In the midst of this shocking apology for a transfer window as far as West Ham are concerned, it is our bright youngsters who are giving us reasons to be cheerful.
They are a shining light through the darkness and fury of our fans as they lambast our owner, David Sullivan, his board and anyone else who dares to get in the way of the venom raining down on the billionaires who run (very lose description that) West Ham.
There will be sales, there will be signings, but not much hope in sight at the moment as we are constantly told there is no money because of FSP. Nothing in the coffers, nothing shoved down the back of Sullivan’s sofa - I’ll leave you with that unpalatable though for a while.
It has got so bad that the social media grifters who have been relaying the fact that there’s no ready cash and have finally come round to blaming the board for this shambles after shifting the blame on virtually everyone else for months, are now getting it in the neck.
It's tough being on the end of everyone’s phone these days, there’s no escape from the abuse suffered.
I mean, my heart bleeds. When you’ve blamed everyone in striking distance and then finally turned on head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay and coach Graham Potter - you know, the guys being sent out into the transfer market battle field without a penny of ammunition - you are asking for trouble.
Even the lunchtime drunk in the corner of the Dog and Dickhead, somewhere in darkest Essex, can see the blame must fall on Sullivan - the guy now cosplaying as Director of Football - and the other very silent apologies for a board, who hold the purse strings, don’t invest in our club, but make all the crucial decisions.
Just to be clear, Macaulay is an analyst. Wherever he’s worked before at this level at Brighton and Chelsea, he’s had a top quality director of football to do the negotiating, sort out contracts, fees and all that other messy stuff. Now he’s got Sullivan. What could possibly go wrong?
Upwards of ten players came off the wage bill at the end of the month, maybe £500,000 a week will be saved. Maybe then there will be some wriggle room, you never know.
As it is, it’s the kids that could brighten our days. We have some excellent youngsters who are being told they’ll be given the chance to shine pre-season. That’s not necessarily unusual, that happens most pre-seasons at training camp, which will start early next month, and then a few pre-season matches or the four, so far, of Under 21 friendlies.
What is unusual is the quality of youngsters around at the moment. And this is a turning point in many of their careers. There’s around seven who are desperate for their chance. All are 20 - Freddie Potts is 21 - or will be turning 20 within the next few months. As the Courteeners song goes, they are not 19 forever.
They need to progress, they need first team football. Potter has tough decisions to make now. To add to that list of younger prospects there’s also the recent signing from Celtic, Daniel Cummings (19), midfielder Preston Fearon (18 in January), defender Airdas Golambekis (17 now but already in the under 21s) and the other Scottish striker signed last season from Hibs, Josh Landers (18 in February).
The younger ones there are not senior squad material yet, but their progress will be tightly monitored.
The older lads are a different category. They are being held up as the cream of our Academy who are expected to form a significant part of Potter’s new look, much younger squad. All I can say there is , don’t expect too much. Don’t put too much pressure on them, despite the obvious desire to see our home-grown lads flourish in the first team.
But it is their ages that concern me a little. In some clubs they would already have been fast tracked. Kaelan Casey, Callum Marshall, Potts and George Earthy have all experienced lengthy loans to lower division clubs. It’s obvious that Under 21 football is no good to them now even if the rules on the amount of over-aged players have been increased.
Ollie Scarles is already assured a first team squad place, but if we end up with more than two of these youngsters in any first team starting eleven, I’ll be surprised.
There’s also Lewis Orford, who has thankfully escaped being sold to Aston Villa by Tim Steidten last term in the protracted and failed bid for Jhon Duran. Orford is a fine, gifted midfield player who has that touch of class and passing range that singles him out as potentially a very special player.
And also goalkeeper Finlay Herrick, 19 in January, who has played for England at Under 16,17,18 and 19 level, with a contract until 2028. The current PL2 golden gloves winner, and away with England Under 18s currently in the UEFA youth tournament.
He is being suggested now as the replacement for Lukasz Fabianski. Herrick has been with the club since he was six, and was elevated to training with the seniors by Julan Lopetegui. Of course he’s very young and we also have Wes Foderingham around, with one year left on his contract.
We are looking for a new 'keeper and Herrick could save the club a lot of money. You would expect him to get chances pre-season in the USA.
His age is against him, nobody trusts 'keepers until they are in their late 20s, but Mervyn Day made his debut for West Ham at 17, had an FA Cup winners medal a year later and then played in a European final 12 months after that. So anything is possible.
The outfield youngsters could take inspiration from John Sissons, one of our all-time greats. He had scored in the FA Cup ’64 semi-final against the might of a Manchester United side including Best, Law and Charlton. And then in the final against Preston, when he was just 18. The year later he had a European Cup Winners’ Cup winners medal too.
And don’t let anyone tell you it was an easier game then. The brutality of teams like Leeds were being copied across the country. No protection then for young flying wingers like Sissons. But I plead with you all not to expect too much too soon from our youngsters if they are thrust into first team action.
It’s a tough world out there for youngsters in what is the fastest, most physical league in the world. Some interesting stats underline that. Of category one Academy players, who are now 21-26, 97 per cent never play in the Premier League.
70 per cent of those youngsters never get a professional contract in the top four divisions - and just one in ten make 20 plus appearances in those divisions.
Alan Hansen once was pilloried for saying you win nothing with kids and he was right, generally the attitude in professional football. But he was commenting on the boys of ’92, the Manchester United side that included David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Gary and Phil Neville and Ryan Giggs.
That side was the exception, honed from two youth intakes, Giggs being a year older. And it had nothing to do with Alex Ferguson. Those squads were put together by then youth manager Brian Kidd and mentored by Eric Harrison. Fergie was lucky enough to walk into Old Trafford with those youngsters already in place.
Maybe Potter can benefit in the same way. He has seven top young players already at the club. Are they as good as that famed Manchester United group? Nobody can be sure, but Potter has been very fortunate to arrive at West Ham with these youngster already coming through the ranks.
It’s a difficult field to work in. Very few youngsters get to the top. Some clubs, like Manchester City and Chelsea, run virtual youth team factories and sign the best from around the world. They then sell on the ones that are not going to quite make it to the top, but the transfer fees are pumped back into the club to help counter FSP, for example.
City have an astonishing record. Since they acquired Academy status in 1998 from the FA they have produced 84 players for the first team and 38 internationals.
I’m sure Potter knows what he has got and it’s very likely some will go out of loan again. They need ‘men’s football’ at this stage of their careers. Marshall is wanted by Norwich and Portsmouth fancy Orford.
Nobody should forget the stats. Only 4 per cent of youngsters reach the Premier League. You hear fans crying to ‘give the youth a chance’ or ‘just play the kids", but it’s never as easy as that. One famous star I once had the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time to interview was an expert in youth development and he gave me an insight into how it works.
He talked of muscle development, body strength and power, growth spurts, mental and physical capacity to cope with top level football. So many fall by the wayside. And now you can add stamina, weight and height to all that.
Pep Guardiola mentioned recently, when he was scouring the City Academy for recruits to his first team squad, that so many of the lads were ”so small”. He ended up adding Nico O’Reilly to the seniors, he was by far the tallest.
Potter must get this right. He will know our fans want to see these youngsters handled well, given the chance to develop and to become the class of 2025.
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