Lincoln City have sent two of the most promising young players out on loan today, with Oisin Gallagher joining Barnet and Zane Okoro moving to Tranmere Rovers.
Both deals will see them spend the season in League Two and, on the face of it, they look like exactly the sort of loans we needed to secure. Gallagher spent last season in the National League with Boston United, while Okoro was with Coleraine in the Northern Irish Premiership, so both are now stepping into the Football League and into an environment that should give them a different experience of senior football.
There will always be arguments about the relative strength of different divisions. Supporters of the League of Ireland’s stronger clubs might suggest the standard is closer to League One or even the Championship, but I think that is generous across the division as a whole. When we were loaning players to Drogheda United, we were still a League One club ourselves, and I would probably place the Northern Irish Premiership closer to National League level once you move beyond the leading sides.
That makes League Two a genuine step forward for both players. It is also probably where MJ Kamson-Kamara would have been heading had he not left us for Hearts earlier this summer. He may now be with an SPFL club, but his omission from their Champions League squad is perhaps a reminder that he has been signed as a prospect, just as he was by us, rather than as somebody expected to transform their first team immediately.
There are slightly different nuances to the Gallagher and Okoro loans, because the two players are at different stages and probably have different things to prove.
Zane Okoro
Okoro is perhaps the one heading out with more questions around him. His spell at Coleraine was certainly positive, but he was not one of their outstanding players across the whole campaign. He started brightly, produced goals and assists and showed some of the raw ability we know he possesses, but his influence dipped later in the season and he moved in and out of the side.
That is not necessarily a major concern. Okoro is still only 19, remains a very raw talent and now has a full season of senior football behind him. However, there is inevitably a contrast between where he is now and the reports last summer linking him with Fulham and Bournemouth.
Those names naturally carried a sense of glamour because they are Premier League clubs, but joining an under-21 setup would not automatically have placed him at a higher playing level than League Two. More often than not, a League Two first team would beat an under-21 side from even a leading academy, because there is a huge difference between development football and the demands of the senior game.
In that sense, Okoro may actually be in a better place now than he would have been had one of those moves happened. He has played regularly against adults, experienced the physical side of senior football and learned what it means to contribute in matches where results genuinely matter. He is not starting from scratch when he arrives at Prenton Park.
Tranmere should provide a proper test. They finished 21st in League Two last season, and Darrell Clarke has a rebuilding job on his hands, even if their supporters will naturally expect much more than another battle near the bottom. A club of Tranmere’s size will always talk about challenging higher up the division, but the immediate target is surely to become stable again and move towards mid-table before any serious promotion ambitions can be entertained.
Their system could help Okoro. Clarke has often favoured a back three, usually with two forwards or two attacking players operating around a central striker. That should create more opportunities for him than he might have found in a rigid 4-5-1 with one isolated player expected to lead the line.
We saw the drawbacks of that sort of move when Charley Kendall joined Sutton United. He was a young striker going into a struggling side which often asked one forward to battle alone against experienced defenders, and it never really looked like a natural fit. Tranmere should offer Okoro a little more flexibility, particularly because he can play through the middle or operate from a wider starting position.
One Tranmere supporter reacted by saying that, as long as he had pace, they would be happy. That is one thing Okoro certainly possesses in abundance. If they are looking for somebody capable of stretching teams, attacking space and getting behind League Two defences, then he should give them an option they did not have last season.
League Two can still be an unforgiving level for a young attacker. There is less time, plenty of physical contact and very little patience if a player starts slowly. Some prospects actually find it easier higher up the pyramid, where the football can be more expressive and there is occasionally more space to work in, but being thrown into the deep end is exactly what Okoro needs now.
There is plenty for him to prove, but he has always appeared grounded and focused. The move also says something positive about the position we now find ourselves in. Just over a decade ago, Tranmere were the stronger club and the sort of side competing with us for signings. We are now producing players who can go there on loan with a realistic chance of influencing their first team.
Oisin Gallagher
Gallagher’s move feels different, because I suspect he may have been kept around our squad had we remained in League One.
His story with us has always been an unusual one. We needed special dispensation from FIFA to sign him because he was coming from Derry City, who play in the Republic of Ireland’s league system despite Derry being in Northern Ireland. There was clearly considerable faith in him at the time, and he arrived with a strong reputation.
Injuries then interrupted that progress. Gallagher suffered a serious setback during his first spell with Boston and lost a large portion of the development time that should have helped move him closer to our senior side. He never became a forgotten man, but some of the shine around his potential inevitably faded while he was unavailable.
There was a period where it was reasonable to wonder whether he would ever move beyond loans at clubs such as Barwell and Peterborough Sports. Last season provided a fairly emphatic answer.
Gallagher returned to Boston and established himself at National League level, initially playing at centre-back under Graham Coughlan before moving into defensive midfield after Paul Hurst took charge. Michael Skubala had previously spoken about him as a potential defender, and it seemed we wanted Boston to use him there, but Hurst was entitled to make his own call, and Gallagher performed well in both roles.
That versatility is a major part of his appeal. He is combative, comfortable enough on the ball and now looks physically ready for senior football. Watching him in pre-season, he appears to have filled out and developed into a player capable of handling the physical demands of the game rather than simply surviving them.
For Gallagher, a Football League loan felt like the minimum requirement this summer. Had we remained in League One, I genuinely believe there would have been an argument for keeping him with the first-team squad, particularly with the EFL Trophy and the possibility of additional FA Cup fixtures.
That pathway is much more difficult now we are in the Championship. Our summer recruitment is likely to focus on players ready to perform immediately at this level, perhaps even involving record fees and established senior players. That naturally makes it much harder for a 21-year-old with most of his experience in the National League or below to force his way into the picture.
A League One loan would also have represented a sizeable gamble for the receiving club. We could have afforded to give Gallagher third-tier opportunities because he belongs to us and we are invested in his long-term development. Another club taking him on loan would be asking its supporters to accept a young signing with limited senior experience above the fifth tier, and expectations around incoming players can make that a difficult sell.
League Two is different. At that level, Gallagher should be a hugely attractive prospect, and I wanted to see him join a side with aspirations beyond simply finishing in the bottom four. Barnet appear to offer exactly that.
Dean Brennan’s side are an interesting destination for young players. Their north London location has traditionally helped them attract good loans because clubs can send prospects there without forcing them too far away from home, while Barnet also have the reach to recruit players from outside the capital when the right opportunity appears.
Their style should suit Gallagher as well. Barnet have used different formations, including a back four and a back three, and that should create openings for him at centre-back or as a holding midfielder. The exact arrangement at the top end of the pitch is less important than the fact he can cover several roles through the middle of the side.
They are also not a team built solely around clearing their lines and playing percentages. There should be a little more demanded of Gallagher than simply winning a header and kicking the ball as far as possible. That matters because he needs a rounded footballing education if he is eventually going to return and compete for a place in our Championship squad.
We are not necessarily a side who always build slowly from the back, but neither are we simply a long-ball team. We want players capable of making decisions, using possession properly and defending in different situations. Barnet should give Gallagher exposure to that sort of football while still testing him against the physical realities of League Two.
Regular football will also help his international prospects. Gallagher broke into the Republic of Ireland Under-21 setup last season and marked his first start with a goal against Kazakhstan. Playing every week in the EFL should keep him firmly in that picture and perhaps push him towards further recognition.
Injuries permitting, I would expect him to play 35 or 40 games for Barnet. He has already shown that he can handle the National League, and I believe he has the potential to become a very important player for them.
Conclusion
Both loans are positive for us, not only because of what they mean for Gallagher and Okoro, but because of the wider challenge facing our academy.
It is difficult for any player aged 18, 19 or 20 to move directly into a Championship first team, especially for a club our size. Our academy has a relatively small reach compared with many clubs at this level, even though we should remain an attractive destination for players released by larger academies at 16.
The difficulty comes after that. In League One, it is possible to see where minutes might emerge, whether in the EFL Trophy, against lower-table opposition or during a run of cup fixtures. That was not always the case last season, but the route was at least visible.
In the Championship, those opportunities are much harder to find. We may have only one League Cup tie, while the FA Cup begins in the third round and the league itself offers very few occasions where a manager can afford to experiment. Every point matters, especially early in the season, and young players can quickly find themselves stuck between academy football and a first team operating at a much higher level.
That is why these loans are great for the club. Gallagher and Okoro need meaningful senior football, whether their long-term futures are eventually with us or elsewhere. Sending both into League Two gives them a platform to develop, but it also gives us a much better chance of assessing whether they can eventually make the jump into our Championship squad.
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