Pitmann to Bury on loan

Jon-Paul Pittman has joined League Two side Bury on loan

The 19-year-old striker, who has made two senior appearances to date for the Reds, will initially spend a month at Gigg Lane.

This ties in with Mark Arthur’s recent comments to the evening post. Story below:

Nottingham Forest want to send many of their young stars out on loan – to ensure they are fully prepared for the rigours of first-team football.

Chief executive Mark Arthur today admitted the club had made mistakes in the past by failing to ensure young players had sufficient experience before being thrown into the fray at the City Ground.

Arthur highlighted the case of young goalkeeper Barry Roche as being an example of where things have gone wrong in the past.

But he said they would not make the same errors again.

‘I would say we have learned a lesson from the way we have handled things in the past,’ he said.

‘In the case of Barry, we believed that he had played sufficient reserve team and youth team football to prepare him.

‘But, when it did come to bringing him into the first-team arena, he was not ready.

‘There is a big difference between reserve team football and what I call the ‘man’s game’.

‘There is only one way to get prepared for first-team football – and that is to play it.

‘I am glad to see that Barry’s career is back on track with Chesterfield. But we do not want to make the same mistakes with players in the future.

‘His confidence was probably dented by being plunged into the first team in the manner that he was.

‘This time we want to make sure the young players coming through get that experience, that they are prepared for their chance when it comes their way.’

This is likely to mean the likes of Vincent Fernandez, John Paul Pittman, Spencer Weir-Daley, Paddy Gamble and Felix Bastians will be allowed out on loan to boost their experience.