Everton FC youngster Jose Baxter to remain on loan at Tranmere Rovers FC for another month

Oct 26 2011 by Our Correspondent, Birkenhead News

TRANMERE travel to Scunthorpe this weekend bolstered by the certainty that Jose Baxter will be on board for another month.

The talented teenager’s loan spell from Everton was due to end after the League One encounter at Hartlepool on Tuesday. But Rovers manager Les Parry secured an agreement with Goodison counterpart David Moyes to extend the arrangement.

That should give Tranmere the option of playing Baxter at Glanford Park and in a further three League One games during November – although it is unlikely Everton will permit him to play in the FA Cup first round tie scheduled for the middle of the month.

Parry said: “I spoke to David Moyes and he said OK to Jose staying with us for another month.

“I have spoken to Jose and he is very keen to stay here for another month.”

Baxter has brought a touch of creative class to Tranmere’s attacking play since arriving at Prenton Park towards the end of September. He is a natural fit for the role just behind the central striker that was filled so effectively by Andy Robinson during the first month of the season.

It is probably more than a coincidence that Tranmere’s results dipped after Robinson suffered a hamstring injury at the end of August and picked up again soon after Baxter’s arrival.

Robinson is back in training after a two-month layoff but Parry says the extension of Baxter’s loan means the older player won’t have to be hurried back into first-team action.

Parry explained: “Andy has only trained on four or five occasions since being off for seven weeks and he has not played a game yet. We are trying to fix up a reserve match for next week so the players coming back from injury can ease themselves back in. Otherwise you are exposing them to the unnecessary risk of breaking down with something else if we push them too early.

“Having Jose here for another month allows us to take a little bit more time with Andy, to get him right. Then he will be flying by the time we need him.”

Baxter settled in with the rest of the Tranmere squad so quickly that Parry observed: “Within two or three days he was just like one of the lads. I tend to think of him as being one of ours, even though I should not because he is a loan player.

“Jose has been able to adapt his game to League One conditions very well. There is a big difference because Premier League reserve team football is like a game of chess. I remember watching one game between Liverpool and Manchester City when 56 minutes passed before there was a foul. With us, Jose has been caught in possession once or twice because someone is trying to kick him. But he has the gift of knowing what is around him and when he has got time and when he hasn’t got time.

“Jose is able to make passes that invite our players to move into a space. You see that with those cutting passes inside the fullbacks. The passes actually move our players around. He is not giving it to feet all of the time, he is putting the ball into space around players and making them move.”

Parry added: “That’s quite a talent for a player so young but I don’t think it’s any surprise. There was a lot of talk about his abilities as a 15-year-old and he is four years older now and has four years more experience. He’s been playing at a higher level for a long time.

“You can’t coach Jose’s abilities. You either have that vision or you don’t.”

Tranmere are putting the building blocks in place to establish Prenton Park as a fortress once more, Parry believes.

Rovers recorded their second home win in eight days with a 2-1 success at the expense of Walsall. They now boast a record of four wins and three draws from eight League One games at Prenton Park.

Parry said: “We said at the beginning of the season that home form was our Achilles heel last year and we had to improve it.

“All good runs are built on winning games at home and it’s good to get another one under our belt. It was a well-deserved win. Only Carlisle have turned us over here.”