Season › 2018-19 › News Holgate completes Baggies loan Lyndon Lloyd Monday, 31 December, 2018 34comments | Jump to most recent Mason Holgate has joined West Bromwich Albion for the remainder of the season. The defender has not been in the first-team picture at Everton for the most the season and was recently told he could look for a temporary move starting next month that would give him a chance at regular football until May. Holgate, underwent a medical with West Brom yesterday and the move was announced earlier today. Reader Comments (34) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Jim Bennings 1 Posted 30/12/2018 at 19:24:38 Might toughen him up, this move. Darren Moore is a no-frills kind of manager. Simon Smith 2 Posted 31/12/2018 at 01:00:44 Didn't work out too well for Galloway, almost the start of his ending. A different management team, mind... but I'd prefer somewhere else if I'm honest.Surely he's easily good enough to stay in the Premier League! Dave Bowen 3 Posted 31/12/2018 at 01:08:44 Simon @#2. If I recall correctly, his last game was West Ham where he had a mare. So no, he's not a Premier League player at the moment, but definitely has the potential to become one. Alan J Thompson 4 Posted 31/12/2018 at 05:36:05 We must be confident of signing Zouma full time despite his claims of not leaving his parent club. I'd have thought there would be a lot of value in Holgate being around Mina and Keane, a spot on the bench and the occasional run out. Ajay Gopal 5 Posted 31/12/2018 at 08:47:32 I second that, Alan, especially if Silva continues playing the back 3 formation, which he has for the last 2 games. Mason is best when played on the right side of a back 3. Also, I agree with Simon – he should be good enough to stay in the Premier League or at the very least play in the German Bundesliga, where so many English youngsters seem to be making their way. Kevin Prytherch 6 Posted 31/12/2018 at 09:04:28 Dave, Zouma and Digne also played against West Ham. Does that mean that they're not Premier League players either?He's a good player that finds himself 5th choice at the moment. If he can break into a team pushing for promotion and shine he'll come back next season as a minimum of 4th choice which, at his age, is a starting point.He will have a shocker every now and again due to his age; however, the more he plays, the less frequent these will become. A consistent loan spell might iron out a lot of these.I'll be interested to keep tabs on Besic vs Dowell vs Holgate as they're all fighting for a play-off spot. Darren Hind 7 Posted 31/12/2018 at 09:10:07 Great news.Another footballer goes out, while non-footballers like Mina continue to be asked to play football. Joe McMahon 8 Posted 31/12/2018 at 09:29:46 This is a good move for Mason. Darren Moore is not Alan Pardew, and WBA have a good chance if promotion. Remember, Coleman was part of Blackpool's promotion. Michael Lynch 9 Posted 31/12/2018 at 09:35:18 The only question really is whether Holgate is ahead of Jagielka to be the fourth centre-back at the club as back-up. Clearly Silva thinks not, so Holgate goes out on loan, and I would imagine he has to hope either Silva or Jagielka has gone at the end of the season if he's going to get another chance at Everton. Jagielka's retirement is a possibility, but Silva going seems unlikely, unless the second half of the season is a total disaster and we end up flirting with relegation. Which, as I type it and look a the fixture list, is actually not unthinkable. Brian Harrison 10 Posted 31/12/2018 at 09:43:33 I like Holgate and it must be very difficult for young players when your club has spent in excess of £50 million on two centre-backs and have another on loan who is getting regular games. But I hope he can go to West Brom and get regular games which he isn't getting here, then come back next season ready to challenge for a right-back or centre-back slot. Eddie Dunn 11 Posted 31/12/2018 at 09:52:14 Holgate is very good on the ball, decent in the air and has pace. All he needs is a few more pounds of muscle and some more experience. He has been unlucky playing in a defence that has been totally changed in the last few months. This has got to be better than our Under-23s. Sam Hoare 12 Posted 31/12/2018 at 10:02:10 The likes of Holgate, Dowell, Davies and Calvert-Lewin all desperately need first-team minutes at this stage of their development if they are to become consistent Premier League players. If Holgate starts 15-20 matches for West Brom and helps them to promotion or playoffs, then he will learn a lot and return better for it, able to vie with Keane and Mina for a starting berth next season. Simon Smith 13 Posted 31/12/2018 at 10:22:41 Dave at 3.Does that mean no Everton player who played vs Spurs is a Premier League player, no Arsenal player who played vs Liverpool is a Premier League player?Mason has 38 Premier League games under his belt at 21, and he's never looked like being relegated, that is a Premier League player. Justin Doone 14 Posted 31/12/2018 at 15:15:18 Like Dowell, it's only a good loan if he plays. He's at the age when playing regularly against seasoned professional players will be beneficial even if it was in a lesser league.I like him, he had all the basics of being a very good central defender with a bit of additional strength, concentration and reading of the game. He reminds me a bit of Jagielka and I expect in another 2 years he'll be Premier League standard. By that, I mean consistency at a top 10 side. It would be nice if that was with us but, if the loan doesn't go well, he'll be gone in the summer. Will Mabon 15 Posted 31/12/2018 at 16:54:50 Another one. They'll be loaning me out next, at this rate. Kieran Kinsella 16 Posted 31/12/2018 at 17:00:25 Tony Pulis was the boss when Galloway floundered. I like Darren Moore much better. WBA were brave enough to promote from within rather than returning to the merry-go-around of Pardew, Pulis, Hodgson, Allardyce, Moyes, or Hughes. The ball is in Holgate's court. If they aren't willing to give him a fair crack, then they wouldn't have signed him. Now he has to deliver. I hope he does well. Dave Williams 17 Posted 31/12/2018 at 17:38:40 Eddie and Justin – agreed. He is a decent footballer and just needs to fill out a bit more or get in the gym to get stronger. Hopefully this loan will toughen him up because that's all he needs.I don't understand the criticism above of Mina – he will take time to settle but is just the sort of big bruiser "take no prisoners" centre-back we need. Derek Knox 18 Posted 31/12/2018 at 19:26:16 I hope he does well there in terms of his development and further experience which he is not getting at the moment, as an unused substitute, or in the reserves (U23s).I just hope also if we don't get anyone in in the window, and pick up an injury or two, that we will regret him moving, but there again you can't have it both ways. Richard Lyons 19 Posted 31/12/2018 at 19:31:10 I think it’s a promising move for him, and wish him the best of luck. I still think his name sounds like a secret infidelity website though... Kieran Kinsella 20 Posted 31/12/2018 at 19:39:35 Derek Knox @18,I think we should be okay with coverage. We have four centre-backs in the matchday squad. If need be, we have Feeney in the U23s as a back-up, and Lewis Gibson once fit. Come to think of it, I believe Galloway and Browning are still gainfully employed by the club. I forgot all about them... Andy Crooks 21 Posted 31/12/2018 at 20:08:16 I see Mason Holgate as a future but better Stones. That's how highly I rate him. At the moment I believe he lacks physical presence. I would like to have seen him at Rangers under Gerrard. I think the latest old firm war and games like it, would do him a world of good. Tony Abrahams 22 Posted 31/12/2018 at 20:44:09 Andy, fair point, but what I couldn't understand about Holgate was that, for a kid who lacks a little bit of a physical presence, he kept getting brought into a physical game, during his last few games in our first team?I know he was up against some big fella's, but I never saw him using his head, and coming in a bit later, because he kept trying to engage in a physical battle, as if to try and prove something to himself?I like him a lot, did Rio Ferdinand forget to take his drugs test because he was on steroids to bulk him up? And if Holgate can somehow gain the same strength, then he can hopefully also have a stellar career? Let's hope so.Darren, I saw Mina chest one pass the other day out wide to an Everton player in the same move that he set up Richarlson when he hit the post, I think? Not bad for a non-footballer, although I do think I know what you mean. Dave Abrahams 23 Posted 31/12/2018 at 21:14:45 I hope he will get at WBA the one thing he needs more than anything, experience. Mason has got a lot going for him and hopefully he will back to Everton all the better for his time at West Brom.Good luck, lad. Ian Horan 24 Posted 31/12/2018 at 22:09:27 Holgate is a future star, he is rapid, can play football, and best of all, despite comments above, he can actually mix it. He gave it to the RS Firmino. He occasionally daydreams and gets caught blindside, but the communication between them all last season was pish poor. Mike Gaynes 25 Posted 31/12/2018 at 22:25:46 Darren #7, Holgate is a "footballer" and Mina isn't?Uh-huh. Derek Taylor 26 Posted 31/12/2018 at 22:41:20 Might as well wind up all that Academy rubbish and restrict Everton to recruits costing £25M+. Lip service is all that the Moshiri regime pays to player development. But will the "bags o' money" approach bring success?Not if they keep recruiting 'double duff' managers, it won't! Frank McGregor 27 Posted 31/12/2018 at 23:00:54 Mina is not Premier League player by any stretch of the imagination.I haven't seen anything in recent displays to suggest that he will adjust to the Premier League. Gary Willock 28 Posted 31/12/2018 at 23:10:46 Get Davies out on loan too. Then let's hope Holgate, Davies, Vlasic, Onyekuru and Dowell come back next season ready to push for first-team places by default. It's the right thing to do. Jerome Shields 29 Posted 31/12/2018 at 23:15:25 Good luck, Mason. Eddie Dunn 30 Posted 31/12/2018 at 23:37:08 Mina, given time to adjust, will be a monster in the Premier League. He is settling in and Silva knows it... give everyone a few more months and we will see progress. Roman Sidey 31 Posted 31/12/2018 at 23:41:40 A loan is a much better option than staying at Everton for the next six months. After seeing Davies the other day against Brighton, I think a loan really would help him out as well, so long as it was at a club that selected him in most matches. He's a good player, but playing as occasionally as he is at Premier League level does very little for development. He's a friggin handy player but needs regular football between now and the end of the season. John Raftery 32 Posted 01/01/2019 at 00:31:48 The average age of players making their debuts in the Premier League is increasing every season. Players are maturing later so Mason has plenty of time to develop into the top player most of us hope he will become. We are by no means certain to keep Zouma beyond the end of the season. Jags will be finishing then so there will be at least one, if not two centre-back vacancies in the summer. Tony Twist 33 Posted 01/01/2019 at 11:36:17 This is disappointing in a way as I thought he could have done a job at right back and get his minutes up on game time that way. Paul Birmingham 34 Posted 02/01/2019 at 20:40:16 Best of luck to Mason, and I hope he’s a success on loan at WBA.If he stays switched on, and builds on his communications and awareness skills, it could save the club a few bob, this summer. Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. About these ads