West Ham U21’s lead coach Steve Potts and his assistant coach Gerard Prenderville recently sat down with the club’s official website to reflect on what was a hugely successful 23/24 campaign for the young Hammers.
The U21’s finished second place in the main PL2 season, despite a quarter final defeat away against Sunderland on penalties in their final game of the 23/24 season.
George Earthy and Callum Marshall were both nominated for the PL2 Player of the Season Award. The U21’s managed to reach the PL International Cup semi finals as well as the last 16 of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy having picked up wins against senior sides in Bristol Rovers, Newport County, Cheltenham Town and Colchester United.
Both Michael Forbes and Callum Marshall won senior caps for Northern Ireland, whilst George Earthy and Kaelan Casey made their Premier League debuts this season. Although the U21’s did not lift any silverware this season, there was certainly a lot for both Steve Potts and Gerard Prenderville to be proud of.
Reflecting on the season as a whole, lead coach Potts said: “Whoever has come into the team has done well and even with a few going out on loan in January didn’t affect us too much. We talk a lot as coaches after training and we’ve never come in and gone: ‘The boys weren’t at it today’. Every day they train well. That makes such a difference on match days.”
Giving his take on the campaign as a whole, assistant coach Prenderville said: “The group has such a huge love for football – and getting second place in the league is down to how they apply themselves at Rush Green. If I had to pick out one game, I would probably say the win over Liverpool, which was just a great away performance, although the result at Leeds United was good too !”
Discussing the chances of members of the U21’s making the step up to the first team, Potts said: “I don’t think we are getting ahead of ourselves when we say this Under 21 group are at a really good level to push on and forge careers for themselves. They’ve done well in the competitions with the U21s, but a lot of people don’t see how well they do when they are training with the first team. One or two have made their debuts, yes, but there is still a long way to go.”