West Ham are facing a relentless battle holding on to their academy products under the present regime.
Among the youngsters facing the end of their current contracts are Conor Coventry and Harrison Ashby and neither has any serious encouragement to remain at the club.
Coventry has made just one appearance for the first team having been loaned out to MK Dons, Lincoln and Peterborough over recent seasons.
His contract ends in June of next year along with the highly rated Ashby who as reported earlier looks set for a move to Newcastle.
Like Josh Cullen before then it seems both will have to move on if they are to enjoy a professional first team career with one source saying: “There will be others as none of them are getting any chance to progress.”
Impressive left back Emmanuel Longelo is on loan at Birmingham City whilst none of the others are being given an opportunity of first team football at the Hammers.
Our source – who unsurprisingly preferred to remain anonymous – added: “To be honest you wonder what the point is of having an academy – there’s some good youngsters in there who deserve their chance. It looks a case of play them or lose them.”
Well Hugh it’s not as if we didn’t point it out – or rather yell it out. This waste has been an utter scandal. The current regime has rendered the famous Academy as a waste of resource and investment. We must be rolling in money to discard talent in this way.
Must be frustrating and disappointing for the youngsters not to get a chance when several of the current first choice players aren’t exactly setting the world on fire.
My concern in recent years is how many of our Academy products plying their trade elsewhere have gone on to have premier league careers?
I cannot think of any so another question is our Academy fit for purpose?
Good point. There’s been loads of good prospects who have just disappeared.
Was trying to remember the name of the Danish (?) winger who Barry Fry thought was brilliant. Going back a few years but got no idea what became of him.
£170 of z Listers! Now they want to spend more in January!!!!! Use the youngsters Moyes,
Scamacca, waste. ⚒️⚒️⚒️⚒️
What doesn’t make sense to me is that the manager often brings players in from the championship, slowly integrating them into the team and the reality of EPL football.
He gives them time to make the step up.
Bowen, hit. Benrhama, looking like a hit after 3 (?) seasons. Most recently Downes. Jordan Hugill was an anomaly.
Why doesn’t he do the same with the academy prospects?
To even be in and around the first team shows they’ve made the step up at every stage of their development.
You can’t expect an ambitious young fella to be happy warming the bench whilst watching out of form established players performing poorly, week in week out, getting picked in front of you.
I remember the team that was “too good” to go down, the talent we lost from that team when they did was devastating. We can’t afford the same again.
When we send young players out on loan to lower league teams and they can’t get a game they’re obviously not good enough for the PL.
Surely Mark Noble can help do something about this disgraceful situation? He has the ear of the owners and, presumably, David Moyes. It’s a big scandal when you consider all the fantastic players the West Ham Academy have produced over the years – most of whom got their chance in the Hammers first team and went on from there.
I’ve seen a lot of Coventry and I’m not convinced he’s premier league level. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt though and good look to him if he finds a starting berth elsewhere. As for Ashby if he’s been tapped up by Eddie Howes agent there’s not much we can do. Let’s not make out it’s the clubs fault or anyone at West Ham is to blame here though. It comes down to a lack of patience to wait their opportunity. Too big an ego or maybe just plain greed. Whether it’s the agent or the player who is mostly at fault here who knows but just like the lad Sonny or whatever his name was that left our under 23s to go and play for Leeds u23s, probably on the promise that he would make the breakthrough into the first team sooner if he went to Leeds, I’ve got no time for these youngsters who seem to think they’ve already made it before they’ve actually done anything in the game.