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2020/21 Thierry Small

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Yep, and his value will leap tenfold the day we sell him and he signs a professional contract.

And I thought the business of American professional sports was weird.
What’s weird about it?

He currently has a nominal value as he’s on a youth contract. When he signs a proper deal for a team, he’ll have a real world value.
 
If he goes somewhere he will get first team football or feels he has a better pathway to it than here, I would respect him for it.
If he’s just another snot nosed glory hunter then good riddance.
 

What has it got to do with unsworth If small thinks he should be playing with the first team?
Every kids team coach has to be skilled in the art of manipulation. Unsie needs to have the kids love him while he smashes thier ego into rubble and have them believe they are worthless scum and should never ask for first team football.

Can't handle malleable minds youngsters have then he is unfit for the job.
 
What’s weird about it?

He currently has a nominal value as he’s on a youth contract. When he signs a proper deal for a team, he’ll have a real world value.

Find me another commodity where this happens.

I get the price caps for draft picks in American sports, which happen elsewhere in the regulatory world. I don't get the same commodity facing the same background and market conditions having that overnight change in value.

I assume that it must have something to do with the restrictions on transfer associated with youth players, but I don't know that.
 

I’m not sure we can really claim him, we bought him at the age of 19 and he was with our U23s for about 3 months.
Oh yeah, but Unsworth scouted him from his time at Sheff Utd, signed him, got him set up in the U23s, and DCL and his dad both credit Unsworth and Ferguson massively.

I think its easy to dismiss Unsworth, but in the time he's been here, we've had the back end of the Martinez regime which was collapsing. The Arrogance of Koeman, the Apathy of Allardyce, the general lack of faith in youth from Silva, the contradiction of Ancelotti, who spoke so highly of many, but regularly chose to overlook the people he was praising... I was behind him 100% when he was here, but looking back now with a critical eye, and some of his decision making, especially in relation to our younger players, was baffling, even if it was just down to refusing to name them in match day squads for experience and actually naming fewer subs than was allowed.

All in all, none of that has been conducive of an environment to bring through or develop players, so I certainly wouldn't be putting the failure solely down to Unsworth. Under another manager, or at least a more settled first team environment, we may have seen 5 or 6 of Unsworths U23s being regular first team squad members already.

There is also the fact that certain players just haven't kicked on when given opportunities, which is a common theme amongst young footballers, not just those that have been brought through by Unsworth and Everton. Every team has a ton of them, players that looked to be the next big thing for a year then faded away badly for 1 reason or another. It's a tale as old as time.

But I would certainly be giving Unsworth at least some credit where its due in that DCL, Davies, Kenny, Holgate, and even Keiron Dowell will all be playing Premier League Football next year, along with Antonee Robinson who played all of last year and has been linked with City and Milan. 6 players in 6 years is not a terrible return by any means, and that's not counting others who have thrived in lower leagues, or indeed any of the others on the fringes of our squad who might still make an appearance.
 
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Especially as he was already playing regular first team football when we signed him.
Perhaps, but playing first team football at Conference, League 2 and League 1 level to becoming a full England international in 5 years is a huge turnaround. If we could pull that trick again, I wouldn't be too disappointed.
 

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