Loan moves always come with an element of risk but what work goes in to making one successful?
Newcastle Under 21 goalkeeping coach Tony Caig and (inset) Aidan Harris
Newcastle Under 21 goalkeeping coach Tony Caig and (inset) Aidan Harris, who had a spell on loan at Coleraine
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The loan transfer in football is a decision laced with risk, but also reward.
Given the often extensive work that goes in behind the scenes at both clubs involved in the transaction, they would argue it is lazy to call it a gamble but in its very essence it is a risk clubs take with their young players and the reward is often huge if it pays off.
Newcastle United's loan transfers have received some scrutiny in recent seasons and just like every club, the loan system has its success and has its failures.
Fans would point at Garang Kuol as a high profile example of a talented youngster whose loan moves hindered his development, rather than aided it.
But for every Kuol, there is an Elliot Anderson - who returned to the club after six months at Bristol Rovers as a first team-ready midfielder who has gone on to become an England international.
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From Newcastle's point of view, too, there is only so much they can control once their player joins a club on loan in terms of team selection and the player proving his worth outside of their academy environment.
But when a loan move is successful, what are the ingredients that make it so?
Goalkeeper Aidan Harris went viral last month when he scored a goal from his own half for the club's under-21 side against Fulham at Whitley Park.
Harris had not long returned from a loan spell at Northern Irish Premiership side Coleraine, and had been part of Newcastle's Champions League squad for trips to face PSG and Qarabag.
Newcastle United goalkeeper Aidan Harris ahead of the club's Champions League clash against Barcelona
Newcastle United goalkeeper Aidan Harris ahead of the club's Champions League clash against Barcelona
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His 22 appearances for a team competing at the top end of the Northern Irish Premiership was so successful, in fact, that Coleraine's goalkeeper coach Michael Dougherty was invited to the club's academy to present to staff and senior management on how he managed Harris' loan spell, and the benefits of navigating the ups and downs that come with playing in senior football.
Head of academy goalkeeping Tony Caig and Newcastle's academy director Steve Harper both took to LinkedIn to praise Dougherty's work with Harris and commend the relationship the club have now struck with The Bannsiders.
And that prompted Chronicle Live to pay a visit to Newcastle's academy to find out more about the anatomy of what makes a successful loan move like Harris'.
"I don't think it's commonplace," Caig told Chronicle Live in an exclusive interview when asked if those sorts of presentations from other clubs happen regularly.
"I think with how the loan developed and happened and then once we finished the loan in terms of him being recalled, I thought there was a really good opportunity there after being in such constant contact with Michael for months and he was really detailed and passionate about what he'd done and worked with Aidan over a period of time.
"I thought it'd be really good for us back at the club to see what they felt about the loan in terms of how Aidan had developed, what it was like at the beginning, how it worked, what they did, what interventions they put in place because he was with them all the time and that's really good learning back for us.
"Our view of the loan is sometimes through our eyes rather than necessarily the loan club's eyes. I know we're in constant communication with all the loan clubs that all our players are at but to then get a review of it from their perspective is probably not that common. It was a really good way I think to close the loop on the loan."
Newcastle's head of academy goalkeeping Tony Caig
Newcastle's head of academy goalkeeping Tony Caig(Image: 2026 Newcastle United)
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Newcastle decided around Christmas of last season that Harris was ready for a senior loan at the start of this term. The Magpies increased exposure to under-21s football in the second half of the campaign and started to really treat his approach and feedback to games like he was a first team player.
He was placed into South Shields for a few days in the summer and another north east non-league side were keen to secure his services.
Those moves may have seen Harris largely remain in Newcastle's programme away from matchdays, though, but when Coleraine's number one goalkeeper Ryan Schofield picked up a shoulder injury in pre-season, the stars aligned for Harris to pack up his belongings and step into a first team environment in the Northern Irish Premiership.
"There's a little bit of luck involved, as with a lot of things, strategically making the inroads into different coaches and spinning plates to keep it going best you can and then it dropped really well for him," Caig added.
"The other thing to consider is Aidan has to want to do it. That's the big thing and Aidan was really keen to go and do this, play first division football in a full-time environment and then actually taking his gear home and the next day he's going across to Belfast. It all happened that quickly for him.
"We knew he was going into a team that would be fairly strong in that league, so the loan was successful and he did well, but he wasn't in a team that was close to the bottom of the league where he might have more action and more things to do.
"But the pressures that came on him was Coleraine were expected to win, so that's a different kind of pressure and he might not have lots of involvement in the game but he needs to make sure he gets it right when he is involved."
With a goalkeeper being such a pressured environment, and taking himself out of his comfort zone, it was a psychological test as much as it was a test of Harris' goalkeeping ability.
"You may well be 30 miles down the road, you might be 300 miles away, we don't know because in a goalkeeping world, and I have been a player and a coach, you have to go where you are needed. It's that kind of job," Caig explained.
"When we were looking at the loans it was what do we want the loan to bring him? We wanted it to stretch him psychologically, first and foremost, because he had outgrown under-21s football from a psychological standpoint.
"The standard of play he was still challenged by, but the psychological element of he needs play in front of crowds, there needs to be points at stake, there needs to be accountability for performing well or potentially not.
"It was a collaboration, as two clubs working together with that player because ultimately they want the best performances from a young goalkeeper and we want the best for Aidan, so that's where it all really connected well in that initial period. If those relationships weren't there at the beginning, it makes it a little bit more difficult for the player. Relationships are really important."
And it's not just relationships with the loan club that are important.
As part of his role, Caig has a long held relationship with academy director Steve Harper, with the pair working together as players for Newcastle between 2003 and 2006.
He also has a strong relationship with Shola Ameobi, Peter Ramage, and the rest of the club's loan department, while communication between himself at academy level and the requirements of the first team with their goalkeeper coaches Adam Bartlett and Shwan Jalal is also key.
The ultimate goal for all parties, of course, is for Newcastle's academy to produce goalkeepers for the Magpies' first team. While the chances, statistically are slim, by shooting for the stars the hope is if the ultimate goal is not reached, then Caig has given his goalkeepers the platform to enjoy a professional career elsewhere.
"Every goalkeeper we work with and develop, we want to get into the first team squad. That's the ultimate goal, is to try and produce goalkeepers for Newcastle United," Caig finished.
"The reality of that is slightly different because we're talking about the Premier League and we all know the stats on how many players do actually come through in to a Premier League team and play regularly, especially for goalkeepers because it's in a position where psychological development is key. So they need to be able to handle the pressures.
"It's been well documented how young goalkeepers go on a number of loans through a period of time and we've done our own research on that and you're probably looking at 100 games across four or five loans before you're probably at that point in time where you're really challenging, unless it's a really exceptional talent.
"So that period of time could take you up to 22, 23 maybe even 24 before you're in line for a first team debut. So I think patience is key and also if they're going on a loan and it doesn't quite go to plan, or they don't play as much or it doesn't go quite as what we expected it to, that we don't rip it up and think we've got to do something different.
"You stay consistent with what you're doing and sometimes it might be but you need to rebuild them slightly and they'll come back stronger.
"If they don't hit our first team, then ultimately we want them to have a professional career and make a good living from the game, playing at a good level or as high a level as they possibly can.
"We're aiming for the first team and we hopefully get them into there and we do everything we can to get them there, but if they don't quite hit that then there's lots of branches on the way down that they can hit."
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