OPINION
After the success of Declan Rice in West Ham United’s first team, many would have thought that more success for the club’s youngsters was just around the corner.
Unfortunately, they could not be more wrong.
Grady Diangana has received plaudits for recently breaking into the senior team, but there is one player who has not been the subject of the recent hype.
That player is defender Reece Oxford, who has not been having the best time of it lately – his clanger at the weekend for the under-23s his most recent.
He was guilty of conceding an on goal that ultimately led to his team’s defeat, and just when you thought that he could not hit a new low, he does just that.
What more is there left to salvage of the youngster’s career? It’s not like Manuel Pellegrini is going to suddenly call him up tomorrow in spite of all his mistakes – that is virtually impossible.
One thing that we can conclude, however, is that this howler is surely the last nail in the coffin in terms of Oxford’s career with the Hammers.
It is impossible to tell where his career was going to take him after his vital mistake, but he has now made one too many.
He has been previously slammed for his awful attitude and it remains to be seen why the club did not offload him in the summer when they had the chance to.
One thing is for sure, Oxford certainly has a lot of work to do if he is to impress the likes of Pellegrini any time soon.
The manager has his preferred central defensive partnership of Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena, so it would take a lot of doing to break that up.
Nevertheless, the West Ham giant has practically struck the final nail himself after his disastrous own goal, a mistake that has told the club all they need to know about his future.
