By Hughie Southon
No sooner has David Moyes decided not to bring any further players in this winter than he has let another academy prospect leave the club.
It’s now becoming common policy under this regime to allow youngsters to leave the club and the latest is left back Emmanuel Longelo who has joined Birmingham City on a permanent move.
It seems from what we are seeing under the manager as though none of those many thought were good enough to hold down a first team place are considered up to the mark.
And Longlelo is the second full back to leave the club following the departure of Harrison Ashby to Newcastle United.
Longelo initially joined the Blues on loan at the start of the 2022/23 season and has made 16 showings in all competitions in the first half of the campaign, scoring once.
The 22-year-old has now made his switch to St Andrew’s permanent and will continue to work under John Eustace as Birmingham seek to climb the Championship table.
The Academy of Football graduate made two first team appearances for West Ham, earning his debut against Hull City in the Carabao Cup third round in September 2020, while also featuring in the UEFA Europa League Group H defeat by GNK Dinamo Zagreb at London Stadium in December 2021.
Crazy. If Moyes is to say. Shut the Academies and save the money for the main Squad.
I don’t see many of our ex academy prospects holding down starting places at Premier League clubs. I do see them at Sunderland, Birmingham, Colchester, WBA. By and large they’re Championship and League 1 quality, not as good as we like to think they are and not of use to our first team.
Sad, but true.
I’ve either watched or followed most of our ex-youngsters, and so far none of them has proved to be of Premier League quality IMHO.
Not to say that we won’t make an error at some point though. But these are the statistics for young players not just at West Ham, but throughout all of our football leagues.
When Moyes leaves the club the damage done here will run deep. Not just to the Academy players that he decimated, but to the reputation of the Academy itself. Young. prospects will inevitably think twice before joining in the first place, where previously it was seen as the academy of choice. Send in the clowns? Don’t worry, they’re here.
Yet another Academy product not up to scratch so down a league as most are. The boy is 22, if you haven’t made an impression by this age its goodbye. As I keep saying the Academy is the problem and has been many years before David Moyes. Hopefully he can get it to produce Premier standard players!
Has he really been given a chance to prove himself? Is he worse than Emerson?
Which one of these academy graduates has gone to a top club and held down a regular first team place? Are we saying they should all be in our first team? Nonsense.
Quick to blame Moyes. What about our marvellous board take money out of club.Sub standard facilities and shoe horning us into an athletic stadium