The nature of Saturday’s 2-2 draw at AFC Bournemouth meant the West Ham United supporters headed back up to London with a feeling of deflation, of regret, and ‘what might have been?’
Despite racing into a two-goal half-time lead, the Hammers needed an ‘incredible’ Alphonse Areola display to save their claret and blue skins at the Vitality Stadium. If not for the Frenchman’s ten saves, Bournemouth would surely have wrapped up a famous – and probably deserved – comeback victory.
A moment for reflection, though. West Ham United have picked up seven points from their last nine. If the supporters had been offered this a month ago, after that rock-bottom loss at Elland Road, most would have torn your arm off at the bone.
Yes, Nuno missed Lucas Paqueta and Crysencio Summerville badly on the South Coast. Yes, they threw away their chances of three successive Premier League wins for the first time since December 2023. Yes, Nuno’s selections and substitutions were ‘strange’, at times.
On the other hand, West Ham travelled to a high-flying Bournemouth without two of their standout attackers and went home disappointed to only pick up a point. Progress, indeed.
In stark contrast, a ‘catastrophic’ Luton Town defeat at the hands of a brutal Barnsley will cast far greater doubts on the managerial tenure of another man new to the dugout. Jack Wilshere’s Hatters were thumped by a five-star, five-goal Tykes display at Oakwell.
And, in a meeting between a former West Ham kid in Patrick Kelly and a current Hammers loanee in Gideon Kodua, it is safe to say there was one very clear winner.
Patrick Kelly’s Barnsley beat Gideon Kodua’s Luton in meeting of West Ham United graduates
Wilshere knows all too well what Gideon Kodua can do. The former England international was the coach of Arsenal’s Under-18 side when Kodua captained West Ham to a 5-0 FA Youth Cup victory back in 2023. An exhilarating performance capped by a sumptuous lob from the Newham-born dynamo.
Speaking of 5-0 wins, Kodua found himself on the other side of a blitzing in South Yorkshire. For Wilshere though, that Barnsley obliteration may have brought back some very unhappy memories.
A month after Patrick Kelly opened his Barnsley account – the Northern Ireland international scoring his first goal since leaving West Ham on a free transfer – he popped up in the six-yard box to convert a cross from the dazzling Reyes Cleary.
Kelly put Barnsley 2-0 up after 35 minutes. So, 3-0 down at half-time, Wilshere would have been praying for Kodua to come to the fore after the interval. The West Ham loanee did indeed find the net, but not in the way Luton were planning. A mishit clearance in a crowded penalty area spinning into his own net.
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“I think 5-0, any time you get beaten 5-0 at any club, it stuns you and hits you hard,” Hatters captain Kal Naismith told Luton Today after the first major set-back of Wilshere’s managerial reputation and the heaviest defeat of Kodua’s senior career.
“We’re going to lose games, but I think any game we lose now, it’s catastrophic.
“Maybe us as players, because of how good it has been [under Wilsher] and how good it feels every day, being with each other and training, we probably came here with a little bit of swagger and arrogance which is what we need.
“I want the team to have that, but then you’ve got to do it as well. We just got a knock back, a little setback, but we’ll be back.”
Nuno Espirito Santo is putting faith in West Ham’s next generation
Luton have the option to sign Gideon Kodua permanently in 2026. So like the aforementioned Kelly, the versatile wideman may leave East London without ever making a first-team appearance for his parent club.
Nuno Espirito Santo is putting plenty of faith in the club’s next generation of fresh-faced talent, though. Under-21 captain Airidas Golambeckis made the squad for the first time before the international break. Mohamadou Kante, Finlay Herrick and Ezra Mayers are training with Nuno’s senior squad as well.
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Nuno is keen for Golambeckis and co to test themselves against the likes of Jarrod Bowen at Rush Green, while learning from the experience of those around him.
“Airidas, look at our centre-halves’ experience. And midfielders, look at [our] midfielders. This is how I look at the academy,” Nuno said before the 3-2 victory over Barnsley.
“Can we bring players and develop them? Maybe it’s not for now, but maybe in one year’s time we are talking about having more numbers of academy players in our squad. We have talent there. We just need to give them time and space to grow.”
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