Newcastle United striker Elias Sorensen was frozen out during his Blackpool loan because “he just didn’t do enough” in training.
That is the verdict of Blackpool manager Terry McPhillips after Newcastle recalled the 19-year-old from his loan spell at the League One club.
McPhillips explained Sorensen did nothing wrong during his time at the club, but he selected others strikers in front of him because they were performing better in training.
“[Sorensen] hasn’t had the opportunity he thought he was going to get and that’s down to me really,” McPhillips told the Blackpool Gazette.
“But with the honest group of lads we’ve got, we say training counts and you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
“It’s his first loan but down at Squires Gate we picked the other lads ahead of him because it’s simple, they’ve done better than him – in my opinion. I’m not saying he did badly in training, he just didn’t do enough.”
OPINION
Sorensen might reflect in the future that his loan spell at League One promotion chasers Blackpool proved to be the making of him. As Harry Kane and others will attest, failed loans need not mean the beginning of the end. The Newcastle striker has earned a burgeoning reputation as a result of his goals for the Under-23s this season, 12 of which have come from 14 Premier League 2 fixtures. His January move to the third-tier outfit was his first out on loan since joining Newcastle from his native Denmark three years ago. Clearly, the strapping spearhead still his plenty to learn. A contract with a Premier League club is not a guarantee of selection at lower league clubs fighting for their promotion and relegation lives. Blackpool are just three points off the final play-off spot, and clearly McPhillips felt he couldn’t just throw Sorensen into the action without first delivering the goods on the training field. The teenager must learn his lesson and come back stronger.