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A West Ham gamble that hasn’t paid off

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Ravel Morrison (West Ham)After a tremendous weekend, which has left West Ham sitting in a Champions League position, we have a lot to thank our assortment of talented midfielders for. Alex Song played a blinder, Cheikhou Kouyate looks to be recovering well, and Stewart Downing worked hard to chip in with an assist. With a midfield this strong and a January transfer window fast approaching, we don’t need to do any purchasing—but is there a sale West Ham should consider making?
Whist West Ham’s midfield are winning battles and games left, right, and centre, last seasons’s wonderkid Ra’vel Morrison has been near forgotten at Upton Park. With website ClaretandHugh.com reporting that West Ham “are ready to cash in on Ra’vel Morrison should they receive an acceptable offer…in January,” would selling the talented yet volatile youngster be the right decision for West Ham?
We all know Morrison is exceptionally skilful, and also that he doesn’t come without baggage. He is currently awaiting trial in January for three assault charges regarding his ex-girlfriend and her mother, and reports of a poor attitude towards training and his teammates at Upton Park were incessant prior to his multiple stints on loan with (at the time) lower league clubs.
Should he return to us from loan, it’s tough to see how we could reintroduce him into our team without upsetting the apple cart. We currently have a crop of enthusiastic players that respect the club they play for and their teammates. As much as I would love watching him demand to play over Alex Song, I can’t help but think we don’t have as much room for him in our team as we used to.
The catch is of course, that we may not have a mass amount of offers coming in for the 21 year old. New Cardiff boss Russell Slade has made it clear that he is not exactly convinced that Morrison has proved he warrants either a loan extension or a permanent move. Slade told Wales Online that “Ravel has the ability and everybody says that. Sometimes, though, he doesn’t use that ability in areas you want him to.”
Admittedly, Morrison has hardly had time to show off for Cardiff on the pitch, having made just one start and four substitute appearances for them since his loan move in September. Morrison is said to have been out with a knee injury, but given his talent and that Championship side Cardiff are but two points away from a Championship play-off place, you would think Morrison would be a resource they would utilise.
There is no question that Ra’vel is an amazingly skilled player, but Cardiff are barely using him, and regretfully, we haven’t missed him this year given the quality of signings we have brought into the club. Even during our injury hiccup (I’d say crisis, but we’re not Arsenal, and I think they’ve trademarked the term ‘injury crisis’) when we were without Mark Noble, Alex Song, Cheikhou Kouyate, Stewart Downing (and strikers Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia), we managed to dig deep within our own squad to hold on to some incredibly important points without panicking and recalling Ra’vel – or even wishing he was there.
It’s tough to say whether Morrison has a future at West Ham United or whether or not we’ve moved on without him. Should an offer come in for him, would it be the right thing for West Ham to do to accept it? Or do we continue to loan him out until he’s ready to realistically push for a spot in West Ham’s starting XI based not just on his talent, but also on work ethic and professionalism?
Let us know your thoughts below.

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