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Thierry Small - signed a 4 year deal with Preston (p36)
Comments
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I won't say I didn't want to keep him, because I did. But towards the end of the season to me he looked like he was playing for himself rather than the team. Not always tracking back for one. And always trying to lash his shots top bins would infuriate me. Always remember bowyer telling the players hit them hard and low so there's a chance or a rebound. And then there was the reaction when substituted v wycombe
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I went to the cup game, nothing in Preston. Good luck to him; wanted more than we were offering obviously.1
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I was told by someone who was told by someone else (lol), a third party source both times. Then when I read the Preston noise I just thought they're probably right.Chris_from_Sidcup said:
If this is true (and i don't doubt it is) then i read this as NJ deciding he's not worth it.Braziliance said:Sat on that for a week, never ITK but was told by two different people that Preston were offering Thierry between 10-11k a week to sign him and that he already agreed to it in the last week.
I didn't want to say incase they were wrong, but once I read all the Preston fans say about their offer, and how likely he was to accept it, all the dots joined up, and is why I was saying we aren't paying the going rate, specifically for him.
Apparently we couldn't get near what they were offering, or at least we weren't willing to match it. Had we offered Thierry what they did, he would have stayed. It was just about money from what I have heard.
I'm gutted personally as he has so much resale value, he fit in with the team, and he was a good player for us.
Good luck to him, shame.
I'm sure NJ and the club know that we're going to have to pay that kind of salary to get decent players at this level, and i'm sure if NJ felt he was worth it then the board would've backed him to match Preston's offer. If for example it was Lloyd Jones, i don't doubt we'd have offered it.
So i take this as Jones/Chapple deciding we can replace him and better to spend that kind of wage elsewhere.
As you say, we won't know the ins and outs on why we didn't match it, if it was because we couldn't or wouldn't, or just decided he wasnt worth it.
Imagine people will soon forget if we get someone like Galbraith, fingers crossed it is someone of that calibre, otherwise, there's a massive hole in our side.
Good luck to him. I think he's made a mistake. He fit in here and looked settled, could have looked at the bigger picture, but it ain't my money.6 -
Mannion last season then.Ferryman said:
Carey's going up a divisionNorth Lower Neil said:
That's life (and especially football) though - Blackpool gave Sonny Carey a chance when he was playing non-league and offered him a new contract, should he have been a bit more loyal to them?DDOUBLEE said:Disappointed in Thierry himself as well really. Yes I know footballers have every right to try and make as much dough as they want but I thought he may have a bit more loyal to the club that gave him a chance when his career was going nowhere but oh well
Players move on, it's a shame in this instance but I don't see a player seeing out his agreed contract period as disloyal - we signed him for 18 months, he played those 18 months and gave his all, then moved on.
Lloyd Jones before that.
We're they disloyal to Cambridge?
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jakecafc said:At least it's not Millwall anyway.
Yes and thank God for that.2 -
Manager Nathan Jones said: "We wish Thierry all the best. We tried to keep him at the club and offered him a contract, which he turned down. He felt Preston was a better fit for him, so we thank him for his contribution and wish him well."That reads pretty cold to me and not someone we were particularly fighting hard for.26
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Yaaarrr, that he beRonnieMoore said:Plus he a northern lad….1 -
he was withdrawn towards the end of games last season, perhaps a sign that Nathan wasn't convinced about his defensive abilities .. had a good season for us, he's gone, he'll be replaced0
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To be given a contract of this size he has to think about it. He might think he may not get another opportunity.Chunes said:He seems to be chasing the money too early in his career, when he should be going somewhere he knows he will play and develop. The money will always come later. But who knows what his background is, maybe that's not a choice he's prepared to make.
I loved him as a player and that last-minute goal against Shrewsbury was a big turning point in our season. I hope it works out for him, but not sure it will.
A life changing contract for him if he handles the dough sensibly.
Good luck to him.3 -
Yeah, it does seem that way. I think if Jones really wanted him to stay we would have matched them wages. 10k plus is the going rate in the Champ minimum.AFKABartram said:Manager Nathan Jones said: "We wish Thierry all the best. We tried to keep him at the club and offered him a contract, which he turned down. He felt Preston was a better fit for him, so we thank him for his contribution and wish him well."That reads pretty cold to me and not someone we were particularly fighting hard for.2 - Sponsored links:
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I did think when we were at Wembley, when soon after the whistle, he ran over to the pitchside and asked for flag (no other player did) and he was so excitedly waving it around, almost childlike. He is a young man nd his head is turned by money as opposed to the comfort of familiarity.
If the move turns out to be great for him, we'll good on him. I don't bare any grudge because he's young and eager. At least at another smallish club in Preston, he won't be a tiny fish in a big pond.
He is going to be upping his salary no doubt and maybe a hefty signing on bonus.
He had pace and a good bit of skill, but could be prone to dragging the ball over the byline as he didn't seen to look where he was going. He remains a work in progress for me. Bags of potential, but he's not the finished artical.
Can we do better? Absolutely! Will we end up with better, we'll now that's a big question.
The way I see it, NJ would definitely have wanted to keep him, but if it meant him being a top earner or similar, I'm not sure he would have instructed the club negotiators to break his playing staff budget.
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One scenario might be TC playing on the right, and the new bloke competing with Enslin on the left.0
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He seems a bit of a loose cannon.
It was probably time to put down roots, knuckle down and put some consistently behind his obvious talent.Small, a former Everton and Southampton youngster, joined Charlton in February 2024. He scored three goals and assisted seven in his 62 appearances for the Addicks. Earlier in his career, the powerful wide man had loan spells at Port Vale and St Mirren.
He was linked with Blackburn Rovers, Millwall, Oxford United and Derby County this summer.
FWIW I doubt if he even hates 'kin Millwall. Oh well, upwards and onwards.
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Lots of good points here, moving Small to the right certainly gave us creation, where before there was none, but it shouldn't be ignored that we moved Ramsey into the centre right defensive slot, which allowed Small a lot more freedom to attack. I think that he definitely needs replacing or if Zach Mitchell comes in, Ramsay reverts back to his original wing back role.AFKABartram said:I’m gutted about this. Let’s be honest, we play in a very rigid and non-expansive way and Small was the contradiction to that. He made us better and more enjoyable to watch as he brought some excitement.I said a couple of days ago I had a nagging doubt about how much Jones rated him. I don’t expect us to replace with a similar style player.The average Championship salary as at Aug 24 was reportedly £10k a week. Our owners are going to have to make some big decisions if we are losing out when competing financially with Preston. Because we already know we won’t be able to compete with Wrexham and Birmingham if they want the same players.
However. I will add that Small’s best appearance for us was against Preston away in the cup. He looked unstoppable for a spell in that game. If their fans think they’re getting that every week, they won’t.2 -
Is it considered 'chasing the money' when you're getting a pretty average Championship salary at the level you're now at?
If we offered less, surely if anything that's below the going rate and we've made that decision based on how we value him.0 -
They’ve been after him since we played them in the cup, who knows how much more money than us they offered him, we signed him on a free, he leaves on a free, hey ho.
It’ll be interesting if we stick to 3-5-2 or if Ramsey goes back as a right-back / stays as a centre-back - someone like Small isn’t cheaply replaceable.1 -
What’s the noise in Preston on what position he’ll play?NorthEnder said:Ok. So, I’d requested to join this morning but I’ve not long since been approved. Really it was just to give an input from our end on what we’d heard last night. It was mentioned that it had swung in our favour on our forum, yesterday. Which has obviously been proven true now.I think a lot of our fans persistence with a deal for Small comes from the fact we haven’t get anyone with any pace, mainly due to 3 years of Ryan Lowe recruitment. Plus he did well against us in the cup. Our recruitment is sometimes just, who played well against and might be available. Anyway it seems Heckingbottom has had a touch-on for him since then. Rumour was, in the winter window, we’d pushed hard for him late on and Ridsdale was at your game up at The Lashers, but an injury to our centre back meant we had to switch from Small and get Porteous in from Watford instead. All in all I think our pursuit of him has made him feel loved. Most North End fans genuinely thought he’d be staying with you when you came up. Maybe Jones signing that new deal is what made his mind up to leave? For what it’s worth I really rate Jones. He had one foot in the door here before he joined you. Unfortunately the scouse car salesman talked our owner round and he ended up staying on. Good luck for this season.
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Yeh, because he’ll live in Preston won’t he. The same as all Charlton players live in Woolwich and Plumstead.robroy said:I went to the cup game, nothing in Preston. Good luck to him; wanted more than we were offering obviously.2 -
10k a week would make Small our highest earner, he is not our best player so we may have decided he’s not worth thatSELR_addicks said:Is it considered 'chasing the money' when you're getting a pretty average Championship salary at the level you're now at?
If we offered less, surely if anything that's below the going rate and we've made that decision based on how we value him.
Preston have been at this level a lot longer, 10k a week is probably about average or just above in their squad.I think we will pay players that kind of money, but they are going to be our best players5 -
Good luck to him. He's been offered a four-year contract and I can't blame him for taking it. I also don't blame Charlton for not matching it. Because I hope the ambition at Charlton is to be looking for someone significantly better within that four year timescale.
It may well be that Nathan Jones sees his ceiling as being a lower level than Charlton's aspiration over the same period of time.
Good luck Thierry. Just keep hold of your dislike of Millwall wherever you end up.8 - Sponsored links:
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Not free, we get a development fee, the size of which I haven't a clue.SheedyCAFC said:They’ve been after him since we played them in the cup, who knows how much more money than us they offered him, we signed him on a free, he leaves on a free, hey ho.
It’ll be interesting if we stick to 3-5-2 or if Ramsey goes back as a right-back / stays as a centre-back - someone like Small isn’t cheaply replaceable.0 -
A shame and an odd move IMO but wish him well (apart from playing us of course)0
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I adopted a policy many years ago, if anyone wants to leave then goodbye, we are bigger than one individual, it’s happened so many times, I take no interest in ex players, we, the loyal fanbase are the only constant.22
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Looks to me like he has chosen to go where he is wanted for the starting 11 and paid accordingly while we (NJ) saw him more as a squad player. And we all know NJ loves to sell a fans’ favourite!5
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Given the not entirely great east-west transport links oop north, it might be almost as quick to get from London to York as Preston to York.TelMc32 said:
How big is your bleedin’ doorstep @cabbles 🤷🏻♂️😱😂😂cabbles said:
You’ve forgotten about the fact he’s now got the national railway museum in York on his doorstep. The chance to have all that history just a 2 hour drive away is a big pullNug said:Bit of a nothing move for him footballing wise. They aren’t gonna be pushing for promotion next season.0 -
His reaction to being taken off against wycombe was understandable .he was disappointed.tbats good.not sure preston is s great move thoughI won't say I didn't want to keep him, because I did. But towards the end of the season to me he looked like he was playing for himself rather than the team. Not always tracking back for one. And always trying to lash his shots top bins would infuriate me. Always remember bowyer telling the players hit them hard and low so there's a chance or a rebound. And then there was the reaction when substituted v wycombe0 -
Good luck to him - I am not that sad to see him go because he excited and frustrated in equal measure.
We can do better and Thierry who?0 -
We'll likely have to pay a transfer fee plus wages matching what we offered him to the replacement.
This saga has been going for so long that we must have a list of targets in his position.0 -
Don’t think Jones would commit to a 5 year deal if he was facing reluctance from ownership about keeping a player he really wanted to keepJoshAddick said:Just hope it was a case of Jones feeling like Small wasn’t worth the money, rather than the owners being reluctant to pay that kind of wage.14
