This is the article, written yesterday, that they cite above which lists Salford City as their competition.
Couple of weird things about this is that there is mention of a £1m fee when I was under the impression he was out of contract. The other weird piece is, if I am wrong and he’s not out of contract, the idea that Salford were even in the running at that kind of fee AND to have offered a higher wage packet than Rangers?
Makes me incredibly doubtful of the entire story tbh.
It’s the fact that now suddenly the U21s are now good enough backup, for every Doughty you also get a Dempsey/Vennings, U21s should not just been thrown in, I’d much rather wait until they are ready
I think we have several u21s who are better prospects than those two, and we should have more depth and fewer injuries than we did that season.
This fanbase has always preferred the scrappier wide players like Johnny Robinson, JJ, etc.. to the trickier ones. Even JRS was getting accused of having 'no end product' when he was the top-scoring winger in the league. It's kind of lost its meaning.
Players like JRS, CBT, TC etc seem to have unrealistic expectations from some football fans (in general, not only here).
Steady, reliable players are always going to look more intelligent and sometimes technically better, but then they don’t usually have the pace and ability to beat players again and again. Players with skill and pace have to take bigger risks - what would be the point in having those attributes on the pitch if they focussed on holding their position, keeping possession and never trying something unexpected? 11 players all doing that doesn’t get you far.
While we don’t have to replace what Small offered at RWB as we could adapt our system and style, we’ll need pace and unpredictability somewhere in the team, and TC alone isn’t enough. As important as steady players are, we’re a better team when we have a good balance of both. I’ll be concerned if we end the window without a squad lacking any pace and flair - we need a few of those players, even if at times they can look ridiculously bad, another day they'll look ridiculously good and win us a game doing something other players can't.
Surprised at the "if we don't strengthen we will go down" comments
Since December we were the 2nd most in form team behind record breaking and big spending Birmingham in our division and we just set a record for the clean sheets in a season. So we clearly aren't shit.
Since then we lost Little Terry to Preston. Exciting talent but very replaceable
Obviously we need to strengthen to be more competitive but there really is no need for all the dramatics just yet. We have a new CEO who is known for excellent transfer dealings. A new head of recruitment who we all know can pull a rabbit from a hat.
In the immortal words of Russel Slade
Patience!
Usually tend to agree with the vast majority of your posts and yes you’re right since December we were the 2nd form team.
Small though was a big part of that going out wide, he and TC complimented each other and worked well as a pair even if TC took the headlines and scored more goals.
Without Small teams doubled up on TC or we had to revert to an alternate setup which while was decent enough, we won’t cut it in The Championship, probably 50/50 to stay up as we are now but I’m confident as you say that patience will pay off and we’ll end up with a squad that can stay up.
Players like Small don’t come around often or easy though and he’ll be hard to replace as an attacking threat unless the club is willing to invest some money in a decent replacement commanding a fee or pay a decent loan wage. Either way a suitable replacement won’t be easy or come cheap. Will be a lot harder to replace Small than some may think.
Little Terry can do a lot of stepovers, has pace and power but that's pretty much where it ended. His football brain just wasn't there, his shooting and passing was poor and his heading ability laughable. Obviously his age plays a part in that but he isn't a million miles from CBT n that defenders will suss him out.
We will look to replace him with a similar type of player but hopefully one with a better end product. Maybe not as quick but better on the ball.
I bow to your superior knowledge of the game, but hard to replace the excitement he bought in the 2nd leg of the playoff and other times.
Like others have already said, you don’t measure Small’s impact with goals and assists - that will come later in his development as he’s only 20 years old.
I don’t remember seeing a Charlton player as good at him at beating a man, CBT did it on raw pace alone but Small is arguably as fast as well as combining it with world class dribbling. We unearthed a gem and lost it within 18 months, not irreplaceable but you’d be a fool to think he’s not a massive loss.
Like others have already said, you don’t measure Small’s impact with goals and assists - that will come later in his development as he’s only 20 years old.
I don’t remember seeing a Charlton player as good at him at beating a man, CBT did it on raw pace alone but Small is arguably as fast as well as combining it with world class dribbling. We unearthed a gem and lost it within 18 months, not irreplaceable but you’d be a fool to think he’s not a massive loss.
Anyway, back to transfer rumours…
He’s got a few good tricks I’ll give you that but world class dribbling is a bit much, he ran it out of play as many times as beating his man
Like others have already said, you don’t measure Small’s impact with goals and assists - that will come later in his development as he’s only 20 years old.
I don’t remember seeing a Charlton player as good at him at beating a man, CBT did it on raw pace alone but Small is arguably as fast as well as combining it with world class dribbling. We unearthed a gem and lost it within 18 months, not irreplaceable but you’d be a fool to think he’s not a massive loss.
Anyway, back to transfer rumours…
Let’s get some perspective!
Nobody with world class dribbling gets pocketed by a league one fullback! Ever!
Also agree with comments above. We will easily stay up even if we don't recruit, around 10th-16th If we don't sign anyone, we may even get promoted again if we make a couple of signings to add to what we have got. People are severely underestimating us it seems, especially the bookies!
Things working in our favour:-
- Team spirit, no other club has the momentum we have right now - Clean sheets, we rarely leave stains, and when we do, it was just unlucky - Nathan Jones - no manager celebrates wins like our gaffer - The Valley - difficult place to go to, pyros - Our planning - The people in place have plans.
I would also add it could even be a bad idea to add new signings and look to replace the lesser peformers. We could disrupt the current squad and hinder our chances. How would it look if players started being replaced. Could impact the mood of the changing room.
Show some faith, we will pay what WE believe a player is worth.
Up the Reds!
i love your optimism, but fuck me you've got sunstroke!
Surprised at the "if we don't strengthen we will go down" comments
Since December we were the 2nd most in form team behind record breaking and big spending Birmingham in our division and we just set a record for the clean sheets in a season. So we clearly aren't shit.
Since then we lost Little Terry to Preston. Exciting talent but very replaceable
Obviously we need to strengthen to be more competitive but there really is no need for all the dramatics just yet. We have a new CEO who is known for excellent transfer dealings. A new head of recruitment who we all know can pull a rabbit from a hat.
In the immortal words of Russel Slade
Patience!
Usually tend to agree with the vast majority of your posts and yes you’re right since December we were the 2nd form team.
Small though was a big part of that going out wide, he and TC complimented each other and worked well as a pair even if TC took the headlines and scored more goals.
Without Small teams doubled up on TC or we had to revert to an alternate setup which while was decent enough, we won’t cut it in The Championship, probably 50/50 to stay up as we are now but I’m confident as you say that patience will pay off and we’ll end up with a squad that can stay up.
Players like Small don’t come around often or easy though and he’ll be hard to replace as an attacking threat unless the club is willing to invest some money in a decent replacement commanding a fee or pay a decent loan wage. Either way a suitable replacement won’t be easy or come cheap. Will be a lot harder to replace Small than some may think.
Little Terry can do a lot of stepovers, has pace and power but that's pretty much where it ended. His football brain just wasn't there, his shooting and passing was poor and his heading ability laughable. Obviously his age plays a part in that but he isn't a million miles from CBT n that defenders will suss him out.
We will look to replace him with a similar type of player but hopefully one with a better end product. Maybe not as quick but better on the ball.
I bow to your superior knowledge of the game, but hard to replace the excitement he bought in the 2nd leg of the playoff and other times.
I’m not saying he was shit. But there were games he was completely anonymous. For every games he was excellent I could point out a game where he was a passenger. I know that can happen with young players but Nathan often saw fit to overlook him too so maybe, just maybe, he was a bit of a handful behind the scenes as well as on the pitch
Surprised at the "if we don't strengthen we will go down" comments
Since December we were the 2nd most in form team behind record breaking and big spending Birmingham in our division and we just set a record for the clean sheets in a season. So we clearly aren't shit.
Since then we lost Little Terry to Preston. Exciting talent but very replaceable
Obviously we need to strengthen to be more competitive but there really is no need for all the dramatics just yet. We have a new CEO who is known for excellent transfer dealings. A new head of recruitment who we all know can pull a rabbit from a hat.
In the immortal words of Russel Slade
Patience!
Usually tend to agree with the vast majority of your posts and yes you’re right since December we were the 2nd form team.
Small though was a big part of that going out wide, he and TC complimented each other and worked well as a pair even if TC took the headlines and scored more goals.
Without Small teams doubled up on TC or we had to revert to an alternate setup which while was decent enough, we won’t cut it in The Championship, probably 50/50 to stay up as we are now but I’m confident as you say that patience will pay off and we’ll end up with a squad that can stay up.
Players like Small don’t come around often or easy though and he’ll be hard to replace as an attacking threat unless the club is willing to invest some money in a decent replacement commanding a fee or pay a decent loan wage. Either way a suitable replacement won’t be easy or come cheap. Will be a lot harder to replace Small than some may think.
Little Terry can do a lot of stepovers, has pace and power but that's pretty much where it ended. His football brain just wasn't there, his shooting and passing was poor and his heading ability laughable. Obviously his age plays a part in that but he isn't a million miles from CBT n that defenders will suss him out.
We will look to replace him with a similar type of player but hopefully one with a better end product. Maybe not as quick but better on the ball.
Bullseye! And that's why he went to Preston, they've been getting lucky for over a decade. Guarantee we finish higher than them by at least 30 points.
Alright he could play a number of positions, ok he had pace, he was only 20 and had loads of potential, yes he was both footed, of course he could defend, he did have a good engine and yeah, he was one of our only attacking outlets, but, we can and will do better. This recruitment group has a plan. If the board didn't think he was worth it, that's that, we won't be held to ransom by players.
Like others have already said, you don’t measure Small’s impact with goals and assists - that will come later in his development as he’s only 20 years old.
I don’t remember seeing a Charlton player as good at him at beating a man, CBT did it on raw pace alone but Small is arguably as fast as well as combining it with world class dribbling. We unearthed a gem and lost it within 18 months, not irreplaceable but you’d be a fool to think he’s not a massive loss.
Anyway, back to transfer rumours…
World class dribbler FFS. The other day he was described as a cheat code in league 1. What is wrong with Charlton fans?
Like others have already said, you don’t measure Small’s impact with goals and assists - that will come later in his development as he’s only 20 years old.
I don’t remember seeing a Charlton player as good at him at beating a man, CBT did it on raw pace alone but Small is arguably as fast as well as combining it with world class dribbling. We unearthed a gem and lost it within 18 months, not irreplaceable but you’d be a fool to think he’s not a massive loss.
Anyway, back to transfer rumours…
World class dribbler FFS. The other day he was described as a cheat code in league 1. What is wrong with Charlton fans?
Surprised at the "if we don't strengthen we will go down" comments
Since December we were the 2nd most in form team behind record breaking and big spending Birmingham in our division and we just set a record for the clean sheets in a season. So we clearly aren't shit.
Since then we lost Little Terry to Preston. Exciting talent but very replaceable
Obviously we need to strengthen to be more competitive but there really is no need for all the dramatics just yet. We have a new CEO who is known for excellent transfer dealings. A new head of recruitment who we all know can pull a rabbit from a hat.
In the immortal words of Russel Slade
Patience!
Usually tend to agree with the vast majority of your posts and yes you’re right since December we were the 2nd form team.
Small though was a big part of that going out wide, he and TC complimented each other and worked well as a pair even if TC took the headlines and scored more goals.
Without Small teams doubled up on TC or we had to revert to an alternate setup which while was decent enough, we won’t cut it in The Championship, probably 50/50 to stay up as we are now but I’m confident as you say that patience will pay off and we’ll end up with a squad that can stay up.
Players like Small don’t come around often or easy though and he’ll be hard to replace as an attacking threat unless the club is willing to invest some money in a decent replacement commanding a fee or pay a decent loan wage. Either way a suitable replacement won’t be easy or come cheap. Will be a lot harder to replace Small than some may think.
Little Terry can do a lot of stepovers, has pace and power but that's pretty much where it ended. His football brain just wasn't there, his shooting and passing was poor and his heading ability laughable. Obviously his age plays a part in that but he isn't a million miles from CBT n that defenders will suss him out.
We will look to replace him with a similar type of player but hopefully one with a better end product. Maybe not as quick but better on the ball.
I bow to your superior knowledge of the game, but hard to replace the excitement he bought in the 2nd leg of the playoff and other times.
I’m not saying he was shit. But there were games he was completely anonymous. For every games he was excellent I could point out a game where he was a passenger. I know that can happen with young players but Nathan often saw fit to overlook him too so maybe, just maybe, he was a bit of a handful behind the scenes as well as on the pitch
Players move on that’s life. We will survive but I base my viewing enjoyment on players that even when not having the best game can get my excitement levels up when they get the ball. TS for me was one of those players. I thank him for those moments and wish him the best for his future which as long as he keeps his head down I would wager is very much higher than championship football
Surprised at the "if we don't strengthen we will go down" comments
Since December we were the 2nd most in form team behind record breaking and big spending Birmingham in our division and we just set a record for the clean sheets in a season. So we clearly aren't shit.
Since then we lost Little Terry to Preston. Exciting talent but very replaceable
Obviously we need to strengthen to be more competitive but there really is no need for all the dramatics just yet. We have a new CEO who is known for excellent transfer dealings. A new head of recruitment who we all know can pull a rabbit from a hat.
In the immortal words of Russel Slade
Patience!
Usually tend to agree with the vast majority of your posts and yes you’re right since December we were the 2nd form team.
Small though was a big part of that going out wide, he and TC complimented each other and worked well as a pair even if TC took the headlines and scored more goals.
Without Small teams doubled up on TC or we had to revert to an alternate setup which while was decent enough, we won’t cut it in The Championship, probably 50/50 to stay up as we are now but I’m confident as you say that patience will pay off and we’ll end up with a squad that can stay up.
Players like Small don’t come around often or easy though and he’ll be hard to replace as an attacking threat unless the club is willing to invest some money in a decent replacement commanding a fee or pay a decent loan wage. Either way a suitable replacement won’t be easy or come cheap. Will be a lot harder to replace Small than some may think.
Little Terry can do a lot of stepovers, has pace and power but that's pretty much where it ended. His football brain just wasn't there, his shooting and passing was poor and his heading ability laughable. Obviously his age plays a part in that but he isn't a million miles from CBT n that defenders will suss him out.
We will look to replace him with a similar type of player but hopefully one with a better end product. Maybe not as quick but better on the ball.
That seems a bit dismissive honestly, he might not have provided much in raw numbers but often the fact that no-one knew exactly what Small was going to do next (quite probably including Small himself) was useful in and of itself. Just having him there meant there was always the possibility of him doing something unexpected which meant that you can't just double up on TC even if he's the more "reliable" threat.
I don't think it's insurmountable but Small's loss won't be measured in goals and assists.
I think Small was in some senses analogous to when Raheem Sterling was "still" being picked for England despite not seemingly offering much. His pace and potential trickery meant players had to pay attention to him - thus freeing up other players from constant attention. Was Small full of end product? Absolutely not, but you can't leave him unattended.
Googles analogous.
Bet you were disappointed when the first four letters weren't what you thought @blackpool72
Surprised at the "if we don't strengthen we will go down" comments
Since December we were the 2nd most in form team behind record breaking and big spending Birmingham in our division and we just set a record for the clean sheets in a season. So we clearly aren't shit.
Since then we lost Little Terry to Preston. Exciting talent but very replaceable
Obviously we need to strengthen to be more competitive but there really is no need for all the dramatics just yet. We have a new CEO who is known for excellent transfer dealings. A new head of recruitment who we all know can pull a rabbit from a hat.
In the immortal words of Russel Slade
Patience!
Usually tend to agree with the vast majority of your posts and yes you’re right since December we were the 2nd form team.
Small though was a big part of that going out wide, he and TC complimented each other and worked well as a pair even if TC took the headlines and scored more goals.
Without Small teams doubled up on TC or we had to revert to an alternate setup which while was decent enough, we won’t cut it in The Championship, probably 50/50 to stay up as we are now but I’m confident as you say that patience will pay off and we’ll end up with a squad that can stay up.
Players like Small don’t come around often or easy though and he’ll be hard to replace as an attacking threat unless the club is willing to invest some money in a decent replacement commanding a fee or pay a decent loan wage. Either way a suitable replacement won’t be easy or come cheap. Will be a lot harder to replace Small than some may think.
Little Terry can do a lot of stepovers, has pace and power but that's pretty much where it ended. His football brain just wasn't there, his shooting and passing was poor and his heading ability laughable. Obviously his age plays a part in that but he isn't a million miles from CBT n that defenders will suss him out.
We will look to replace him with a similar type of player but hopefully one with a better end product. Maybe not as quick but better on the ball.
I bow to your superior knowledge of the game, but hard to replace the excitement he bought in the 2nd leg of the playoff and other times.
I’m not saying he was shit. But there were games he was completely anonymous. For every games he was excellent I could point out a game where he was a passenger. I know that can happen with young players but Nathan often saw fit to overlook him too so maybe, just maybe, he was a bit of a handful behind the scenes as well as on the pitch
I wasn't being sarcastic about your knowledge either. Last season was a success but at times, workmamlike, I just love a bit of wow in a game. Small was one of the few that could offer that. Hopefully we can replace that, being resolute and effective gets results, but I want a smidge of magic too.
Surprised at the "if we don't strengthen we will go down" comments
Since December we were the 2nd most in form team behind record breaking and big spending Birmingham in our division and we just set a record for the clean sheets in a season. So we clearly aren't shit.
Since then we lost Little Terry to Preston. Exciting talent but very replaceable
Obviously we need to strengthen to be more competitive but there really is no need for all the dramatics just yet. We have a new CEO who is known for excellent transfer dealings. A new head of recruitment who we all know can pull a rabbit from a hat.
In the immortal words of Russel Slade
Patience!
Usually tend to agree with the vast majority of your posts and yes you’re right since December we were the 2nd form team.
Small though was a big part of that going out wide, he and TC complimented each other and worked well as a pair even if TC took the headlines and scored more goals.
Without Small teams doubled up on TC or we had to revert to an alternate setup which while was decent enough, we won’t cut it in The Championship, probably 50/50 to stay up as we are now but I’m confident as you say that patience will pay off and we’ll end up with a squad that can stay up.
Players like Small don’t come around often or easy though and he’ll be hard to replace as an attacking threat unless the club is willing to invest some money in a decent replacement commanding a fee or pay a decent loan wage. Either way a suitable replacement won’t be easy or come cheap. Will be a lot harder to replace Small than some may think.
Little Terry can do a lot of stepovers, has pace and power but that's pretty much where it ended. His football brain just wasn't there, his shooting and passing was poor and his heading ability laughable. Obviously his age plays a part in that but he isn't a million miles from CBT n that defenders will suss him out.
We will look to replace him with a similar type of player but hopefully one with a better end product. Maybe not as quick but better on the ball.
That seems a bit dismissive honestly, he might not have provided much in raw numbers but often the fact that no-one knew exactly what Small was going to do next (quite probably including Small himself) was useful in and of itself. Just having him there meant there was always the possibility of him doing something unexpected which meant that you can't just double up on TC even if he's the more "reliable" threat.
I don't think it's insurmountable but Small's loss won't be measured in goals and assists.
I think Small was in some senses analogous to when Raheem Sterling was "still" being picked for England despite not seemingly offering much. His pace and potential trickery meant players had to pay attention to him - thus freeing up other players from constant attention. Was Small full of end product? Absolutely not, but you can't leave him unattended.
Googles analogous.
Bet you were disappointed when the first four letters weren't what you thought @blackpool72
It’s the fact that now suddenly the U21s are now good enough backup, for every Doughty you also get a Dempsey/Vennings, U21s should not just been thrown in, I’d much rather wait until they are ready
I think we have several u21s who are better prospects than those two, and we should have more depth and fewer injuries than we did that season.
This fanbase has always preferred the scrappier wide players like Johnny Robinson, JJ, etc.. to the trickier ones. Even JRS was getting accused of having 'no end product' when he was the top-scoring winger in the league. It's kind of lost its meaning.
Players like JRS, CBT, TC etc seem to have unrealistic expectations from some football fans (in general, not only here).
Steady, reliable players are always going to look more intelligent and sometimes technically better, but then they don’t usually have the pace and ability to beat players again and again. Players with skill and pace have to take bigger risks - what would be the point in having those attributes on the pitch if they focussed on holding their position, keeping possession and never trying something unexpected? 11 players all doing that doesn’t get you far.
While we don’t have to replace what Small offered at RWB as we could adapt our system and style, we’ll need pace and unpredictability somewhere in the team, and TC alone isn’t enough. As important as steady players are, we’re a better team when we have a good balance of both. I’ll be concerned if we end the window without a squad lacking any pace and flair - we need a few of those players, even if at times they can look ridiculously bad, another day they'll look ridiculously good and win us a game doing something other players can't.
Probably the three hardest skills in football - finishing, dribbling past players, and the final ball.
Wingers are expected to do all three well, regularly, and consistently. It's a huge ask though to expect the things they try to come off more often than they don't come off. In fact, it's more than a big ask, it's just plain unrealistic, but I think it's what some fans seem to expect. In reality, for most players of that type, it'll come off maybe only 1 to 3 times in a match. Then you're hoping they prove to be decisive moments and don't go to waste (as sometimes happens through no fault of the winger). It's a criticism I've seen levelled at every skillful winger we've ever had from Mortimer, to Robson, to Newton, to Thomas, to Green, to Lloyd Sam, to JRS, to TC, to Small and many others in-between
I would say Small's productivity was reasonable for a 20 year old player also expected to defend like a fullback. And when he got it right he tended to get it very right - he put in some wicked deliveries at times that no one got on the end of as well as a few good assists. I would also say it got better as the season went on (worth remembering it was bit of an unorthodox hybrid position he was playing as he was expected to be like full-on, high up the pitch, winger when we were in attack which I doubt he had played in quite the same way before, and on his "wrong" side). If he can continue to improve he will be a very good player. Anyone who can't see that potential isn't looking very hard. Of course, there's no guarantee he will continue to improve (plenty of players don't), but I maintain there aren't tons of players out there, especially that would be available to us, who can do a bit of everything in the way Small can when he's playing well.
I think more likely than us getting a like for like replacement is we will have to tweak the way we play accommodate us no longer having such an attacking outlet of his type at wing back.
Like others have already said, you don’t measure Small’s impact with goals and assists - that will come later in his development as he’s only 20 years old.
I don’t remember seeing a Charlton player as good at him at beating a man, CBT did it on raw pace alone but Small is arguably as fast as well as combining it with world class dribbling. We unearthed a gem and lost it within 18 months, not irreplaceable but you’d be a fool to think he’s not a massive loss.
Anyway, back to transfer rumours…
World class dribbler FFS. The other day he was described as a cheat code in league 1. What is wrong with Charlton fans?
I guess I’m showing my age, but I’ve never seen a Charlton player able to manipulate the ball at the speed Small does - of course he’s not Messi, but he did certain turns and flicks that I’ve not seen in 20+ years of going to The Valley.
If you’ve seen every Charlton game last season and haven’t had at least one occasion where you’re dumbfounded by something Thierry Small did with a football, we’re watching different sports.
Like others have already said, you don’t measure Small’s impact with goals and assists - that will come later in his development as he’s only 20 years old.
I don’t remember seeing a Charlton player as good at him at beating a man, CBT did it on raw pace alone but Small is arguably as fast as well as combining it with world class dribbling. We unearthed a gem and lost it within 18 months, not irreplaceable but you’d be a fool to think he’s not a massive loss.
Anyway, back to transfer rumours…
World class dribbler FFS. The other day he was described as a cheat code in league 1. What is wrong with Charlton fans?
His dribble success rate last season was 47.6% according to Opta data, slightly above average but nothing crazy.
He was "dispossessed" of the ball 1.5 times per 90 minutes, about the league average. And he won about 40% of his duels for the ball, again close to the league average.
If he couldn't beat his full back with pace and power he often struggled to come up with a different way to beat the man. I think for that reason he has a lot of work to do to step up to being a regular at Championship level where the average full back will be bigger, quicker and stronger.
Surprised at the "if we don't strengthen we will go down" comments
Since December we were the 2nd most in form team behind record breaking and big spending Birmingham in our division and we just set a record for the clean sheets in a season. So we clearly aren't shit.
Since then we lost Little Terry to Preston. Exciting talent but very replaceable
Obviously we need to strengthen to be more competitive but there really is no need for all the dramatics just yet. We have a new CEO who is known for excellent transfer dealings. A new head of recruitment who we all know can pull a rabbit from a hat.
In the immortal words of Russel Slade
Patience!
Usually tend to agree with the vast majority of your posts and yes you’re right since December we were the 2nd form team.
Small though was a big part of that going out wide, he and TC complimented each other and worked well as a pair even if TC took the headlines and scored more goals.
Without Small teams doubled up on TC or we had to revert to an alternate setup which while was decent enough, we won’t cut it in The Championship, probably 50/50 to stay up as we are now but I’m confident as you say that patience will pay off and we’ll end up with a squad that can stay up.
Players like Small don’t come around often or easy though and he’ll be hard to replace as an attacking threat unless the club is willing to invest some money in a decent replacement commanding a fee or pay a decent loan wage. Either way a suitable replacement won’t be easy or come cheap. Will be a lot harder to replace Small than some may think.
Little Terry can do a lot of stepovers, has pace and power but that's pretty much where it ended. His football brain just wasn't there, his shooting and passing was poor and his heading ability laughable. Obviously his age plays a part in that but he isn't a million miles from CBT n that defenders will suss him out.
We will look to replace him with a similar type of player but hopefully one with a better end product. Maybe not as quick but better on the ball.
I bow to your superior knowledge of the game, but hard to replace the excitement he bought in the 2nd leg of the playoff and other times.
I’m not saying he was shit. But there were games he was completely anonymous. For every games he was excellent I could point out a game where he was a passenger. I know that can happen with young players but Nathan often saw fit to overlook him too so maybe, just maybe, he was a bit of a handful behind the scenes as well as on the pitch
But not that much of a handful that he was selected as Community Player of the Year
No brainer, and I say this a rangers follower, even if it were ***tic coming in for him, young Scottish lad, easy decision to make, guaranteed European football.
Surprised at the "if we don't strengthen we will go down" comments
Since December we were the 2nd most in form team behind record breaking and big spending Birmingham in our division and we just set a record for the clean sheets in a season. So we clearly aren't shit.
Since then we lost Little Terry to Preston. Exciting talent but very replaceable
Obviously we need to strengthen to be more competitive but there really is no need for all the dramatics just yet. We have a new CEO who is known for excellent transfer dealings. A new head of recruitment who we all know can pull a rabbit from a hat.
In the immortal words of Russel Slade
Patience!
Usually tend to agree with the vast majority of your posts and yes you’re right since December we were the 2nd form team.
Small though was a big part of that going out wide, he and TC complimented each other and worked well as a pair even if TC took the headlines and scored more goals.
Without Small teams doubled up on TC or we had to revert to an alternate setup which while was decent enough, we won’t cut it in The Championship, probably 50/50 to stay up as we are now but I’m confident as you say that patience will pay off and we’ll end up with a squad that can stay up.
Players like Small don’t come around often or easy though and he’ll be hard to replace as an attacking threat unless the club is willing to invest some money in a decent replacement commanding a fee or pay a decent loan wage. Either way a suitable replacement won’t be easy or come cheap. Will be a lot harder to replace Small than some may think.
Little Terry can do a lot of stepovers, has pace and power but that's pretty much where it ended. His football brain just wasn't there, his shooting and passing was poor and his heading ability laughable. Obviously his age plays a part in that but he isn't a million miles from CBT n that defenders will suss him out.
We will look to replace him with a similar type of player but hopefully one with a better end product. Maybe not as quick but better on the ball.
I bow to your superior knowledge of the game, but hard to replace the excitement he bought in the 2nd leg of the playoff and other times.
I’m not saying he was shit. But there were games he was completely anonymous. For every games he was excellent I could point out a game where he was a passenger. I know that can happen with young players but Nathan often saw fit to overlook him too so maybe, just maybe, he was a bit of a handful behind the scenes as well as on the pitch
But not that much of a handful that he was selected as Community Player of the Year
Didn't Innis win this one year? He was a known nutcase but still great with young fans and helped Grannies cross the road and kittens out of trees!!
Hopefully we can have another shot at a different right back
We're still pretty strongly linked with both Mbengue and Offiah so it seems like we've got a few different options in that regard.
Both those players are RCB’s not traditional wingbacks. Presuming Mulligan was meant to play RWB and Ramsay RCB but now Mulligan’s out the picture there may not be a standout wingback Jones wants but he likes the look of a couple of RCB’s. based on who he can bring in probably determines where Ramsay plays next year whether that’s RCB or RWB. Whether people think he’s a better RCB or wingback he’s already better than anyone we can bring in because he’s that good. Just depends whether we are able to sign a better wingback or rcb this window which shapes up how we’re going to play.
Surprised at the "if we don't strengthen we will go down" comments
Since December we were the 2nd most in form team behind record breaking and big spending Birmingham in our division and we just set a record for the clean sheets in a season. So we clearly aren't shit.
Since then we lost Little Terry to Preston. Exciting talent but very replaceable
Obviously we need to strengthen to be more competitive but there really is no need for all the dramatics just yet. We have a new CEO who is known for excellent transfer dealings. A new head of recruitment who we all know can pull a rabbit from a hat.
In the immortal words of Russel Slade
Patience!
Usually tend to agree with the vast majority of your posts and yes you’re right since December we were the 2nd form team.
Small though was a big part of that going out wide, he and TC complimented each other and worked well as a pair even if TC took the headlines and scored more goals.
Without Small teams doubled up on TC or we had to revert to an alternate setup which while was decent enough, we won’t cut it in The Championship, probably 50/50 to stay up as we are now but I’m confident as you say that patience will pay off and we’ll end up with a squad that can stay up.
Players like Small don’t come around often or easy though and he’ll be hard to replace as an attacking threat unless the club is willing to invest some money in a decent replacement commanding a fee or pay a decent loan wage. Either way a suitable replacement won’t be easy or come cheap. Will be a lot harder to replace Small than some may think.
Little Terry can do a lot of stepovers, has pace and power but that's pretty much where it ended. His football brain just wasn't there, his shooting and passing was poor and his heading ability laughable. Obviously his age plays a part in that but he isn't a million miles from CBT n that defenders will suss him out.
We will look to replace him with a similar type of player but hopefully one with a better end product. Maybe not as quick but better on the ball.
I bow to your superior knowledge of the game, but hard to replace the excitement he bought in the 2nd leg of the playoff and other times.
Kaheim Dixon? He's had a full season now. Should be closer to being a regular. Especially if he follows TC's closed season training regime...
Surprised at the "if we don't strengthen we will go down" comments
Since December we were the 2nd most in form team behind record breaking and big spending Birmingham in our division and we just set a record for the clean sheets in a season. So we clearly aren't shit.
Since then we lost Little Terry to Preston. Exciting talent but very replaceable
Obviously we need to strengthen to be more competitive but there really is no need for all the dramatics just yet. We have a new CEO who is known for excellent transfer dealings. A new head of recruitment who we all know can pull a rabbit from a hat.
In the immortal words of Russel Slade
Patience!
Usually tend to agree with the vast majority of your posts and yes you’re right since December we were the 2nd form team.
Small though was a big part of that going out wide, he and TC complimented each other and worked well as a pair even if TC took the headlines and scored more goals.
Without Small teams doubled up on TC or we had to revert to an alternate setup which while was decent enough, we won’t cut it in The Championship, probably 50/50 to stay up as we are now but I’m confident as you say that patience will pay off and we’ll end up with a squad that can stay up.
Players like Small don’t come around often or easy though and he’ll be hard to replace as an attacking threat unless the club is willing to invest some money in a decent replacement commanding a fee or pay a decent loan wage. Either way a suitable replacement won’t be easy or come cheap. Will be a lot harder to replace Small than some may think.
Little Terry can do a lot of stepovers, has pace and power but that's pretty much where it ended. His football brain just wasn't there, his shooting and passing was poor and his heading ability laughable. Obviously his age plays a part in that but he isn't a million miles from CBT n that defenders will suss him out.
We will look to replace him with a similar type of player but hopefully one with a better end product. Maybe not as quick but better on the ball.
I bow to your superior knowledge of the game, but hard to replace the excitement he bought in the 2nd leg of the playoff and other times.
Kaheim Dixon? He's had a full season now. Should be closer to being a regular. Especially if he follows TC's closed season training regime...
I thought he looked miles off being a league one player last year tbh. Clearly has something but no way will he impact the Championship next season imo.
Comments
Makes me incredibly doubtful of the entire story tbh.
Steady, reliable players are always going to look more intelligent and sometimes technically better, but then they don’t usually have the pace and ability to beat players again and again. Players with skill and pace have to take bigger risks - what would be the point in having those attributes on the pitch if they focussed on holding their position, keeping possession and never trying something unexpected? 11 players all doing that doesn’t get you far.
While we don’t have to replace what Small offered at RWB as we could adapt our system and style, we’ll need pace and unpredictability somewhere in the team, and TC alone isn’t enough. As important as steady players are, we’re a better team when we have a good balance of both. I’ll be concerned if we end the window without a squad lacking any pace and flair - we need a few of those players, even if at times they can look ridiculously bad, another day they'll look ridiculously good and win us a game doing something other players can't.
Wingers are expected to do all three well, regularly, and consistently. It's a huge ask though to expect the things they try to come off more often than they don't come off. In fact, it's more than a big ask, it's just plain unrealistic, but I think it's what some fans seem to expect. In reality, for most players of that type, it'll come off maybe only 1 to 3 times in a match. Then you're hoping they prove to be decisive moments and don't go to waste (as sometimes happens through no fault of the winger). It's a criticism I've seen levelled at every skillful winger we've ever had from Mortimer, to Robson, to Newton, to Thomas, to Green, to Lloyd Sam, to JRS, to TC, to Small and many others in-between
I would say Small's productivity was reasonable for a 20 year old player also expected to defend like a fullback. And when he got it right he tended to get it very right - he put in some wicked deliveries at times that no one got on the end of as well as a few good assists. I would also say it got better as the season went on (worth remembering it was bit of an unorthodox hybrid position he was playing as he was expected to be like full-on, high up the pitch, winger when we were in attack which I doubt he had played in quite the same way before, and on his "wrong" side). If he can continue to improve he will be a very good player. Anyone who can't see that potential isn't looking very hard. Of course, there's no guarantee he will continue to improve (plenty of players don't), but I maintain there aren't tons of players out there, especially that would be available to us, who can do a bit of everything in the way Small can when he's playing well.
I think more likely than us getting a like for like replacement is we will have to tweak the way we play accommodate us no longer having such an attacking outlet of his type at wing back.
His dribble success rate last season was 47.6% according to Opta data, slightly above average but nothing crazy.
He was "dispossessed" of the ball 1.5 times per 90 minutes, about the league average. And he won about 40% of his duels for the ball, again close to the league average.
If he couldn't beat his full back with pace and power he often struggled to come up with a different way to beat the man. I think for that reason he has a lot of work to do to step up to being a regular at Championship level where the average full back will be bigger, quicker and stronger.
It states that the Bears have beaten Salford City to his signature despite the English club offering higher wages.
I thought he looked miles off being a league one player last year tbh. Clearly has something but no way will he impact the Championship next season imo.