Thierry Small opens up on the highs and lows of season one at Preston North End
The winger joined PNE from Charlton Athletic last summer
Preston North End wide man Thierry Small believes he has improved after a first season of ups and downs at the club.
There was plenty of buzz when the Lilywhites won the race for the ex-Everton and Southampton youngster, last summer. After winning promotion from League One with Charlton Athletic, a handful of Championship clubs were credited with interest in Small but it was PNE who secured his services. He put pen-to-paper on a four-year contract at Deepdale.
In his first season in the second tier, Small made 41 appearances - 27 of those starts - and scored three goals, while assisting two. The 21-year-old is is an extremely positive person but had his challenges over the course of the campaign, no more so than being dropped from the squad for consecutive games in February. Team-mate Andrew Hughes said at the time it wouldn’t define Small whatsoever; his own outlook was exactly the same.
“Yeah, it’s life,” Small told the Lancashire Post. “It’s a true saying that in football you can never be too high, you can never be too down. You always have to try and stay neutral because it is football and anything can happen. When things are going well, I enjoy it. You've got to still enjoy the moments, but you can't get too carried away because in football, it can just change like that. It's just how you deal with the setbacks.”
He added: “I've got a good family around me. We're all human. With life, you're going to get a lot of good things happen to you. You're going to get a lot of things that are in your control and out of your control, that are bad sometimes. And, you know, it's just how you react to it. I've got a good support behind me, so I'm grateful for that. They just keep me grounded and whenever you need help, they're there.”
Small’s impact for his previous club, the Addicks, came down the right flank. That is where he caught the eye when playing against Preston in last season’s FA Cup, and also where he started his North End career. However, as the campaign wore on he mostly found himself playing on the left. Small stresses he will play wherever required but, from an offensive point of view, does enjoy the feel of driving down the right with the option to cut inside.
“I'd say off the right, attacking comes a little bit (more) natural,” said Small. “I feel like my output is good off the right, to be fair, in terms of chance creation and stuff like that. Off the left, obviously, I can still do it but I changed the way - without me probably even knowing - I would attack down the left, and how I would on the right. But I feel like I'm productive off the right, yeah... everyone's got to be on the same page, so it's just something I'm working on.”
Small had some joyous moments in the first half of the season - no more so than two goals in a week, one against Hull City and the next versus former club Charlton. His third strike of the campaign was an audacious, left-footed thunderbolt at home to Swansea City, which won Goal of the Year. Now the dust has settled on year one with the Lilywhites, Small knows he will look back on those personal highs.
Towards the back end of the season, though, a moment of incredible unfortune struck for Small when he sliced an own goal in against Queens Park Rangers. Paul Heckingbottom’s side ended up drawing the game one apiece. In the aftermath Small was subjected to vile, racist messages on Instagram, from an overseas user. As far as the club and his team mates go, he couldn’t have asked for any more. Small just hopes social media companies, one day, can do a stronger job in tackling the issue.
“Yeah, exactly,” said Small. “The club have been really good, helping me out with the situation. The police are dealing with it and there's not much you can do really. You've just got to let things come to light when people are being a little bit nasty. But as I said, the club have done a great job - they've been supporting me and backing me.”