The Man To Replace West Ham Captain Kevin Nolan Next Season?

The rumour mill has started already. Ravel Morrison is reportedly heading for the exit door. If West Ham let him go that will be the most mindless thing Sam Allardyce and the owners have done since joining the club, and that is saying something!

Ravel Morrison has picked up 13 ‘Man of the Match’ awards for Birmingham City this season. Say what you want about the quality of the league but that is quite some achievement. In over half the games he has played this season he has been given the ‘Man of the Match’ award.

 

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Morrison’s problems at Man Utd have been well publicised but we took a chance on him and by all accounts he has passed the ‘test’. The midfielder has not been in trouble whilst on loan at Birmingham and he is letting his football do the talking. Unfortunately he is under the age of 25 which means getting a run of games in a West Ham shirt under Big Sam is nigh on impossible. He has proved his quality on loan this season, if he is not in and around the starting line-up week in week out next season it will be a real testament to where the club has gone since Big Sam arrived.

Neglecting our youth prospects has become something of a Sam trademark but he can change that perception next season and Ravel Morrison should be the spearhead of our youth in the first team. For me there is no question of his ability, I can’t claim to have watched every one of his games at Birmingham and I can only go on what I have heard from their fans and on the facts and they are very favourable.

Ravel is an attacking midfielder; Kevin Nolan is an attacking midfielder. We have already seen Nolan’s performances drop hugely this season. No doubt he is a great guy to have in the dressing room but if he starts week in week out next season we will lose out. He scored his 100th career goal last weekend but that cannot detract from his woeful performances this season. Ravel Morrison would be a great option for the “Nolan role”.

We also have Jack Collison to provide a bit of competition in the ranks although with Diame likely leaving in the summer I would have both in the side next season. Ravel Morrison was described as the best youth prospect Sir Alex has seen since he has been at the club, quite some praise I think you will all agree, we would be stupid to let him go.

Some may say “well if Manchester City offer over the odds for Ravel then sell him and it will be a good deal”. They would be wrong to say that. Ravel has done exactly what has been asked of him by Big Sam; he has gone out on loan and proved to everyone that he is a class prospect. To pay over the odds for him a club would have to offer millions and millions due to the huge potential he has.

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Any footballer at any level of the game wants to play regular football and start. I suspect Ravel would rather stay here and get game time than go to a club like City where he would be competing with David Silva, arguably the best attacking midfielder in the Premier League, it is easy to become disillusioned with life at a club when that is the case, just take a look at Michael Johnson. It is because of this that I don’t think we would have too much trouble keeping Ravel at the club if City came knocking. In three years time he could be an integral part of the team that represents West Ham at the Olympic Stadium, a very exciting prospect for him.

The issue is, despite his fantastic performances, it is still very unclear as to whether he will get a chance. Jordan Spence and Dan Potts have been shunned by Big Sam this season. Rob Hall performed very well at Birmingham yet as soon as he got back he was shipped out on loan almost immediately. Big Sam is not sending out positive signals to our youth players and why would that change next season?

The problem with this is that Big Sam signed Ravel Morrison. He saw the potential and took a punt on him and so far I don’t think anyone can say that he made a bad decision. To now not give Ravel a chance next season would be utterly disgraceful.

Ravel is the creative attacking midfielder we desperately need, not the ‘goal-hanging’, unfit but “great captain” that Kevin Nolan is. It is not hard to score goals when the majority of your chances are handed to you on a plate because your role is essentially as a ‘goal-hanger’. Perhaps I am being too harsh on Nolan but I think he has lost it as a Premier League quality player. His record with Andy Carroll is outstanding but I am not so sure he is the only person who can score goals as a partner of Carroll’s.

I have to applaud Big Sam for the signing of Morrison but if we let him go it will just be yet another thing that frustrates me about Sam. He has done a great job to get us to the top 10 and deserves credit for that but I would like to see us play a more expansive game next season which involves creativity, with Ravel Morrison at the forefront of that. If next season that is what we begin to do, I could absolutely understand why this season has been how it has been. Our insistence over the years of not only creating great youth but going on to use them and give them a chance in the first team is one of the things that makes West Ham the great club it is.

Next season will tell us a lot more about Big Sam’s intentions with regard to the style of football we will play but we have a few young members of the squad that should definitely be in and around the first team starting lineup and Ravel Morrison is at the forefront of that pack. Please do let me know what you think. Always good to hear from all fans whether they agree or not. COYI!!

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