Small signs for Preston
A real shame, but not surprising to see Thierry Small leave the club today. He and his agent had long held out against signing a new contract and his move to Preston underlines how hard it will be to compete financially with other clubs a level up.
Small signed for Preston North End today on a 4-year deal, and they will pay a ‘training compensation.’
Small, still only 20, has had a nomadic career to date playing at West Brom, Everton, Port Vale, St Mirren and in SE7 where the likeable character played 53 games and collected a play-off winners medal last month.
I feel he needed to put some roots down under a manager he could trust and that would keep improving him. We hoped that was Nathan Jones, but Small and his agent feel that is Paul Heckingbottom.
It’s always the risk, and we are fortunate that it has only been Small and LLoyd Jones that were going into the last year of their contract. It’s simple now that we just have to go out and sign someone better and more consistent, as that RWB role is vital to how we play.
As for Preston, this brings recollections of them signing Patrick Bauer in 2019, then making the German an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Preston only stayed up on the final day but have been in this division for ten years and their pay structure will reflect that. I read that Small will be on £11k a week up there.
Go well Thierry, and thanks for the memories but we move on.
CA, as always yours are fair and measured comments, but as a fellow old timer ( 1st game 1968 season ticket since 1991) I don’t agree on this one. I feel the club is let down, why would someone go to Preston, an underachieving team ( with due respect) instead of staying with us? Sheffield Utd or one of the relegated teams you could understand. Maybe his nomadic career to date is a tell. We want loyal committed players so maybe a good thing in the long run.
I read that he wants to play Left Bank and Nathan Jones wants him as a RWB. This is the reason he left. Jones preferring Josh Edwards in the Left Back position.
Not at all surprised, and yes, the longer he did not sign a contract and believe he got offered a new one and yes of course, he had the right to keep his options open, but very true about his inconsistent performances.
Thankfully, we saved his career, and there is no such thing as loyalty in football, and indeed, ” Preston is the right club for me at this time”
Yes, not forgetting they only managed to stay up on the last day of the season and quite frankly, it was for the money but thanks for the memories.
This is how football works and the supporters get kicked in the teeth again but see we signed a midfielder and yes hopefully we can get a better and much more consistent player than Small.
Not surprised and to be honest not overly concerned. He was quick and strong but his game intelligence restricted his impact for long periods of time. I can’t remember him getting very many shots on target after working himself into a very good position. His pace made him someone to watch but I think that the Orient left back had him in his pocket as did Wycombe in the semi and in the Championship he would be up against that level of defender and better every week.
An exciting player to watch at times. You could feel and hear the crowd go up a notch as he received the ball out wide. Sometimes some trickery and pace to get past one, two or even three players. Usually we quietened down and sat back down as his shot hit the back row or corner flag, or his pass went 10 yards in front or behind his target. Frustrating as much as exciting, loved him at times and enjoyed him overall, we can do and need better in the championship, perhaps even a right footed RWB with an end product is out there somewhere?
That captures my mood on Small exactly, Brian.
A bum’s of seat player who was a real crowd pleaser plus a lovely lad to boot. However his lack of composure and decision making was often woeful. He’d go from Championship player to League Two in one dazzling run down the wing.
He brings a lot of attributes and is fast, tricky and powerful but his actual stats were not great.
Will miss him, but hoping we can find better.
If a player wants to go then trying to retain them at any cost is often an error. There is no doubt Small was an effective player in a number of very different positions, which is always desirable for clubs with smaller squads. For the anti Jones faction this will undoubtedly be further ammunition after May leaving. It will probably depend on the incomings performances. We can only hope that the current squad can perform effectively at Championship level.
As a one time member of the anti-Jones faction. I can assure you we’ve disbanded. Prompted by NJ getting CAFC promoted to the Championship.
I still think NJ pushing May out of the club was a stupid thing to do. But the success NJ has bought us overides that.
However there’s absolutely no comparison with the loss of Small to the loss of the divisions then top scorer.
Plus Small was out of contract and the club made him a good offer. No NJ drama here with Small.
Thierry Small’s career to date underlines one of the weaknesses of the academy system as it operates at premiership level. There are a lot of talented players in the EPL who can’t get the first team gametime that they need, they either go on long loans where they have little/no choice on where they end up or they leave their club, as TS did, drop down down the leagues, get some experience and then play their way back. Although footballers are well paid it can’t be easy having to spend a couple of nomadic years going on loan especially to places where you have no friends/family only to move on a few months later.
That’s why he came to Charlton and it worked for both parties perfectly, he got some agency over his career, hooking up with a manager who knew him, plus he gained some genuine experience while we used his skills in a successful promotion drive. For whatever reason he wants to move on, £11k a week doesn’t sound a wage that we couldn’t afford so maybe a life back up north is what he wanted?
He’s still young and very much a work-in-progress but developed from a left-back to the right-wing reasonably successfully but there was always some expected consistency issues – he’s only 20. When he got it right he looked good – the cross to Matty Godden inside 30 seconds v Huddersfield for example and he was never afraid to take on defenders rather than play safe and lay the ball off to a red shirt. How many wingers do that these days?
Perhaps this is a good move? We can get a player in at RW/RM who has experience in the Championship and will offer consistency and maybe more goals/assists, which was a weakness in his game. We also have Kaheim Dixon who can play there, but it’s probably a bit too early for him.