James Ward Prowse will no doubt be seeking to exact revenge on his former boss Nuno when Southampton come calling on Saturday.
The £30 million signing at London Stadium saw his career effectively ended by the arrival of West Ham’s Portuguese supremo as he went from automatic selection under Graham Potter to has-been under his successor.
Whether it was the fabled ‘baldy’ comment that started the rot, we may never know, but Ward-Prowse will be desperate to crash in one of his long-forgotten free kicks at London Stadium at the weekend as the perfect footballing equivalent of a two-fingered gesture at his former manager.
Ward prose will be desperate to extract his revenge on Nuno with a trademark set piece goal.
A trademark Ward-Prowse free kick goal at London Stadium for the Saints would be ironic as it’d be more than he managed in two years as a Hammer himself.
Sadly, another former West Ham player desperate for the chance to appear against his former club faces a race to be fit after sustaining ankle damage during the Saints’ victory over Norwich last week and was a 22nd minute substitute after rolling his ankle.
Flynn Downes, a medal winner in West Ham’s victorious 2023 Europa Conference League Cup run, joined Southampton the season after and is reported as losing the battle for fitness ahead of Saturday’s clash with his former side, according to the daily echo.co.uk:
“SAINTS midfielder Flynn Downes is a major doubt for next Saturday’s trip to West Ham, but Tonda Eckert has not ruled him out entirely…Downes had initially told Eckert to strap up his ankle so he could play the match, but he was ruled out and spotted at the ground in a protective boot.”
Never one to shirk a challenge, it would be good for the former Hammer to appear at London Stadium where he was regarded with huge affection and many were disappointed when the combative midfielder was deemed surplus to requirements at West Ham.
Fingers crossed he makes it for the game – and ends up on the losing side, of course.