I like Thierry Small…
There, I said it.
I don’t believe he was ‘a greedy bastard’. I sense it was far more that Jones didn’t want / see him being in his starting XI in the Champ, and our wage offer reflected that. So he ended up uprooting to the other end of the country where he was wanted more.
He always gave 100%, was exciting to watch, played a big part in getting us promoted and always engaged with the fans and showed appreciation.
Two home games and two ex players given sh*t who I’d quite happily give a round of applause to.
Comments
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Agree with this. He really gave his all in a red shirt. Will never forget how pissed off he was being subbed in the second leg against Wycombe because he desperately wanted to keep playing to get that goal. He came off in front of me and then once he got over his frustrations gee’d the crowd up as he walked around to the dug outs. He was passionate and gave his all, never let us down with his effort21
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Me too, good luck to him except when playing us.7
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That's just home fans for you:
I remember when we played Leeds at home in the 2012/13 season, the game when Jon Obika scored a last minute winner. When Luke Varney came on, he was booed heavily which surprised me, he wasn't as great as we expected him to be, but he at least scored in a win against Palace...later on, Millwall legend Steve Morison comes on a sub, not a sound from anyone. There were even some boos against Yann Kermorgant when he came back with Bournemouth FFS!!!5 -
Agree it seems normal that old players get booed now which I don’t think many deserve14
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Clarke didn't tbf but yeah, anyone who left for bigger pay is gonna get it now regardlessroseandcrown said:Agree it seems normal that old players get booed now which I don’t think many deserve1 -
I like small as well, still gutted we couldn't get him to sign and ended up with Apter. Wouldn't boo him but still hope Preston get relegated and he's miserable playing in L1 for them.
And despite that would still welcome him back if we ever signed him again!2 -
Yeah I'm with you. The whole booing him rubs me the wrong way. Like he signed a four year deal with a Championship side. It's not like he went back to League One or something.
He changed our season two years ago. Him as an outlet on the right is when we started playing better. We're where we are in no small part because of him. Best of luck to him for all but one game the rest of the season.8 -
He’s a close personal friend

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I'll just say "I concur" and I'll leave it at that.2
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Yea havnt got a bad word to say about him really, guess its just the norm these days to boo ex players. If we offered him what he wanted he would have stayed, we didn’t so he moved on.4
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Didn’t he literally cup his ears and make shushing gestures towards our fans after scoring last season? Might explain some of the reception he got today…6
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He was Out of Contract and free to talk to whoever he wanted... Yes he was maybe greedy taking a bigger deal with Preston than us, but as a Free Agent that was his right and at the time of joining Preston had no obligation to us.Different matter when the player is under Contract and downs tools to force that move through so won't begrudge him for his actions... The only thing that slightly amuses me (not in a haha way), is the fact that he was very much struggling to find a home before he joined us, and a bit like Corey Blackett-Taylor his career hadn't taken off since leaving, although still early days for Thierry. Both I think have moved on too quickly and don't think their decisions have overly helped their careers, its proof that if you're comfortable somewhere as a Footballer, stick it out a bit longer as the grass isn't always greener.7
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The booing was embarrassing....6
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Booing was stupid and embarrassing.
Can see why he took the Preston offer bit it still hurt a bit.
Our issues last season were lack of depth in both wing back positions and lack of players with pace and 1v1 ability on the ball leading to an iverreliance on TC as our only outlet. Small solves both those issues.
Preston being a bit of a nothing team doesnt help. He hasn't exactly nailed down a starting slot for them and would have played as much if not more for us if he had stayed.5 -
Doesn't get anywhere near our team in this formationcantersaddick said:Booing was stupid and embarrassing.
Can see why he took the Preston offer bit it still hurt a bit.
Our issues last season were lack of depth in both wing back positions and lack of players with pace and 1v1 ability on the ball leading to an iverreliance on TC as our only outlet. Small solves both those issues.
Preston being a bit of a nothing team doesnt help. He hasn't exactly nailed down a starting slot for them and would have played as much if not more for us if he had stayed.3 -
Agree now - though likely would have come on ahead of Asiimwe today. But as I said - last season he would have made a real differenceCAFCsayer said:
Doesn't get anywhere near our team in this formationcantersaddick said:Booing was stupid and embarrassing.
Can see why he took the Preston offer bit it still hurt a bit.
Our issues last season were lack of depth in both wing back positions and lack of players with pace and 1v1 ability on the ball leading to an iverreliance on TC as our only outlet. Small solves both those issues.
Preston being a bit of a nothing team doesnt help. He hasn't exactly nailed down a starting slot for them and would have played as much if not more for us if he had stayed.0 -
Top man for starting this thread. Small was part of a team that put a smile back on my face and he always played with a smile on his. He moved job for a pay rise and I was pleased for him. We helped kick-start his career and he helped us to promotion.AFKABartram said:There, I said it.
I don’t believe he was ‘a greedy bastard’. I sense it was far more that Jones didn’t want / see him being in his starting XI in the Champ, and our wage offer reflected that. So he ended up uprooting to the other end of the country where he was wanted more.
He always gave 100%, was exciting to watch, played a big part in getting us promoted and always engaged with the fans and showed appreciation.
Two home games and two ex players given sh*t who I’d quite happily give a round of applause to.
I went to clap him today and was drowned out by boos. Hey ho. To each their own.13 -
Agreed, he joined on a free, stayed his contract. Was part of a successful team, worked hard, always had a smile, was great with the fans. Really likable. Booing someone like him is pathetic.10
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Nothing was more ridiculous than a section of our away support booing James Bree when we played at Southampton earlier this year. A player who did really well for us on loan, and only left because his parent club wanted him back.
It happens. I remember some nasty abuse aimed at Karlan Grant when we played at Huddersfield in 2020, now he's the hero.11 -
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Didn't like the booing. Thought it would give Small extra motivation when he came on. He was also very nice to my son when I met him. I'm not going to boo him.
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Had a look on the Preston forum and they were critical of how Heckingbottom has completely mismanaged Small.
Would never have even thought about booing TS , thought his deal was wrapped way way before promotion anyway. He's a player that just needs to settle somewhere.8 -
We (NJ) didn’t offer Small what he thought he was worth. I think we’ve seen with Dobbo and even to some extent TC that sometimes Charlton decide what they are prepared to pay and if the player can get a better offer elsewhere, then so be it. It’s negotiating but also a gamble. With Small, he quickly found that better offer. If NJ had been that bothered he / we might have reacted. But we didn’t so like AFKA, I don’t begrudge Small at all. With Dobbo, NJ managed to reverse it for a short while but in the end he moved on. With TC I guess we decided it was worth paying the going rate to ensure we kept him.
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I like him a lot and he was good for us. My frustration is that leaving us was so clearly the wrong decision. The last thing he needed was yet another club, and yet that's what he chose.
By the looks of things, he might very well be back in League One next season.1 -
Don't think he will. I think someone will take a punt on him, like Blackburn have with Fevrier this seasonChunes said:I like him a lot and he was good for us. My frustration is that leaving us was so clearly the wrong decision. The last thing he needed was yet another club, and yet that's what he chose.
By the looks of things, he might very well be back in League One next season.2 -
Yep, lacks the muscle at full back and the end product on the wing. He was very handy as a wing back for us but our full backs in this tactic have to be violent psychopaths rather than a pacy outlet and the wingers need to be a bit cannier in their attacking play than what Small can offerCAFCsayer said:
Doesn't get anywhere near our team in this formationcantersaddick said:Booing was stupid and embarrassing.
Can see why he took the Preston offer bit it still hurt a bit.
Our issues last season were lack of depth in both wing back positions and lack of players with pace and 1v1 ability on the ball leading to an iverreliance on TC as our only outlet. Small solves both those issues.
Preston being a bit of a nothing team doesnt help. He hasn't exactly nailed down a starting slot for them and would have played as much if not more for us if he had stayed.0 -
His main attribute was creating space for TC. I think Alli and Grant are probably more useful at that nowGarrymanilow said:
Yep, lacks the muscle at full back and the end product on the wing. He was very handy as a wing back for us but our full backs in this tactic have to be violent psychopaths rather than a pacy outlet and the wingers need to be a bit cannier in their attacking play than what Small can offerCAFCsayer said:
Doesn't get anywhere near our team in this formationcantersaddick said:Booing was stupid and embarrassing.
Can see why he took the Preston offer bit it still hurt a bit.
Our issues last season were lack of depth in both wing back positions and lack of players with pace and 1v1 ability on the ball leading to an iverreliance on TC as our only outlet. Small solves both those issues.
Preston being a bit of a nothing team doesnt help. He hasn't exactly nailed down a starting slot for them and would have played as much if not more for us if he had stayed.0 -
(Quite a few of ) Our fans are cnuts , the filter isn’t workingAFKABartram said:There, I said it.
I don’t believe he was ‘a greedy bastard’. I sense it was far more that Jones didn’t want / see him being in his starting XI in the Champ, and our wage offer reflected that. So he ended up uprooting to the other end of the country where he was wanted more.
He always gave 100%, was exciting to watch, played a big part in getting us promoted and always engaged with the fans and showed appreciation.
Two home games and two ex players given sh*t who I’d quite happily give a round of applause to.
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Angers me when our fans do that. I hoped Small would leave the ground knowing we appreciated his good performances for the club. What kind of childishness makes adults boo, berate and criticise a player just because they’re now playing for another club? Really embarrassing.
The above almost always holds true (but I’d make an exception for Lyle Taylor…..)2 -
Thank you- this is my particulat bug bear too. The people booing are adults. Small was out of contract, was given a better offer and took it. How many of those booing would take a pay rise to change jobs? He ain't gonna play forever. The boo boys just make themselves look like small minded idiots.Making_all_the_noise said:Angers me when our fans do that. I hoped Small would leave the ground knowing we appreciated his good performances for the club. What kind of childishness makes adults boo, berate and criticise a player just because they’re now playing for another club? Really embarrassing.
The above almost always holds true (but I’d make an exception for Lyle Taylor…..)2


















