There was a theory floated previously that Jones knew we were desperate for a wingback, got his black book out and got the agent to convince Southampton to terminate the contract. That's why within hours of his release he had signed with us following unsuccessful loans in Scotland and with Port Vale and seemingly stagnating in Southampton's U23s.
Small and his agent wouldn't have allowed his Soton contract to be terminated without the Charlton deal being in place.
Saints got an unwanted flop off their books, Charlton found a diamond in the rough on the cheap.
If Spurs had offered any sort of deal we'd have never had a sniff.
Guessing we probably took over the terms of his Southampton contract.
There was a theory floated previously that Jones knew we were desperate for a wingback, got his black book out and got the agent to convince Southampton to terminate the contract. That's why within hours of his release he had signed with us following unsuccessful loans in Scotland and with Port Vale and seemingly stagnating in Southampton's U23s.
Small and his agent wouldn't have allowed his Soton contract to be terminated without the Charlton deal being in place.
Saints got an unwanted flop off their books, Charlton found a diamond in the rough on the cheap.
If Spurs had offered any sort of deal we'd have never had a sniff.
Guessing we probably took over the terms of his Southampton contract.
Very much doubt that. More likely Saints paid him off allowing him to move elsewhere for less money but not be worse off financially because of said pay off.
No way we get a 7 figure sum for him, if he does go it will be 300k-400k is what I've been told, that said from a personal POV i wouldnt be too upset. He looked decent but by no means perfect. I guess its just who would replace him.
I genuinely believe people forget he is only 19 and doesn’t turn 20 until August. Leaburn for example turns 21 in late November.
Small, at his age, has had a lot of attention and a lot happen in his young career already, despite not playing loads of games.
He needs to sign a long term contract, play a full season with us and hopefully we get promoted and he can stay and play a full season in the Championship. If we don’t get promoted, he’s under contract and we get a fee for him for committing to him and developing him when he had little other options. He is also well liked too and so I stand by that I believe he will sign a new contract.
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
We gave a chance to a player who wasn’t getting game time at St Mirren and he played a part in us moving from a relegation battle to finishing safely in mid table. It would have been a huge gamble to have offered him a long term contract back when we signed him.
Seeing the situation in such a black and white way that you see it as a failure is incredibly negative. It’s the reality of signing young players like him, you can’t usually justify a long term contract until they’ve proven themselves, but a teenager impressing at this level will always attract interest from higher up.
I’ve said before young Prem players is a market we should look at more and what’s happened here shouldn’t put us off that. The club have said they’ll continue negotiating when he’s back from his break, this isn’t over yet.
From Small’s view I’d want to see evidence of our ambition with some impressive early signings, as well as a good contract offer, and that’s hopefully something we’ll see over the next month.
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
We gave a chance to a player who wasn’t getting game time at St Mirren and he played a part in us moving from a relegation battle to finishing safely in mid table. It would have been a huge gamble to have offered him a long term contract back when we signed him.
Seeing the situation in such a black and white way that you see it as a failure is incredibly negative. It’s the reality of signing young players like him, you can’t usually justify a long term contract until they’ve proven themselves, but a teenager impressing at this level will always attract interest from higher up.
I’ve said before young Prem players is a market we should look at more and what’s happened here shouldn’t put us off that. The club have said they’ll continue negotiating when he’s back from his break, this isn’t over yet.
From Small’s view I’d want to see evidence of our ambition with some impressive early signings, as well as a good contract offer, and that’s hopefully something we’ll see over the next month.
Agree with all of that except for the inference that I’m saying we should have given him a longer term deal from the outset. That’s not what I’m saying at all. The term of the contract was correct, given the risks you’ve outlined, and having a 12 month extension is good. However if we can’t convince Thierry Small to sign a longer term agreement now then I worry at how compelling an option we’ll be for other players who have a bigger market than him this window.
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
We gave a chance to a player who wasn’t getting game time at St Mirren and he played a part in us moving from a relegation battle to finishing safely in mid table. It would have been a huge gamble to have offered him a long term contract back when we signed him.
Seeing the situation in such a black and white way that you see it as a failure is incredibly negative. It’s the reality of signing young players like him, you can’t usually justify a long term contract until they’ve proven themselves, but a teenager impressing at this level will always attract interest from higher up.
I’ve said before young Prem players is a market we should look at more and what’s happened here shouldn’t put us off that. The club have said they’ll continue negotiating when he’s back from his break, this isn’t over yet.
From Small’s view I’d want to see evidence of our ambition with some impressive early signings, as well as a good contract offer, and that’s hopefully something we’ll see over the next month.
Agree with all of that except for the inference that I’m saying we should have given him a longer term deal from the outset. That’s not what I’m saying at all. The term of the contract was correct, given the risks you’ve outlined, and having a 12 month extension is good. However if we can’t convince Thierry Small to sign a longer term agreement now then I worry at how compelling an option we’ll be for other players who have a bigger market than him this window.
I’m not sure this is fair. Any teenager playing regular league 1 football is going to attract championship interest. For players with Small’s obvious physical attributes that goes double. In 12 months time, available on a free, that interest would only be bigger… so why would he sign on with any league one team right now?
Frankly if we could sign him to a longer deal it would be a massive coup at this point. Not signing seems much more likely.
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
We gave a chance to a player who wasn’t getting game time at St Mirren and he played a part in us moving from a relegation battle to finishing safely in mid table. It would have been a huge gamble to have offered him a long term contract back when we signed him.
Seeing the situation in such a black and white way that you see it as a failure is incredibly negative. It’s the reality of signing young players like him, you can’t usually justify a long term contract until they’ve proven themselves, but a teenager impressing at this level will always attract interest from higher up.
I’ve said before young Prem players is a market we should look at more and what’s happened here shouldn’t put us off that. The club have said they’ll continue negotiating when he’s back from his break, this isn’t over yet.
From Small’s view I’d want to see evidence of our ambition with some impressive early signings, as well as a good contract offer, and that’s hopefully something we’ll see over the next month.
Agree with all of that except for the inference that I’m saying we should have given him a longer term deal from the outset. That’s not what I’m saying at all. The term of the contract was correct, given the risks you’ve outlined, and having a 12 month extension is good. However if we can’t convince Thierry Small to sign a longer term agreement now then I worry at how compelling an option we’ll be for other players who have a bigger market than him this window.
I think it’s still a bit early to read much into it. He’s played for England at youth level and shown he’s happy to move clubs at a young age, this was never likely to be something agreed quickly.
There’s no rush for him, he has a contract and if this interest is genuine there might be a much bigger offer from elsewhere during the summer. Like I said he may also want to see some good signings made to have confidence we’ll be challenging for promotion. Not saying I’m confident it’ll happen, though I don’t think Jones would have come here without a good budget.
A very bright prospect, but not irreplaceable. If we get a half decent offer and can sign a player with decent pedigree to replace him, It won't be the end of the world.
I would however like to see us keep hold of some players that have promise.
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
Yet the club have said he’s on holiday and negotiations will continue upon his return, a 1.2m bid is ridiculous, I agree, stating this as any kind of failure by the club is massively jumping to conclusions though
I imagine he won’t sign either, but I guess there is one card in our favour here which might encourage him and that is the fact he would presumably be enforcing himself lower salary in the immediate term if he doesn’t sign a new deal -
ie presumably his current contract is I dunno, say 1500-2000 a week? And if we offer him a 3 year deal that would I imagine be probably double his current one? if he stays with us this season on his current one he’ll be paid less, could get injured, could have a poor season.
The club need to offer him enough cash and flexibility, release clause options or whatever to get him to sign longer, IMO
Good post PS. I think that's spot on. Let's hope we have him for a season without injury atvl.
A reminder of how and when he joined us and how far he’s come in 4 months to now be in a position where he’s reportedly got at least a couple of great options. If Nathan Jones has done that for him in just 4 months with a misfiring team then sticking around and being part of a team that Nathan has put together has probably got to be even more worthwhile
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
Not a failure at all. The extension was put in for exactly this scenario. Failure would have been not putting the option in, or declining to use it and thus he walks away for absolutely nothing which if nothing else (and quite apart from fees etc) leaves us needing to replace him in an already stacked window.
This way we still have the player, we can get a fee (however much it turns out to be) and there is the chance to renegotiate a new, longer deal later on.
Charlton have lots of failures in negotiations recently but this isn't one of them.
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
We gave a chance to a player who wasn’t getting game time at St Mirren and he played a part in us moving from a relegation battle to finishing safely in mid table. It would have been a huge gamble to have offered him a long term contract back when we signed him.
Seeing the situation in such a black and white way that you see it as a failure is incredibly negative. It’s the reality of signing young players like him, you can’t usually justify a long term contract until they’ve proven themselves, but a teenager impressing at this level will always attract interest from higher up.
I’ve said before young Prem players is a market we should look at more and what’s happened here shouldn’t put us off that. The club have said they’ll continue negotiating when he’s back from his break, this isn’t over yet.
From Small’s view I’d want to see evidence of our ambition with some impressive early signings, as well as a good contract offer, and that’s hopefully something we’ll see over the next month.
Agree with all of that except for the inference that I’m saying we should have given him a longer term deal from the outset. That’s not what I’m saying at all. The term of the contract was correct, given the risks you’ve outlined, and having a 12 month extension is good. However if we can’t convince Thierry Small to sign a longer term agreement now then I worry at how compelling an option we’ll be for other players who have a bigger market than him this window.
I’m not sure this is fair. Any teenager playing regular league 1 football is going to attract championship interest. For players with Small’s obvious physical attributes that goes double. In 12 months time, available on a free, that interest would only be bigger… so why would he sign on with any league one team right now?
Frankly if we could sign him to a longer deal it would be a massive coup at this point. Not signing seems much more likely.
Plenty of reasons.
1. Wants to settle somewhere, buckle down, get minutes and push on.
2. Wants the "safety" of a longer contract
3. Wants more money. Let's say we hold him to his year and that is at £1k per week. Then imagine we have offered him a 3 yrs contract at £3K a week. If I was him I would get a reasonable buy out clause added and sign for the higher wage.
The whole thing is more nuanced. He has played 14 games, looks very very raw and would likely struggle to get minutes in the Championship let alone PL at the minute. He has a high ceiling but needs a solid season of playing men's football.
At least whoever was negotiating his initial contract (Scott?) had the wisdom to put in a clause that favoured the club. It seems too many deals are structured to favour the player these days.
We might only be a small fish in football terms these days, but if a 19 year old floundering in the lower leagues has the upper hand, then things are way out of control.
Don't get me wrong, I believe in capitalism, in selling labour to the best (paying) employer, however there needs to be a line drawn in getting value for money, not just for the club, but the fans also. If young lads are commanding fees and salaries equivalent to seasoned pro's that have done the job, of proving their talents over many seasons, then there is definitely something wrong.
Whatever happens for Small, I think the club need to aim higher and/or better than him, in order to gain short, medium and long term success.
Maybe a blend of youth and experience is the key to promotion, but let's not get too focused on a cast-off from a club that is hardly sitting at the top table.
I wish Small every success, and if he has a good season and gets better financial offers in January, I hope like with Dobbo, we knock them back and focus on the prize at season end, not on a short-lived bank balance injection.
The jury is still out for these owners and their squad building this summer will tell us much of what we need to know.
Before Soton let him go would they have gauged his transfer potential and signed him to a deal so that if they decided not to keep him they'd come out on the plus side net positive, i.e. they'd more than cover his wages etc. with the transfer proceeds? Or does that reduce footie to too much of an asset based business? Anyway, they decided not to keep him and so I can't see us getting a sizeable fee when Soton didn't think it was possible/worth it. Maybe the already suggested £300-400k number? I really hope he signs a new contract and stays for longer than just the 1 year.
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
I’m certainly not rose tinted and I agree with the bulk of your post but for once I really don’t see how this is a failing of our recruitment. Small was a bit of a gamble judging by his CV and it genuinely could have gone either way. Talent is no guarantee of success and even after what we’ve seen in those very encouraging 14 games doesn’t really mean too much. Do I hope he signs the longer deal ? Definitely. I think he’s a great prospect if he can settle at one club. I think Charlton have played this 100% on the money and it’s not their fault that he’s exercising his options.
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
I’m certainly not rose tinted and I agree with the bulk of your post but for once I really don’t see how this is a failing of our recruitment. Small was a bit of a gamble judging by his CV and it genuinely could have gone either way. Talent is no guarantee of success and even after what we’ve seen in those very encouraging 14 games doesn’t really mean too much. Do I hope he signs the longer deal ? Definitely. I think he’s a great prospect if he can settle at one club. I think Charlton have played this 100% on the money and it’s not their fault that he’s exercising his options.
I agree, and we don't know how those conversations went towards the end of January. We may have got the option against his or his agents better judgement or else we might have pulled the plug completely. We may have offered longer but had to accept what we got. Who knows? There are a lot of sticks to beat the Club with and rightly so but this isn't one of them. I think he will sign a longer deal, two years maybe with a further year option, but it will come with a release fee built in that we might not ultimately like.
I think he will ultimately sign an extension hopefully of a couple of years, but the fly in the ointment and a proviso will be promotion within that contract or he is off on a free...
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
We got £1.6m for teenage Mason Burstow who had played seven games for us at this level.
Don’t think it’s that farfetched, especially when those kind of numbers were touted twelve ish months ago.
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
We got £1.6m for teenage Mason Burstow who had played seven games for us at this level.
Don’t think it’s that farfetched, especially when those kind of numbers were touted twelve ish months ago.
Maybe if we are promoted, and a Prem team came a calling...🤔
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
We got £1.6m for teenage Mason Burstow who had played seven games for us at this level.
Don’t think it’s that farfetched, especially when those kind of numbers were touted twelve ish months ago.
Mason Burstow was on a longer contract , was a striker and hadn't been turfed out of previous clubs.
oh and we sold him to Chelsea. The figure being bounded around for Small are 300-400k Max, anyone saying anything else is in looney toon land.
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
We got £1.6m for teenage Mason Burstow who had played seven games for us at this level.
Don’t think it’s that farfetched, especially when those kind of numbers were touted twelve ish months ago.
Mason Burstow was on a longer contract , was a striker and hadn't been turfed out of previous clubs.
oh and we sold him to Chelsea. The figure being bounded around for Small are 300-400k Max, anyone saying anything else is in looney toon land.
We will see..! I would personally be VERY disappointed with 400k. At that point I’d rather he played a year on his currently cheaper terms and went on a free next summer.
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
We got £1.6m for teenage Mason Burstow who had played seven games for us at this level.
Don’t think it’s that farfetched, especially when those kind of numbers were touted twelve ish months ago.
Mason Burstow was on a longer contract , was a striker and hadn't been turfed out of previous clubs.
oh and we sold him to Chelsea. The figure being bounded around for Small are 300-400k Max, anyone saying anything else is in looney toon land.
No-one has got a clue what the fu*k is happening, apart from you apparently...each to their own eh, even in "loony land" as you so eloquently put it!!...🤔
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
We got £1.6m for teenage Mason Burstow who had played seven games for us at this level.
Don’t think it’s that farfetched, especially when those kind of numbers were touted twelve ish months ago.
Mason Burstow was on a longer contract , was a striker and hadn't been turfed out of previous clubs.
oh and we sold him to Chelsea. The figure being bounded around for Small are 300-400k Max, anyone saying anything else is in looney toon land.
No-one has got a clue what the fu*k is happening...apart from you apparently...each to their own eh, even in "loony land" as you so elquently put it!!...🤔
Just what I've been told by someone ITK. Apart from the estimation of the transfer fee which I give you could be wrong as its just a estimate, everything else written above is a factual description of the difference in circumstances between Burstow and Small. You're welcome.
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
We got £1.6m for teenage Mason Burstow who had played seven games for us at this level.
Don’t think it’s that farfetched, especially when those kind of numbers were touted twelve ish months ago.
Mason Burstow was on a longer contract , was a striker and hadn't been turfed out of previous clubs.
oh and we sold him to Chelsea. The figure being bounded around for Small are 300-400k Max, anyone saying anything else is in looney toon land.
No-one has got a clue what the fu*k is happening...apart from you apparently...each to their own eh, even in "loony land" as you so elquently put it!!...🤔
Just what I've been told by someone ITK. Apart from the estimation of the transfer fee which I give you could be wrong as its just a estimate, everything else written above is a factual description of the difference in circumstances between Burstow and Small. You're welcome.
Something definitely isn’t 100% “right” with Smalls career. He’s stalled at every move despite having all the requisite skills including what is now highly sought after, athleticism and pace. Before I can imagine any club forking out more than £300 - £400k which for a prem or parachute payment club is a punt I think they would want to see him play consistently in a stable team for at least 30 plus games. He needs to prove himself above and beyond 14 games for Charlton. I have high hopes but his previous is a concern.
I love you guys, anyone thinking we’re getting £1.2M for a 19 year old that’s played 14 games for us in the 3rd division & has 12 months remaining on their contract possesses a level of optimism I aspire to.
He has clearly been offered a longer term deal, clearly not signed it, and thus we’ve been put in a position where we need to trigger a one year option or lose the player. Triggering the option is the right call, but anyone seeing this as any more than another failing of our recruitment strategy has clearly had the rose tinted spectacles welded on.
I know I'm not the first to highlight this, but this is one of the most baffling things I've seen on here for a while. I would make the case that Small was the second best signing of last season after May even if we sold him tomorrow and got 200k for him. He came in at 19 and despite having barely played all season to that point, made the LWB spot his and made it so Jones didn't have to worry about it after that. That alone is very impressive for a 19 year old, and I think there's still more to come from him.
If we're going to complain about recruitment when it goes wrong (and it often has), then we should give credit where credit is due.
Comments
Small, at his age, has had a lot of attention and a lot happen in his young career already, despite not playing loads of games.
He needs to sign a long term contract, play a full season with us and hopefully we get promoted and he can stay and play a full season in the Championship. If we don’t get promoted, he’s under contract and we get a fee for him for committing to him and developing him when he had little other options. He is also well liked too and so I stand by that I believe he will sign a new contract.
I’ve said before young Prem players is a market we should look at more and what’s happened here shouldn’t put us off that. The club have said they’ll continue negotiating when he’s back from his break, this isn’t over yet.
From Small’s view I’d want to see evidence of our ambition with some impressive early signings, as well as a good contract offer, and that’s hopefully something we’ll see over the next month.
There’s no rush for him, he has a contract and if this interest is genuine there might be a much bigger offer from elsewhere during the summer. Like I said he may also want to see some good signings made to have confidence we’ll be challenging for promotion. Not saying I’m confident it’ll happen, though I don’t think Jones would have come here without a good budget.
I would however like to see us keep hold of some players that have promise.
This way we still have the player, we can get a fee (however much it turns out to be) and there is the chance to renegotiate a new, longer deal later on.
Charlton have lots of failures in negotiations recently but this isn't one of them.
Plenty of reasons.
1. Wants to settle somewhere, buckle down, get minutes and push on.
2. Wants the "safety" of a longer contract
3. Wants more money. Let's say we hold him to his year and that is at £1k per week. Then imagine we have offered him a 3 yrs contract at £3K a week. If I was him I would get a reasonable buy out clause added and sign for the higher wage.
The whole thing is more nuanced. He has played 14 games, looks very very raw and would likely struggle to get minutes in the Championship let alone PL at the minute. He has a high ceiling but needs a solid season of playing men's football.
I reckon he stays and signs.
We might only be a small fish in football terms these days, but if a 19 year old floundering in the lower leagues has the upper hand, then things are way out of control.
Don't get me wrong, I believe in capitalism, in selling labour to the best (paying) employer, however there needs to be a line drawn in getting value for money, not just for the club, but the fans also. If young lads are commanding fees and salaries equivalent to seasoned pro's that have done the job, of proving their talents over many seasons, then there is definitely something wrong.
Whatever happens for Small, I think the club need to aim higher and/or better than him, in order to gain short, medium and long term success.
Maybe a blend of youth and experience is the key to promotion, but let's not get too focused on a cast-off from a club that is hardly sitting at the top table.
I wish Small every success, and if he has a good season and gets better financial offers in January, I hope like with Dobbo, we knock them back and focus on the prize at season end, not on a short-lived bank balance injection.
The jury is still out for these owners and their squad building this summer will tell us much of what we need to know.
Anyway, they decided not to keep him and so I can't see us getting a sizeable fee when Soton didn't think it was possible/worth it. Maybe the already suggested £300-400k number?
I really hope he signs a new contract and stays for longer than just the 1 year.
oh and we sold him to Chelsea. The figure being bounded around for Small are 300-400k Max, anyone saying anything else is in looney toon land.
No-one has got a clue what the fu*k is happening, apart from you apparently...each to their own eh, even in "loony land" as you so eloquently put it!!...🤔
I just love that term "someone ITK"...😂
He signed in May 2024.
Deals don't happen overnight.
There is still plenty of time for Small to sign a longer deal before the season starts.