Although Elliot Lee (pictured) netted a first-half strike on Saturday to put the U21s one-nil up against Stoke City – the Hammers youngsters eventually slumped to another defeat.
after two second half goals by Stoke City meant the Hammers finished on the wrong side of a 2-1 scoreline.
The oss to the Potters condemned the Hammers to a fifth defeat from six outings – and just one point to show for their efforts.
Terry Westley’s side remains bottom of division – two points adrift of Brighton and Newcastle.
Team: Howes, Knoyle, Page, Dobson, Chambers, Oxford (Onariase 76), Parfitt-Williams (Brown 81), Cullen, Lee, Browne (Makasi 69), Samuelsen Subs: Pike, Boness
Last week West Ham rewarded Academy Manager Westley with a new five-year contract – even though his charges are winless this season and got relegated last season from the Barclays U21 Premier League Division One.
The team’s next game is against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday 19 October. Kick-off at Rush Green is 7pm.
should have given Westley a 7 year contract and a huge pay rise
For a team from the East End the form has gone very much West(er)ley since he has been in charge. Rewarding failure seems very odd to me, if they think this form is transitional and it will get better that’s one thing but you normally need the odd good result to justify that and there have been none. They invested a fortune to get us top academy status (4 or 5 million) but if you were a young player looking to progress do you think you would move to a team of losers, the academy and Carr’s legacy will be destroyed if that continues for the next 5 years.
It is not about winning games, U21 is about developing players.
If it keeps going the same way then surely they will have to sack the bloke .
But something isn’t quite right with the team as they keep on losing and there are some classy players in the squad ?
5 years ????????? Is a long time .!!! The whole academy could be at risk !!
Give him up until Xmas and if nothing improves then demote him and get a west ham source involved like ! Devonshire comes to mind with maybe Sinclair . They know how it goes !!!
Not about winning games ?? U 21 reserves team ????
Winning is everything at this stage of development , that’s the whole point !
What a strange remark!!!
Are the under 21 side playing the same system as the first team ?
If not why not because surely if they are going to break into that team it would be better for all concerned,
Slav should run the rule over them for a month and tell Westley who is not going to make it and who is and tell Westley what he requires,
Then every month the 2 daves and Slav should meet and set targets if they are not met
Bye Bye Westley
You would have thought that wouldn’t you bubs !
But I think this bloke is not good enough !!!
He is always so far this season in our press with negative reviews what with his family involvement with the club ????
To me it seems family come first the team second they appear to be self serving and not the other way round as it should be . Football is and always will be clicqy and that always leads to contempt in whatever situation develops concerning it?
You see to many family connections in football which tells you that good prospects are lost in the family preference game as well as if the face fits !!! I’ve seen it lol !!
Theres a lot of money in football which tells a story in itself,
Personally I would sack him now !!! Along with his entourage ! Its not right.
I agree with Ekavall , the clue is in the word Development ! It is difficult to judge one under 21 side against another as the quality and experience at any one game can quite be diverse , for instance Team A might put a strong side out with a couple of first team players needing game time and team B might include several under 18s for experience or due to injuries . It is quite different to the PL where teams put out the strongest available side to gain the most points they can . These results should not be judged too harshly , we want these lads playing without fear in these games , not going out worried about losing .
Winning games breeds confidence – losing them does the opposite and is really unhelpful to young players
I can only imagine this is all a part of a master plan, why would the two chairmen invest so heavily only to ignore the importance of the Academy?
My hope is that a rebuilding process is underway, let’s face it, under the previous management the Academy was cut adrift. Let down badly and sacrificed in two games that would have seriously damaged the development of some players. The club is heading in the right direction, our league position, our developing style of play, the caliber of players we have signed. I’m as excited as I was in ’86 when I was 10 years old. Though I believe it will be almost impossible to match that league position at this point in our evolution but something great is happening.
Agree with you Hugh !! Spot on!
I also agree with Neil that something special is happening but unfortunately not in the development squad !!!!! Results proves that !! And managers get sacked because of results .
Why should Westley be any different ??
If anything his job is extremely important for the future of the club and needs to be held accountable as in any high profile job , you are judged on results .
Success is built on confidence and extremely good man management which I think
is missing from the present regime. As per Mr Rowe affair who some say is westly
God son but club refuse to confirm that and I think that alone is judgement enough for putting doubt into everyone’s mind especially the parents of the young ones tied in on their
ONE yearly contracts but as I said before that’s another story !!!!!!!!!
Westly isn’t doing the much in terms of development at present and needs to be reminded of the fact !!!
Calm down John I see where you are coming from but we are not included in what the board and Slav have told Westley to do,
I am sure if he is not doing what they have set as targets he will part ways with the club
It is hard to see what is going wrong when you see the standard of players they have in the squad,
Personally I am going to back off for a month and watch