Being sidelined when a [new head coach](https://www.claretandhugh.info/espirito-santo-input-already-paying-dividends-for-mavropanos/) walks through the door must be a particular kind of frustration. If a player is injured – as is George Earthy – then there isn’t much option but to knuckle down and do the rehab, working with the medical department and aim to get back on the pitch ahead of schedule if possible.
Being suspended following a red card is another matter- Tomas Soucek’s lunge against Spurs means he has not featured at all under new manager Nuno and the Czech captain admits it has been hard watching from the sidelines:
_“It was a tough period for me,_” admitted Souček, [to whufc.com:](https://www.whufc.com/news/soucek-i-cant-wait-be-back-team)
“_It was the first time in my life that I had a situation where I wasn’t injured, and I couldn’t play three very important games for West Ham, so for me it was really tough.”_
Watching on whilst his successors performed well in midfield was ‘tough’
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Moreover, Soucek probably had a glimpse of the future – and his own dwindling opportunities that lie ahead – watching on with Fernandes, Magassa and Potts looking very much the next generation in midfield.
Soucek, 31 in February, has already been marked up by his international media critics as ‘deteriorating’, and is increasingly likely to become a squad player or an impact sub. There’s just a chance though that he may be spared the bench on Monday night, solely owing to Brentford’s threat from long throws and set pieces. And he’s up for it:
_“I am ready, and I am super fit because on international duty with the Czech Republic, I played two games.”_
Quite possibly there are those who’d take issue with “super fit”! Soucek never stops running and covers huge distances, just not at the breakneck speed now required in the Premier League. It would be a perfect response from ‘Tornado Tom’, though, to grab a scrappy, poachers’ goal in a late Hammers’ win. And _that_ might prolong his West Ham career into the bargain.