slystallone Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 A good indication of a young player's potential is how quickly they learn, and Deane's first season wasn't the steadiest of upward curves. However, in my opinion this season he has improved immensely, and is starting to pass full backs more cleanly (If not as often as we'd like), and he's putting himself in a position to receive the ball a lot more rather than hiding in the pack. If Smalley carries on improving at the same rate next season, I think we'll see a very good player there. Agree with you outoftheblue on this: Smalley has come on this season; not in mega leaps & bounds, but he has developed & added different elements to his game. Leicester away & Stockport at home were 2 games where Smalley showed his development; one of those games playing on the left of midfield too. Whole hearted displays where he caused havoc when he ran with the ball & scared the living daylights out the back 4 of the oppo. Unfortunatley, those games are intersperssed with other less stand-out performances. But that's what you get with young players; in & out as they make mistakes & learn from them. IMO Smalley works best as a RW - where he can run at FB's & get into the positions where he can cause the most damage. He IS a work in progress, a rough diamond if you will, one that needs coaching & encouraging - but he has enough positivies & points in his game that suggest to me that he is worth the time & effort to develop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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