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2020/21 Thierry Small

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Connor said:
Someone has told him something about leaving because that contract offer has been on the table for months

Plus, for all the talk of 'we're overbooked at LB for the future' we've got about a season left of Digne before he's gone, Nkounkou maybe going out on loan could hinder his development too, you never know how that's gonna go
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Where is Digne going at the age of 29 with 4 years left on his contract?
 
TheBigIguana said:
I don't know Bayern bring through young players fairly regularly meanwhile when we had our left back get hurt we used a CB who can't pass a ball with his left foot instead of giving our young LB the opportunity
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I mean just for balance, Ben Godfrey was 22, and played very well at left back and shut down some of the best wingers in the league. From memory I seem to remember you wanting Nkounkou to play, not Small?

I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that a lad who'd just turned 16 should be playing over a guy who was excelling and keeping clean sheets regularly in the position.

To me there is a discussion about whether he was training enough with the 1st team, and in truth why more young players weren't on the bench when there were spots free. That's the point in all of this to me.
 
catcherintherye said:
I mean just for balance, Ben Godfrey was 22, and played very well at left back and shut down some of the best wingers in the league. From memory I seem to remember you wanting Nkounkou to play, not Small?

I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that a lad who'd just turned 16 should be playing over a guy who was excelling and keeping clean sheets regularly in the position.

To me there is a discussion about whether he was training enough with the 1st team, and in truth why more young players weren't on the bench when there were spots free. That's the point in all of this to me.
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Yes I'm talking about Nkounkou here but you can also look at Kean. We are a club that has not made itself a place where young players feel they'll be given the time on the pitch needed to develop and this is what happens when you do that. It's a predictable step when you've got no long term plan.
 

TheBigIguana said:
Yes I'm talking about Nkounkou here but you can also look at Kean. We are a club that has not made itself a place where young players feel they'll be given the time on the pitch needed to develop and this is what happens when you do that. It's a predictable step when you've got no long term plan.
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Yes I do agree with that (and have said as much) though there are always caveats. Godfrey is also a young player, and I'm not sure he is really the most worthwhile example I would think of in terms of holding a player back.

There's no doubt though, that we have been too short termist, and will probably continue to be with the current manager. In a big picture kind of way, I don't think we have really worked out what sort of football club we have to try to be.

I made a point a while back, that we could have easily promoted Ledson, Williams, Dowell and Kenny and got a similarish return to say Rooney, Klaassen, Sigurdsson (to a degree), Schneiderlin and Martina. We could have saved a tonne in wages, potentially more on fees, and had a much stronger identity.

There are going to be similar challenges with Nkounkou, Gordon & Brainthwaite I fear. And yes you can probably throw Kean in there too. I'd be delighted if Benitez just sort of said, if the appopriate bid doesn't come in, you're starting every week from now in, even if it means initially from the right hand side.
 
catcherintherye said:
Yes I do agree with that (and have said as much) though there are always caveats. Godfrey is also a young player, and I'm not sure he is really the most worthwhile example I would think of in terms of holding a player back.

There's no doubt though, that we have been too short termist, and will probably continue to be with the current manager. In a big picture kind of way, I don't think we have really worked out what sort of football club we have to try to be.

I made a point a while back, that we could have easily promoted Ledson, Williams, Dowell and Kenny and got a similarish return to say Rooney, Klaassen, Sigurdsson (to a degree), Schneiderlin and Martina. We could have saved a tonne in wages, potentially more on fees, and had a much stronger identity.

There are going to be similar challenges with Nkounkou, Gordon & Brainthwaite I fear. And yes you can probably throw Kean in there too. I'd be delighted if Benitez just sort of said, if the appopriate bid doesn't come in, you're starting every week from now in, even if it means initially from the right hand side.
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Play Godfrey in the center and Nkounkou on the left and all is fine. But all Godfrey showed to me is that he's not a fullback and we missed an opportunity to get a young player on the field in the meantime. Digne is going to play most every game when fit and we don't have Europe so they are opportunities we should really try to take.

I don't expect Rafael has been brought in to revamp our youth development either. So that's just another on the long list of reasons he was a bad choice.
 

It is what it is. If I’m a younger player and I’m seeing some of the crap keeping me (or likely to keep me out) out of the 1st team, I’d bounce too. There has to be a pathway to first team footy for the youngsters and we kind of screwed the pooch there.

In our defense, Digne is ahead of him. He is not getting into the team anyways. I can live with this one.
 
ManUtd have Shaw and Telles while Arsenal have Tierney and Tavares who just signed. If he goes to either, then it's not for immediate playing time.
 
There seems to be an awful lot of badmouthing of a 16 year old going on in here on the strength of some article in The Athletic, which may, or may not be accurate. The truth is he isn't even old enough yet to sign a pro contract. He isn't even a local lad but somebody we signed as a 12 year old from West Brom.

By all accounts he is a terrific prospect but there is absolutely no reason why the kid should have any long term loyalty towards our club. He should be allowed to choose the career path that most suits him without being subjected to the sort of personal abuse he's been getting from some in here. He's seen players like Sancho and Bellingham go abroad to play at the same age, and if he's anywhere near as good as them then following their footsteps may well be the best route for him to take.

Let's see how this plays out before spitting our dummies out. One thing is for sure, if he bothered to come in here and see what's being said about him, he'd be off in a shot and who could blame the kid.
 

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