Brendon Galloway is always a cautionary tale for me. He went from 15 Premier League games for us to have a terrible loan at West Brom, followed by a terrible loan at Sunderland, and his career has never recovered. Now he can't even get in the Luton side. Garbutt is another. He'd had a few loans and looked like he might breakthrough after making 10 appearances in 14/15 but then spent the next 4 seasons out on loan, with each loan seeing him drift further down the ladder, such that he's now a bit-part player at Blackpool.
For me, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. What I don't agree with is that every player needs to go out on loan to succeed here. Rooney didn't. Barkley went out on loan and it set him back. Stones didn't. Rodwell didn't. Jeffers didn't. Michael Ball didn't etc. They are probably the best players who have come through in my time.
Osman and Coleman yes. But there a specific circumstances for each. Osman had 2 cruciate knee injuries that kept him out for oer 2 years, at a time when players didn't recover from them. Moyes didnt fancy him at all, and he had to fight his way in. There's no doubt the loan improved him, but there was a reason he didn't break through at 18/19 or whatever (which he was very close to doing pre injuries).
Coleman hardly played any football growing up, and was very raw. The games probably helped him and is quite a good example.
Neither Onyango, nor Small have the above issues though. I always feel loaning players out is the easy option to avoid making a decision.
I see it like this. Imagine when you are 20. You work for one of the top firms in the country. You get exclusive gym memberships, your own BMW, top rented accomodation with your own swimming pool as standard. At your work you get gourmet meals cooked for you, you have pristine leather chairs to work on and a top of the range macbook to work from.
Then someone says we want you to go to Shrewsbury, to work out of a porter cabin for 6 months to learn how to do your job. For some people it will be a wake up call, but for most, they will just switch off and not take it seriously.
On the specific case of Onyango, it's much too early to start speculating about loans or whether he can play in the premiership. The big take out for me is he needs to kee growing, as opposed to get experience on loan at this point. He's wiry at the moment, and will no doubt fill out. As he does that it will be help him believe he can take games by the scruff of the next.
If he goes to League 1/2 next year, I suspect you will get a manager who will stick him further forward and utilise him as a "head on a stick" and I am really not sure how that will benefit anyone.
