Doors are opening at West Ham United. That’s the message being sent out from the club after the disastrous Lopetegui 2024 half season when we all saw the depressing ‘young player league table’ showing that from August to December ’24, not one Hammers’-sourced youngster spent a minute on the pitch.
Graham Potter has seen the light and has brought on Ollie Scarles to the level of being his preferred starter at left wing back: Lewis Orford has also come through to play for the seniors and a host of other youngsters train with the main squad.
So when Claret and Hugh’s transfer insider suggested last week that West Ham are in pole to sign Sunderland’s Chris Rigg, clearly West Ham’s newly discovered, forward thinking ‘if you are good enough, you’re old enough’ policy is already getting the club noticed and competing for the best young talent around.
Rigg’s family apparently don’t want him to move to a new club and then languish in the juniors or reserves which he’ll certainly do if he ends up at Chelsea or Manchester City – which seem to be the graveyard of so many young professional careers.
Money clearly isn’t everything: Just ask youngsters like Carney Chukwuemeka who couldn’t get a game at Chelsea and had to leave on a loan deal for Borussia Dortmund to get any game time after languishing in the background at Stamford Bridge.
About time.
How long have we waited for this to happen …hope the time has come for a young team .the fans will get behind them no mistake .being of the same age of the great bobby moore I remember how proud the fans were of the young players from our youth teams coming through .bring it on
It really is time and agree completely, for a multitude of reasons, there is nothing better than seeing players come through watching the style of football they bring with them, seeing the team develop and challenge. Cannot overload a team with youth and inexperience, but they could be challenging to be part of the rebuild. Anyway, with Noble & the youth team coaches plus GP we do have an encouraging setup with plenty of relevant experience.
I agree with bringing players up from the lower leagues The likes of Antonio and Bowen have really proved they want to fight for the badge unlike quiet a few that have been brought in from abroad then can’t keep the pace at least he is young and fit
Certainly agree that we could do with more players from the Championship (and beyond?). Antonio, Bowen as mentioned as well as Vardy, plenty of others. Surprised this is not a more regular occurrence, same with promotion of Academy players. They have more than proven how special they can become. Plus these players get better and better – Bowen keeps adding to his play as did Rice, Scarles says he is improving defensively, etc. Add to that the special ability of more established names and you really have something.
Door open? But get the point it is a hopeful situation re. Academy, especially with loan players (Potts, Orford, Marshall,..) doing so well too. Talking of doors I think next season they will not be tapping on the manager’s door but will “blow the bloody doors off😁” + Guilherme.
Certainly don’t agree that the “door is opening” and “if you’re good enough you’re old enough” message is getting out Martin. Try asking Evan Ferguson and Luis Guilherme if they would recommend the club after the y have barely featured since joining. 55 minutes given to Guilherme sofar this season and a pathetic 2 minute given to Ferguson on Saturday when we were crying out for goals. What was the point of Potter making Evan his number one transfer target in the window and then just ignoring him until the game is in injury time? How does that build his match fitness especially when he likely to have even fewer opportunities when Fullkrug returns.
Absolutely zero chance of Endrick being tempted to join after seeing his mate given no.game time. What sort of message does that really.send to top young talents and their agents at a time when we will be relying on this youth policy in the Summer?
Let’s not get too carried away though, we don’t have anything to play for and we won’t get relegated but it’s still only Scarles getting opportunities. This is the ideal time to help see if others are good enough.
Agree with you, Paul.
This is also the ideal time for the manager to try out different formations of the established players. Discovering the strengths and weaknesses of all our prized assets.
Our management team are taking a golden opportunity to find out various combinations and styles ahead of a full-on assault next season.
We already know much more about Ollie Scarles than we did did a couple of months ago. He is one we have in the back pocket now.
The inclusion of Niclas Fullkrug in the team will add a new dynamic to our play. Evan Ferguson, too. The other youngsters will get their chances as we make progress.
We are far from the 100% ideal team at the moment and there are still lots of poor performances to come before our knowledge of coherent playing manifests itself into something of which we can all enjoy viewing and admire.
Sit back, strap ourselves in, and look forward to the ‘The West Ham Way’ for a few years to come.
If the Toon can manage a trophy and the Foxes can hit the heights, then so can we.
COYI
I have a couple of Sunderland Friends and whilst they say he is a good player it will take 18months at lease to get to the standard or playing in the Prem league regularly but they would be happy to see him go if they do not get promoted as long as they can keep hold of Bellingham who they rate higher than Rigg.