Liam Manning was keen to bolster Bristol City’s striking options during his first summer in charge at Ashton Gate.
The Reds boss moved to sign both Fally Mayulu and Sinclair Armstrong as he not only looked to add an extra dimension to City’s attack but also replace the outgoing Tommy Conway who joined Middlesbrough.
While both new additions have impressed in flashes so far this season, it has been Nahki Wells who has stolen the show at the top end of the pitch. The Bermudan international has notched five goals in the Championship already this term, despite only starting six league matches.
City’s increased depth at the top end of the field has meant that Manning has not needed to turn to the Robins’ academy quite as often this season and therefore it has allowed young prospects like Ephraim Yeboah the chance to head out on loan.
The teenager made ten Championship appearances last season, the bulk of which came under Nigel Pearson. Although he wasn’t able to get on the scoresheet, he was a popular figure among supporters who were left excited by his energy and pace at the top end of the pitch.
With opportunities set to be limited under Manning at Ashton Gate this term, the decision was taken to allow the 18-year-old to join League Two Doncaster Rovers on loan with Grant McCann heaping praise on the young forward.
“When we’re trying to recruit in that area, we like to have options,” McCann said. “We wanted to bring more competition there. We had lots of names on our list but Ephraim’s name came back to us and he’s a boy that obviously we’ve watched religiously for a while
“We’ve seen his directness, his power when he was playing for Bristol City in the Championship and doing well for them in the games he played, and he had a really good loan last season at Bath, with a manager who I played with, back in the day at Cheltenham, in Jerry Gill.”
So far, Yeboah has found regular first-team football hard to come by, starting only one of Doncaster’s opening 16 league games, but he has impressed in the Football League Trophy, scoring twice in three appearances.
We caught up with Doncaster journalist Ricky Charlesworth, who works for Doncaster Free Press to see how Yeboah is getting on at the Eco-Power Stadium.
How would you sum up Yeboah’s loan spell so far?
I’d say he hasn’t really got started so far, there’s definitely been more misses than hits. I was looking over the stats before this and he’s played 11 times but only made one start and I think that probably tells you everything doesn’t it? He’s just struggled to get going. He joined in the summer which is quite rare for loan players, it’s normally a last-minute deal near the end of the window, but he was there for the whole of pre-season.
I think he’s mostly struggled with just trying to get into the team, there’s a lot of competition, a lot of strength in depth, and a lot of quality and he’s just struggled to break into the team. The stats tell you everything you need to know. No goals, no assists, and his one start probably contributes to that.
Have you been surprised by how little football he’s played this season?
I think when you look at the Rovers squad, they’ve got Luke Molyneux who on his day is one of the best wingers in the division and Jordan Gibson was a new signing as well. He’s inconsistent, which is why they’re in League Two, but on his day he’s top-notch. You’ve got Kyle Hurst, Harry Clifton and there’s Billy Sharp so in that attacking third there’s a lot of players and a lot of experience.
I know Ephraim has played 10 or 12 games for Bristol City in the Championship, but I think he has struggled with the tempo and physicality perhaps. The fact he’s started one game and we’re nearly in December probably says it all. He has impressed in the Football League Trophy, he’s scored a couple of goals in that but the tempo tends to drop off and teams aren’t as strong in that competition. If I was rating his loan spell so far, I’d probably have to give it a D or C- at best so there’s a lot of work to do.
Has he played more as a winger or a striker during his loan spell?
He’s mostly played out wide. He played six minutes on Saturday off of the bench, and before that 15 minutes off the bench almost a month of football so he’s been starved of football. He’s coming on in dribs and drabs and it has mostly been down that right-hand side. He might have played centrally in one of the EFL trophy games, he started a couple and scored, but like I say the pace drops in those matches so you can’t judge him on those outings.
Most of the time he’s been out wide, but again the sample size is quite small because he’s played a handful of minutes. He’s looked really raw which is understandable as he’s only 18 so I think there’s a lot of work to do for him and the coaching staff as well to try and integrate him.
How have Grant McCann and the fans taken to him?
At the start, he [McCann] was waxing lyrical about him. He was only 17 in the summer when he came in and you don’t see many 17-year-olds go out on loan to league clubs within the EFL, especially that early in the window. As I say, it’s just the competition that he’s struggled to deal with. When he has played he’s been praised.
He’s got a lot of pace and he’s only going to get quicker I think but he’s still got to develop physically. In terms of the fans, I think a lot of them are still undecided. A lot of them are of the view that it would make sense to terminate the loan in January.
Bristol City Live on Whatsapp
Join Bristol City Live’s Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol City stories sent straight to your phone
Bristol City Live is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.
Through the app, we’ll send the Bristol City news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.
To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select ‘Join Community’.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live team.
We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.
To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘Exit group’.
If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Could his loan spell be cut short in January?
There are a lot more games before January, but if it goes on like it is I could see that happening as it would be a detriment for him to be just sat on the bench game after game and it’s detrimental to Doncaster as they’ve got another loan spot they could use while they’re chasing promotion. It doesn’t make sense to keep a player when he’s not getting games. In a month’s time, it will be a lot clearer, but if he’s where he is now in a month, I could see him being pulled back to Bristol.
Do you think he could fare better at a different League Two club?
The problem is there’s so much competition, too much competition for Rovers if anything. They’ve got no injuries as well so they’ve got a full selection of players to choose from. If you were to put him in a team who are midtable in League Two that doesn’t have those options and doesn’t have that squad depth, he’d get a lot more game time.
We spoke to him at the start of the season and he’s a really nice lad, quite talkative, but he’s obviously a really long way away from Bristol and he’s having to get used to that side of it. Whether there is scope for him to be loaned out somewhere closer to Bristol in the second half of the season, I’m not sure. I’m certainly not writing him off because you have to go back to the fact he’s 18 and very raw.
Do you think he could challenge for a place in the City first team next season?
What I would say is, he’s played there before. Obviously, he wouldn’t be able to do a job right now because he’s a bit ring-rusty, but time is on his side. I don’t know the ins and outs of of Manning’s style and whether or not he fits in that system but he’s under contract long-term so he’s certainly one for the future.
It’s not a rarity for a young player to go out on loan and it not happen, it’s not the end of the world and it doesn’t mean he’s not a good player. It’s still November, we could talk about this in a month and he could be in the team so I wouldn’t have it as a write-off just yet.