Is it too soon to give up on George Nevett?
- Kelan Sarson
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Peterborough United have, over the years, had their fair share of promising, young centre-backs coming good.
Ryan Bennett is an example that might well feel forgotten in time, but was a Championship and Premier League regular, after initially blossoming at London Road in the early 2010’s.
Ronnie Edwards also obviously sticks out as a glaring representation of the young and hungry model working out, with Edwards now in the second tier with Queens Park Rangers.
When he was with Posh, Edwards looked destined for these dizzy heights. He was a standout performer, even during Posh’s dismal 2020/21 relegation season, averaging a classy 88% pass accuracy per league clash.
Unfortunately, with Edwards’ non-league roots stretching out to Barnet, there was always going to be pressure on George Nevett’s shoulders to live up to the likes of the very popular 22-year-old, who was branded as the “very best” young player Darren Ferguson had ever worked with.
Indeed, the comparison points were easy to make from the get-go, with Nevett swapping his humble career beginnings at Rochdale for a chance to explode into life as another centre-back revelation for Posh.
Off the back of 35 senior appearances for Dale, Nevett was thrust straight into the spotlight, and he quickly gained the Fergie seal of approval, having been hailed as a "big signing" for the club’s future towards the start of his bumpy journey.
Unlike Edwards, though, who had the perfect platform to morph into a top-class talent in League One, when regularly competing at the top of the third-tier pile under Fergie, Nevett was immediately shoved into an ever-changing Posh set-up, which lacked the experience of the likes of Josh Knight, culminating in a disappointing 17th-place finish during his debut season.
Coming of age
Read Charlie's thoughts on Nevett's development after a strong start to the 2025/2026 campaign.
It's often resulted in the 20-year-old looking somewhat out of his depth, away from temporarily displaying a similar calmness on the ball to that of former Posh prodigies, with Nevett also only collecting one meagre clean sheet during his debut League One campaign.
Of course, he wasn't helped by the fact that he was often thrown into shoddy lineups with faces such as Manny Fernandez as his defensive partner, and Nicolas Bilokapic as the flappy goalkeeper behind him, but it was a rather subdued opening campaign from the highly rated Welshman, all the same.
The hope would have been that he was a slow burner, waiting to come good, with Edwards only making two senior appearances during his debut campaign, before becoming the main man in the heart of Posh's defence.
But the Wales U21 international has struggled again this season to make an impact, with the majority of his first-team appearances coming during the disastrous final months of Fergie.
He has since made sporadic appearances here and there under the fresh regime of Luke Williams, when the injury issues at the back have piled up, and he hasn't looked completely out of his depth.
In particular, the still inexperienced defender stood out against Wycombe Wanderers, who are notoriously a physical, hard-to-beat side. Nevett didn't shy away from challenges during the Chairboys game; with six tackles and duels won, as Posh kept a well-deserved clean sheet during a 2-0 win.
He was very much helped during that clash by having the know-how of Tom Lees next to him as his defensive partner, with the 35-year-old's late absence against Bradford - after he pulled up with a shock calf injury - a real bitter pill to swallow.
The term 'all at sea' would be kind when describing Posh’s defending at Valley Parade, with Nevett looking slow and sluggish throughout, as the Bantams continually bombed forward with energy to burn.
The number 15's saving grace is usually his superb passing range, but even that was awry in Yorkshire, as possession was wildly given away 14 times on his sloppy behalf.
The reaction at the full-time whistle did make out as if Nevett was the worst defender to ever pull on a Posh shirt, which felt a little over-the-top for my liking, when you consider James Dornelly had an equally ropey afternoon.
In truth, very few players could cover themselves in glory, at the full-time whistle.
Moreover, hammering a 20-year-old's confidence - who came in last minute - feels a little cruel, with the injury issues pushing a player, who should likely be out on loan, into the unforgiving environment of Valley Parade.
Patience will need to be required with Nevett if he is to blossom into an Edwards 2.0 figure for us, but how long can this patience be maintained for, if Williams' men want a promotion charge next season?
He could still have a bright future, but he likely needs a loan away down to League Two to sharpen up further.
The worry will be whether he becomes a starlet who never quite makes it and is thrown to the scrapheap, rather than being heralded as another gem of a signing that shows the young and hungry model is alive and well.
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