West Ham manager Graham Potter spoke to Ollie Scarles yesterday to reassure the young midfielder that his omission from the starting line-up was only temporary.
As Martin detailed earlier, Potter was mindful of Scarles’ big effort against Newcastle last Monday and decided to rest him yesterday. The West Ham boss revealed in his post-match Everton press conference that he had “had a word with Scarles” to let him know everything was fine.
In short, Potter reassured the 19-year-old that he had done nothing wrong and would be back in the team soon. But this raises another question—how is Potter handling the difficult task of reassuring Evan Ferguson?
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With Niclas Füllkrug set to return for West Ham’s next game against Wolves, Ferguson’s chances of starting are looking even slimmer. Right now, he is nowhere near the first team, as Potter appears to prefer Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus in advanced roles, leaving no space for a striker.
Considering Ferguson pushed for a move from Brighton to play first-team football, this presents a major problem. The young Irish striker was desperate to reunite with Potter, the manager who gave him his debut at Brighton & Hove Albion.
West Ham were clearly in need of a striker at the time, and Potter made the 20-year-old his transfer priority. Unfortunately, things have not worked out—Ferguson can’t get near the starting line-up and managed just two minutes on the pitch yesterday.
Ironically, in his last appearance for Brighton before joining West Ham on loan, he played 20 minutes. Ferguson moved to get more football but has ended up getting even less! With only nine games left in the season, it’s hard to see a path into the starting XI for him.
Potter will need all his man-management skills to keep Ferguson motivated, especially as the striker must surely realise he made an error by joining. The only silver lining for West Ham is that there was never an obligation to buy—though, ironically, that may be why Ferguson isn’t playing.