David Gold’s shameful lack of faith

Look, I actually think the David’s are pretty darn good owners. I can’t think of many I’d rather have running our club. There are plenty worse people we could have running the club Tony Fernandes anyone?

However, David Gold’s latest tweet is awful on so many levels.

This sends such a terrible message to our academy, current players, prospective players, and the fans. Oxford, Burke, Quina, Rice, Cullen, and Martinez have to be furious. They’ve all put in the work and showed the talent to get a shot. I mean Oxford played pretty darn well last year when deputized. Especially with the hindsight of Jose Fonte playing well below his price tag there’s no reason we couldn’t have kept Oxford here and given him valuable playing time. He couldn’t have been worse than Fonte.

It will likely scare off some of the more talented prospects from signing with us. Granted they aren’t likely to get a fair shot at places like Man U, Chelsea, City, and Arsenal. Yet, they’ll see this tweet and think “Well, not going to get a shot at the first team, not going there.” Then sign for Stoke, Southampton, or Bournemouth prosper and make that club a ton of money or trophies.

The current players have to be happy to see this. They know that the youth players aren’t going to get a fair shot and their spots are safer. How many on this team are actually seasoned internationals? Carroll, Ayew, Feghouli, that’s about it. No one else has a proven track record with their national team. Plus, like I already said Oxford or Burke couldn’t have been worse than Fonte was to start. Jose’s gotten better but certainly isn’t what you would expect. Competition for positions is good for everyone. I have a hard time believing that the young guys are going to be that much worse than what we saw last week and so many other games this year.

This also hurts the fans. West Ham is a club built on bringing their own through the academy to the first team. We pride ourselves on this reputation and when youth shows promise we want to see it rewarded. To keep trotting out under performing first teamers without any thought to try the promising talent frustrates our fans. Sure there is a 11 million on the line tomorrow but sometimes you have to take a gamble and create some goodwill with your fans. Giving Rice, Quina, and maybe even Toni a shot at the big time with so little on the line would go a long way to making this season a bit more bearable.

Like I said I actually like the David’s I think they do a good job for our club. However, this tweet is horrible for so many reasons and is really the cherry on top of this incredibly frustrating season. I’m not saying field a team of youth players like Sam did against Nottingham but give some of these guys a shot to show they’re talent. It’s not too much to ask.