a process and something we’re all on board with.
“What we’ve tried to do is build a squad and build a culture, while also leaving space for the young ones to have a pathway through.
“We have that with a few Scotland U/21 internationals in the squad and it’s good for the younger age group to see that because it shows them the chance is there.
“So the way we have built the squad has been about doing the right things the first season back up and giving us something to build on.”
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