The Northampton Town boss, while praising the impact of goalkeeper Lee Nicholls during the season just ended, believes that the club did not get full value for money from their loan intake.
"The loan market is changing because what I believe is the players who have come in to our club have got more from us than we have them, generally, apart from someone like a Lee Nicholls.
"The loan market for us is for stop-gaps and the more permanent signings we can get, the better."
Henoc Mukendi, Kemar Roofe and Emyr Huws all came in from Premier League clubs and flickered briefly before returning to, perhaps, a more comfortable life playing Under-21 football with their peers.
The hard graft of a 46-game League Two season requires a slightly different type of player. Nicholls was an exception of course but goalkeeper is a specialist position and one where taking command of the players in front of you should come with the territory.
Danny East, who made 14 appearances for the Cobblers on loan from Hull City, will be playing again in League Two next season after signing a two-year deal with Portsmouth recently.