West Ham United co-owner David Gold has made a habit of putting his foot in it and upsetting fans.
Whether it is mishaps on social media such as liking posts referring to West Ham fans as morons or ill-advised comments during interviews, Gold has shown little tact during his Hammers tenure, particularly of late.
West Ham fans have been protesting against Gold and fellow co-owner David Sullivan. And they will continue to make their feelings clear with more protests planned for Liverpool away and Southampton at home.
As a football club West Ham have always prided themselves on their academy roots.
Most football fans love seeing a homegrown talent graduate into a first team success.
West Ham United: The Academy of Football
But at West Ham it holds extra special meaning. And it has been a conveyor belt of young stars over the years from Bobby Moore to Declan Rice.
Gold once infamously played down the chances of young players making it in the West Ham first team.
The co-owner was slammed by fans and pundits alike when he took to Twitter in 2017 to paint a bleak picture for academy hopefuls.
“I think we all have to except (sic) that it is extremely unlikely that a teenager will break into a PL team full of seasoned internationals,” Gold said.
“Playing teenagers doesn’t guarantee success. Hull came 5th (in the table of most young players) and got relegated. Chelsea came last and won the league. dg.”
But Gold seems to have changed his tune.
Gold changes his tune over young players
And for once he was talking sense when he spoke to the Premier League’s official website following the first team debut of young right-back Jeremy Ngakia recently.
“It’s the very roots of our football club, it’s the most important part of our football club, producing young talent,” Gold told the Premier League.
“Fans love it, I love it, every time somebody plays. You just think of Jeremy playing against Liverpool, you see Ben (Johnson) playing against Man City.
“This is the lifeblood of the football club. You just look around at these young men (academy players), every one of them aspires to be on that board (list of academy players who have played for the first team) and they’ve seen one of their own today be honoured.
“It’s absolutely fantastic.”
Why the all the ageing, faded foreign imports then?
It is some u-turn from Gold.
Under his and Sullivan’s tenure West Ham’s scattergun approach to recruitment has seen the club sign woeful foreign imports such as Benni McCarthy, Roberto, Alvaro Arbeloa and Carlos Sanchez to name but a few.
Every time there would almost certainly be a better option in the club’s academy or the Championship.
There West Ham would certainly find a young, hungry player who would work harder and appreciate the opportunity a whole lot more than a fading veteran looking for one last big pay day.
Perhaps the signing of Jarrod Bowen is an indication the club has learned its lesson and intends to change tack on recruitment and give academy youngsters a sustained chance in the first team.
Time will tell.
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