26 Aug 2021 16:43:47
Small, and now Markelo gone.
How come we are unable to find regular loans to lower division sides for Academy "stars"
No wonder they want to move on when there seems to be no progression at EFC.

If we were a top 5 side, we could afford to blood a few youngster in the cup cimpetions.


1.) 26 Aug 2021
26 Aug 2021 17:06:04
Why would you give a young player like Markelo a sniff though when your DoF is able to identify players like Delph to pay 80k a week to instead 🤷‍♂️.


2.) 26 Aug 2021
26 Aug 2021 17:11:42
Markelo was never going to be good enough. Small wanted first team footy and Southampton can offer that. It much we could’ve done tbh disappointing but it is what it it’s.


3.) 26 Aug 2021
26 Aug 2021 17:20:09
Southampton won't offer small anything. He is second choice there if not third they just signed a new lb. He will play out his Southampton contract and go to Watford or Norwich and never be heard of again.


4.) 26 Aug 2021
26 Aug 2021 18:26:17
Hes following the ademola lookman career path. Sometimes these kids want to run before they can walk.


5.) 26 Aug 2021
26 Aug 2021 19:04:43
Disagree completely Ant. We will see I guess.


6.) 26 Aug 2021
26 Aug 2021 19:59:03
I think Small could be destined for big things but clearly has had bad advice and a big ego
But then also doesn’t rate himself or have self belief if he feels he cannot push Digne or Nkounkou!
Will see what game time he gets and if he can push the left back they signed recently, maybe see him run down this contract and move for free again 🤷🏻‍♂️.


7.) 26 Aug 2021
26 Aug 2021 20:39:18
The point I was trying to make (before fat fingers sent it too early) is that we do not offer or Academy players a proper chance to develop.
We don't find enough good loan deals where they will get good game time.

We cannot play them in our average premiership side, as we will just ruin good prospects as we have done many times before.

Very few kids are the real deal at 16 (Rooney) , but I think Small has an excellent chance if he gets game time and doesn't buy into all the hype.


8.) 26 Aug 2021
26 Aug 2021 20:59:11
Sorry Lhr. Not sure where you expect to find these good loan deals you talk about.

We’ve had numerous players have numerous loan deals and some players have done well and others haven’t.

I don’t think we can expect any team to play our loan players all the time particularly if they’re not that good.

A loan deal is only as good as the player being loaned - if they want to succeed then they’ll do the hard graft and hopefully perform well if not then they aren’t going to succeed.

The players being loaned have a massive impact on how their loan deal goes it’s not necessarily about just finding the right club if the players attitude isn’t right.


9.) 26 Aug 2021
26 Aug 2021 21:18:45
The problem with Smaill is he has Digne and Nkoukou as our left backs, unless Nkoukou is going to played as a left wing midfielder, where I think he would be better suited, then there is no way Small is going to compete with those two, at left back, so much as we might be losing a player of the future, we are already blessed with two decent left backs.


10.) 26 Aug 2021
26 Aug 2021 22:34:58
How do you loan a player that is 16?
He chose to leave before he signed a professional contract. Bad loans have nothing to do with it. He was brought in young just like Lookman, DCL, Nkounkou, Dowell, Garbutt Banningime and Gordon all who have had a shot at 1st team football and either taken their chance or not.
Small would have had a chance too like the others.