Done deal Thierry Small signs

[1978sussex]

[1978sussex]

[aaronaldo]

Nice a second left back at the club. It’s been a while!

Is this the 9th signing?

[chertseyaddick]

Kudos to Scott for finally sorting out the gaping hole in our squad. But we have two nippy FB/WBs who will be dragged back to the 18 yard line by a pack of slow CBs (Elewere has gone)

[yorkshireaddick]

Is the Southampton link just a coincidence? Or has Jones had a say in this do we think?

[valley]

Good .

[Tom1982]

Been very disappointed with Edun. Really thought we had a player there, so happy with this. Hopefully he can make that left back slot his own.

[norfolkrobin]

Feb 2, 2024 18:41:12 GMT Tom1982 said:

Been very disappointed with Edun. Really thought we had a player there, so happy with this. Hopefully he can make that left back slot his own.

Hopefully giving Edun plenty to think about.
Welcome and good luck.

[weststandfruitloop]

It really brings home how much pressure there can be on 'identified talent' players at a super young age.

Days after his 17th birthday (when players can first sign a professional deal) Thierry Small spurned Everton's academy (that he was with) and signed for Southampton.

Being under 23 compo was needed and being a Category 1 academy a decent wedge.

Southampton reportedly offered £1.5m but Everton turned this down so it went to arbitration.

ITK Saints fans reckon they ended up paying £3m for him.

He's still only 19 and now arrives on a (presumably free) perm at a club battling relegation to L2.

Just one more reason why the likes of Miles Leaburn should take a deep breath before transfer moving up the divisions too early. That elevator goes both up and down...

[wiggyatthebackpost]

Wonder if Edun will be pushed onto the wing infront of Small

[zhengsociety]

Thierry Small is - weirdly - a player whose career I’ve kept an eye on as have a lot of Saints supporting mates. He was the youngest player to play for Everton and there was so much hype around him when he moved to Saints (Barca, Utd and Arsenal were all linked from what I remember)

Since then it hasn’t really happened for him. I cannot believe he’s only 19, I feel like he’s been around for ages. He is incredibly raw, but is a real athlete and can be threatening when carrying the ball. However he switches off A LOT, so will need a lot of work. However if we’re playing a back 5 with Dobson and Coventry sitting deep, that should give him a bit more licence to bomb forward.

He was at Southampton at the same time as Jones so that must be the link. Surprised by this one - not sure how it’ll work out but I’m very interested!

[watameires]

Feb 2, 2024 19:40:26 GMT zhengsociety said:

Thierry Small is - weirdly - a player whose career I’ve kept an eye on as have a lot of Saints supporting mates. He was the youngest player to play for Everton and there was so much hype around him when he moved to Saints (Barca, Utd and Arsenal were all linked from what I remember)

Since then it hasn’t really happened for him. I cannot believe he’s only 19, I feel like he’s been around for ages. He is incredibly raw, but is a real athlete and can be threatening when carrying the ball. However he switches off A LOT, so will need a lot of work. However if we’re playing a back 5 with Dobson and Coventry sitting deep, that should give him a bit more licence to bomb forward.

He was at Southampton at the same time as Jones so that must be the link. Surprised by this one - not sure how it’ll work out but I’m very interested!

Worth a punt by the sounds of it

[hongkongaddick]

Feb 2, 2024 19:40:26 GMT zhengsociety said:

Thierry Small is - weirdly - a player whose career I’ve kept an eye on as have a lot of Saints supporting mates. He was the youngest player to play for Everton and there was so much hype around him when he moved to Saints (Barca, Utd and Arsenal were all linked from what I remember)

Since then it hasn’t really happened for him. I cannot believe he’s only 19, I feel like he’s been around for ages. He is incredibly raw, but is a real athlete and can be threatening when carrying the ball. However he switches off A LOT, so will need a lot of work. However if we’re playing a back 5 with Dobson and Coventry sitting deep, that should give him a bit more licence to bomb forward.

He was at Southampton at the same time as Jones so that must be the link. Surprised by this one - not sure how it’ll work out but I’m very interested!

Great to get ITK info like this on a player I’d never heard of (unlike everyone else in HK, I don’t bother with the PL).

[weststandfruitloop]

Been looking into Thierry Small more and it’s a fascinating tale.

Regarded as the best left-sided player of his age in the country a couple of years ago, he effectively went on strike at Everton (refused to turn up to pre-season training for several weeks) before reaching his 17th birthday, even though he could sign professional terms for whomever he liked on that birthday.

Linked with Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd, Bayern, Juventus and others he signed for Southampton (in the hope of getting more first team appearances) for either £3m, £4.3m or £5m compensation depending on who you believe - certainly more than the £1.5m they offered which Everton turned down in favour of arbitration.

According to Sky Sports reporters, Spurs offered Saints £800k for him in the Jan 2023 window but they wanted a lot more. Now, a year later, Saints have ripped up his contract and he’s joined us on a free. (I wonder if some of the compensation they were ordered to pay Everton was add-ons that releasing him to L1 negates?)

It’s a strange tale. Still only 19, Thierry has plenty of time to fulfil the original expectations. We’ll have quite a player on our hands if he does. Here’s hoping and welcome to Charlton Thierry.

This article (complete with Nathan Jones mention in the middle) provides an great overview of the challenges he faces in making the step up:

www.google.com/amp/s/theathletic.com/3997280/2023/07/07/thierry-small-southampton-transfer/%3famp=1

[weststandfruitloop]

If that link doesn't work (PS this article is from just before the current season started; he later returned to St Mirren on a season loan; they fielded him a mere handful of times and as a right winger; Saints recalled him at the start of Jan; presumably getting no bids before releasing him to join us):

When there were whispers Thierry Small could exit his academy scholarship 12 months early, Europe’s biggest clubs cupped their ears.

Small had become Everton’s youngest-ever player after making his debut in the FA Cup fourth-round tie against Sheffield Wednesday in January 2021, at the age of 16 years and 176 days.

Even then, Small had aspirations stretching far beyond merely being offered professional terms.

He was a young man on a mission, ahead of peers his age and in a hurry to reach the top in the shortest possible time.

Everton did not want to lose the left-back and held protracted talks with his representatives over several months. More acutely, the club felt susceptible as they could not formally offer him a professional contract until August 1 of that year — his 17th birthday.

Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Arsenal were among a considerable number of clubs asking to be kept informed on negotiations. Everton knew Small’s situation was rapidly becoming a matter of urgency. They tasked senior members of the hierarchy, including director of football Marcel Brands and head of recruitment and development Gretar Steinsson, with resolving the situation.

And yet, for however much they promised and whatever lengths they went to in their bid to keep him, from Small’s point of view, all the evidence he needed to help with his decision was laid out by his lack of time on the pitch. The game against Sheffield Wednesday was his only appearance, even when first-choice left-back Lucas Digne was out injured.

Southampton, fresh off their capture of Chelsea’s Tino Livramento, and fending off strong interest from Brighton & Hove Albion in the process, were prepared to offer a similar pathway to Small. The defender even refused to return for pre-season at Everton ahead of the 2021-22 campaign to push through the move.

Compensation would be left to sort with Southampton — through a tribunal — as Small opted to sign a three-year deal on the south coast just weeks after his 17th birthday.

“I thought this is the best place for me to develop as a player and reach new levels in my game,” Small remarked at the time.

Two years later and he is yet to get anywhere close to those levels. In what should have been his second season at Southampton, the left-back was stapled to the Port Vale bench, reduced to substitute appearances and cameos up front. How could a player who had created such a heightened level of excitement fall so quickly at first-team level?

Small has become a paradox. Scouts and recruitment specialists will point to his strength and athleticism but also admit he has obvious flaws in his technical and tactical understanding.

He will turn 19 next month and is Southampton’s forgotten teenager, left standing — or sitting — while others his age have attained regular game time within the first-team setup.

Ironically, his only appearance for Southampton also came in the fourth round of the FA Cup — against Coventry City in February 2022. He was taken off at half-time in that match and has been in a state of relative obscurity since then.

The main issue is that he was too good for his progress to be stifled by playing in Southampton’s B team yet was too slow to grasp the club’s former first-team manager Ralph Hasenhuttl’s fundamentals — such as ‘ball-orientated’ pressing triggers and when to hold his position in attack — to become a mainstay in the senior side.

Sources close to Small — who, like others cited in this piece, spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships — accept that his rise was too sharp, particularly for a player so young and yet to fully mature physically and psychologically. Coming out of school, he was known to set unrealistically high standards, both a blessing and a curse that meant he became easily disappointed if he encountered a fork in the road.

The talent is there, undeniably, but the execution has been found wanting. This was especially evident in pre-season last summer when Small went on Southampton’s camp to Austria. He came on for the final half an hour of the opening fixture against RB Leipzig, before playing the first half against Klagenfurt.

Operating at left-wing back, Small’s decision-making and positional understanding were both erratic. He was caught offside several times, unusual in a position that has the vantage point of being able to see across the opposition’s defensive line.

Those close to Small were aware, before the Austria camp, that the two games would determine his season. His failure to impress meant a loan elsewhere became inevitable.

“Sometimes you see fantastic things from him and then other times you see horrible things,” said Hasenhuttl at the time. “But I think he’s a young lad who has to learn and he needs minutes.”

Eight days after the match with Klagenfurt, Small joined Port Vale on a season-long loan. What happened at the League One side was largely forgettable. Niggling injuries and a perpetual feeling the side — with manager Darrell Clarke a pragmatist and not in unison with Southampton’s style of play — did not suit his development meant performing well was always going to be an uphill task.

There was unhappiness from Small’s side that he was being used up front after coming on as a substitute. The reasoning given for the positional change was that his physicality and powerful left foot would be favourable in higher, more threatening positions.

Confusion then grew as to why Port Vale had even wanted Small in the first place. They had a left wing-back in Malvind Benning who had made over 300 appearances in the EFL.

“Thierry was a great lad,” said Clarke. “Model pro but, for various reasons, he hasn’t played the minutes we’d have liked him to.”

Four appearances in the first half of the season elicited a recall to Southampton on the eve of the World Cup break. It was described by a source close to Small as a month’s period where there were “no more excuses” and was “time to deliver”.

The plan was to regain fitness and form by playing in Southampton’s B team before mapping out his next steps, which likely included another, more productive loan. The arrival of Nathan Jones offered fleeting optimism that a wiping of the slate could be on the horizon.

“There is motivation to show he’s not been forgotten,” said the same source at the time.

Small’s talent has been complex to navigate at first-team level. His best form has always been following a period of stability. Facing turbulence and the harshness of football has not always been easy for a teenager still developing as a player.

The 18-year-old then joined St Mirren on January’s deadline day with the acceptance that going back into the B team would do very little for his development. Members of Small’s camp say they discussed personal terms with Tottenham Hotspur concerning a permanent move, but could not come to an agreement.

A switch to Scotland brought increased game-time, and he remained at left wing-back with the safety blanket of an additional centre-back behind him. Small started five times in 11 Scottish Premiership appearances, receiving good reviews for his surface-level talents — pace, power and ball carrying — but criticism for his lack of defensive discipline.

His final game for St Mirren, away to Aberdeen at Pittodrie, was a microcosm of his season. After creating his team’s best chance in the opening half hour, Small was sent off after studding the left ankle of Bojan Miovski. It was his second red card in four games after getting two yellow cards against Kilmarnock in April.

It appears increasingly likely now that Small sees his future as being away from Southampton and the Solihull-born defender has a big decision to make this summer unless circumstances dramatically change.

The hope is that the lessons learned early on in his career will allow him to flourish soon — albeit not at the speed many anticipated.

[Mundell]

Thanks for sharing that weststandfruitloop Very interesting. These sorts of speculative signings make sense. Let’s hope he comes good. 

[DFT]

Could be a great signing, it all depends on Small himself.

Even at his young age this is probably his last chance to play and have a career at a decent level.

We shall see!

[1978sussex]