West Ham United winger Crysencio Summerville has come a very long way since former Premier League boss Alan Pardew was coaching him at ADO Den Haag in the Eredivisie.
While still a Feyenoord player, and only a few months before Leeds plucked little-known teenager out of relative obscurity, Pardew spent five months of the 2019/20 season putting an 18-year-old Crysencio Summerville through his paces.
At least, that was before the COVID pandemic brought a premature end to Summerville’s time at Den Haag, while ending the Pardew reign after only one win and just eight matches.
A bright spark in a poor campaign for ADO, Summerville was right at the beginning of his footballing journey when a former West Ham United manager was coming to the end of his.
Pardew has taken only two jobs since his brief spell in the Eredivisie, mustering a combined 29 matches in charge of CSKA Sofia and Aris Thessaloniki. Summerville, in contrast, went on to win the Championship Player of the Year award at Elland Road before completing a £30 million move to West Ham four years after he and Pardew were sharing a dugout.
Alan Pardew recalls coaching Crysencio Summerville before West Ham United move
Desperate to make up for lost time, Summerville is desperate to put a smile on West Ham faces once again. He certainly did just that during the 3-0 win at Nottingham Forest. An assist and a penalty won on his first appearance in eight injury-ruined months.
Summerville was one of Graham Potter’s better performers against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday too. And while Pardew accepts that Potter’s pressure is increasing with every damaging defeat, he believes that Summerville’s return could help lift the Hammers out of their rut.
“On Summerville, I managed him when I was at ADO Den Haag,” Pardew recalls, speaking to talkSPORT. “He’s a terrific lad and an honest character. He’s got better as his defensive work and got his big move and he needs to deliver now.
“He’s stepping up in class.
“I think the question mark there for Potter is starting to get a little bit more out of these individuals. Get into them and get some more fight on the pitch.”
Pardew blames Graham Potter’s struggles on sluggish transfer window
While Hammers icon Tony Cottee is backing Graham Potter to remain in charge until the November international break at the earliest – more ‘winnable’ fixtures are on the way against Brentford, Burnley and Leeds – Pardew blames their dismal current form on those set-piece weaknesses and a transfer window he feels delivered too little too late.
“The transfer window that they’ve just had has been a bit of a let-down in my opinion,” the former Newcastle, Crystal Palace and West Brom boss argues. “They really needed to do some work in that and, if I was [Potter], I’d be disappointed with what I’ve been given.
“I’d have expected a little bit more investment. I think West Ham fans feel that as well.
“He’s got Bowen, a player who can get him out of trouble in terms of quality. Real top-drawer quality. You’re blessed with that, I think there’s a good base there, some decent quality. But they don’t look like they’re going to threaten the top of the league for sure.
“The one thing that Potter is going to worry about is threatening the bottom of the league.”
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