Sweet success of Smith could yet turn sour...

THERE’S no doubt Emile Smith Rowe has made the desired impact on Town’s Championship campaign.

He could have been forgiven for running for the hills after watching the inept performance in the first half of the 2-1 defeat at Barnsley just hours after completing his loan move from Arsenal.

Manager Danny Cowley acted swiftly at Oakwell, dragging off the under-pressure Jaden Brown and talismanic striker Karlan Grant at half-time, without any protests from the large contingent of travelling fans, in favour of Flo Hadergjonaj and Steve Mounie.

The boss, who later sent on Josh Koroma for Danny Simpson, opted to go 4-4-2 in the second half and was rewarded with a stunning goal from Lewis O’Brient to make it 2-1, but he didn’t shirk the big decisions the following week.

Cowley introduced three of his four new signings – Richard Stearman, Harry Toffolo and Smith Rowe, while Andy King was on the bench for the home clash with Brentford on January 18, keeper Jonas Lossl and Benfica winger Chris Willock didn’t join until the last day of the transfer window.

Not only that, but the availability of Smith Rowe enabled Cowley to fully commit once more to the 4-2-3-1 formation he’d ripped up at half-time at Barnsley - with the 19-year-old at No.10 and O’Brien reverting to central midfield alongside Chelsea loanee Trevoh Chalobah.

By Cowley’s own admission, Town have looked much more like the ‘real deal’ he envisaged ever since.

The addition of a ‘proper’ No.10 in Smith Rowe – remembering Alex Pritchard has been injured for much of Cowley’s tenure – has enabled the boss to set up with conviction and get more of the appropriatelyshaped pegs in their particular holes.

Smith Rowe has been pretty much sensational since pulling on the blue and white stripes for that debut game. But his presence highlights both the pros and cons of Town’s Premier League loan policy – one which they would ideally like to rip up but which, for a Championship club, can offer such gems of intoxicating help which otherwise, financially, just wouldn’t be possible.

We have highlighted before, by the example of Ben Chilwell at Leicester City, that you can attract high-quality players you would never otherwise be able to get.

Chilwell, who spent a loan spell with Town under David Wagner, is now worth an estimated £45m.

That puts Smith Rowe into the £50m bracket a little further down the line.

So the pro is that Town fans get to see Smith Rowe as a Terrier – the con being that it’s for only a short time, before his expected return to the Emirates for either a potential Premier League loan or a place in Mikel Arteta’s first team.

Smith Rowe has already shown