Yesterday Hugh blogged about encouraging Manuel Pellegrini to let youngsters loose this season to allow the blooding of more academy prospects before the end of the season. Hugh pointed out that with just seven games of the season left and with the club entirely safe from relegation there are compelling reasons why Pelle could be tempted to give some youngsters a chance.
I completely disagree with those sentiments! We need to play for 7th place and that all-important merit payment worth £1.9m per place to West Ham. We currently sit in ninth place in the Premier League just two points off the seventh spot but equally just 4 points above 12th place so we could easily fall in positions as well as rise unless we are careful.
Now is not the time the gamble with youngsters and take the risk of dropping down the table. West Ham budgeted for a tenth place finish this season so a 7th place finish means an extra £5.7m to spend while a drop down to 12th place could mean £3.8m less in the summer transfer budget. It is as simple as that.
These might not seem huge sums but with a loss, this season estimated to be between £25 and £30m we need to bring in as much revenue as possible to match our ambitions.
Sorry, but It is not the time to blood the youngsters!
when is the right time ? ,,,trying the youngsters now could save us money in the transfer market..i agree with hugh
When goal difference can make the difference between millions or relegation the answer is when Pellegrini thinks they are ready or he doesn’t have a choice like Ben Johnson
The swing from 7th to 12th doesn’t even pay for a hugill
It all adds up, the season ticket rises only add £2.9m
Our team is not deep enough for a European push and we are likely to need substantial investment to replace dead wood before it is, if we can save some of that with these players already on our books it would solve a problem, I wouldn’t be averse to Diangana, Nathan Holland, Silva etc getting a bit more game time, they need to be blooded at some time, even if it is only 30 minutes in the second half.
When is a good time, if not when you’re safe? Not early in the season as it’s imperative we get off to a good start. If we get the good start it’s imperative we don’t lose momentum mid season. Then we must finish well because of the bonuses. So when do we actually give em a go?
I think that this is an interesting debate with arguments on both sides.
However I think that on current evidence it is a bit of an exaggeration to say that Pelle has shown faith in the youngsters – Declan was already a regular last season and Diangana has been limited to cameo performances – interestingly against Huddersfield there was no youngster even on the bench
I feel that in teh remaining games we should have 2 or 3 youngsters on the bench and if the game situation allows then they can be given a run out – if they do well then they could be considered for a starting role in later games
Like the old days Zahama, if we had those occaisions when we would be 2 or 3 up get a youngster on and give them a chance to impress, certainly that is how Lyall would have done it. There is no substitute for first team experience is there ?
Compares to the current England philosophy, too……….give them game time and save £miilions on overseas journeymen who are probably not only unheard of but, no better than our youngsters, anyway.
Being realistic, a quality player will only come to the likes of West Ham as either a stepping-stone or for obscene amounts of money. Even for money, they are unlikely to stay long (recent history confirms).
As the Arnie-episode has demonstrated, he might just as well have been sold in January for what use he has been since. Checkout his latest Austria performance, too.
Stop paying huge wages to players whose contracts are allowed to expire without renewal. There’s usually a pretty good reason for that.