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Why Manchester United finally gave up on Ravel Morrison & had to let him join West Ham
The controversial 18-year-old midfielder joined the Hammers in a £1m deal on deadline day after a series of off-field problems at Old Trafford
1 Feb 2012 13:47:00
Getty
ANALYSIS
By Greg Stobart | Northern Correspondent
Sir Alex Ferguson will reflect on Ravel Morrison’s transfer to West Ham with a twinge of sadness about what might have been.
When everyone else at Manchester United, including the coaching staff and the senior players, had given up on the controversial 18-year-old, the manager persevered.
Ferguson recognised the natural talent in Morrison’s boots and stuck with the attacking midfielder when most other players would have been shown the door a long time ago.
But even the United boss had to eventually concede defeat in his attempts to nurture a talent widely described as the best to emerge from the club’s Academy since Paul Scholes.
"The case with Ravel is well documented,” Ferguson said on Tuesday night. “I think he’s better out of Manchester to be honest with you. He’s got a great talent, but having to deal with that is very important."
That, in a nutshell, is why Morrison is now a West Ham player, having signed in a deal worth up to £1 million after United told him to find a new club with six months remaining on his existing contract at Old Trafford.
Few people at United have a good word to say about Morrison, who had a string of disciplinary issues within the club, not to mention the far more serious problems, including a 12-month referral order after pleading guilty to witness intimidation early last year.
Morrison spoke on Tuesday night of his desperation to play first-team football having grown frustrated with a lack of opportunities at United - but he would have had far more to show from his time at the club had he shown more application.
Instead, he made just three appearances - all in the League Cup - before leaving United, with the club not even including a buy-back clause in the deal.
Every day in training he was in contact with players who had reaped the reward for their hard work and sacrifices. But Morrison disregarded the prospect of medals, status and fame; instead getting dragged into a murky group of hangers-on in his hometown of Denton.
While many modern Premier League players may present a ‘gangster’ image, few allow themselves to get caught up in the trouble that has followed - and you fear will continue to follow - Morrison everywhere he goes.
And that’s why Ferguson accepts Morrison needs to get out of Manchester, to remove the leeches who latched onto his status and wealth as a footballer at the most successful club in the country.
The East End of London may not be the most natural fit for a young man who needs a fresh start, but he is likely to be housed in leafy Essex and under Sam Allardyce - a good friend of Ferguson’s - there is a chance he could fulfill is potential and eventually be worth more than £30m.
The suggestion is that his entourage will not follow him down south. That’s a start, but nobody who has worked with Morrison would bet on Morrison staying out of trouble. He appears destined to become a wasted talent. The legitimate question is being asked: if Fergie can’t sort him out, who possibly could?
One thing is for sure, Morrison is not leaving United because he doesn’t have the ability on the pitch. He has all the ingredients to make a top Premier League player: physically powerful, elegant and skillful on the ball with superb vision.
Since the age of 14, Morrison has been billed as the next big thing to come out of United and he appealed to a wider audience with a series of excellent displays in the side that won the FA Youth Cup.
But he simply couldn’t be tamed, despite all the chances he was given. Whether it’s absenteeism, intimidating victims of street robberies or throwing his girlfriend’s phone out of a window; Morrison has showed no signs that he has learned.
His age, his circumstances, his difficult upbringing, were taken into account by the people at United - but their patience could only extend so far.
Morrison will earn around £20,000-a-week at West Ham after signing a three-and-a-half year deal. It could eventually be considered the most inspired transfer of this window - or it could represent the end of a career most who have worked with him consider to be doomed.
It got to the stage where it was never going to work out in the red of Manchester United. Even Ferguson will hope that the change of environment will do Morrison some good.
By Greg Stobart | Northern Correspondent
Sir Alex Ferguson will reflect on Ravel Morrison’s transfer to West Ham with a twinge of sadness about what might have been.
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When everyone else at Manchester United, including the coaching staff and the senior players, had given up on the controversial 18-year-old, the manager persevered.
Ferguson recognised the natural talent in Morrison’s boots and stuck with the attacking midfielder when most other players would have been shown the door a long time ago.
But even the United boss had to eventually concede defeat in his attempts to nurture a talent widely described as the best to emerge from the club’s Academy since Paul Scholes.
"The case with Ravel is well documented,” Ferguson said on Tuesday night. “I think he’s better out of Manchester to be honest with you. He’s got a great talent, but having to deal with that is very important."
That, in a nutshell, is why Morrison is now a West Ham player, having signed in a deal worth up to £1 million after United told him to find a new club with six months remaining on his existing contract at Old Trafford.
Few people at United have a good word to say about Morrison, who had a string of disciplinary issues within the club, not to mention the far more serious problems, including a 12-month referral order after pleading guilty to witness intimidation early last year.
| "He simply couldn’t be tamed, despite all the chances he was given. Whether it’s absenteeism, intimidating victims of street robberies or throwing his girlfriend’s phone out of a window; Morrison has showed no signs that he has learned" |  |
Instead, he made just three appearances - all in the League Cup - before leaving United, with the club not even including a buy-back clause in the deal.
Every day in training he was in contact with players who had reaped the reward for their hard work and sacrifices. But Morrison disregarded the prospect of medals, status and fame; instead getting dragged into a murky group of hangers-on in his hometown of Denton.
While many modern Premier League players may present a ‘gangster’ image, few allow themselves to get caught up in the trouble that has followed - and you fear will continue to follow - Morrison everywhere he goes.
And that’s why Ferguson accepts Morrison needs to get out of Manchester, to remove the leeches who latched onto his status and wealth as a footballer at the most successful club in the country.
The East End of London may not be the most natural fit for a young man who needs a fresh start, but he is likely to be housed in leafy Essex and under Sam Allardyce - a good friend of Ferguson’s - there is a chance he could fulfill is potential and eventually be worth more than £30m.
The suggestion is that his entourage will not follow him down south. That’s a start, but nobody who has worked with Morrison would bet on Morrison staying out of trouble. He appears destined to become a wasted talent. The legitimate question is being asked: if Fergie can’t sort him out, who possibly could?
One thing is for sure, Morrison is not leaving United because he doesn’t have the ability on the pitch. He has all the ingredients to make a top Premier League player: physically powerful, elegant and skillful on the ball with superb vision.
Since the age of 14, Morrison has been billed as the next big thing to come out of United and he appealed to a wider audience with a series of excellent displays in the side that won the FA Youth Cup.
But he simply couldn’t be tamed, despite all the chances he was given. Whether it’s absenteeism, intimidating victims of street robberies or throwing his girlfriend’s phone out of a window; Morrison has showed no signs that he has learned.
His age, his circumstances, his difficult upbringing, were taken into account by the people at United - but their patience could only extend so far.
Morrison will earn around £20,000-a-week at West Ham after signing a three-and-a-half year deal. It could eventually be considered the most inspired transfer of this window - or it could represent the end of a career most who have worked with him consider to be doomed.
It got to the stage where it was never going to work out in the red of Manchester United. Even Ferguson will hope that the change of environment will do Morrison some good.
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|
| Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £50 in free bets! |
|
| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
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Live!
England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 4-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.
Hosted by Joe Doyle
Hosted by Joe Doyle
19:59 BST
Unfortunately for Northern Ireland, they are trailing the Netherlands 4-0 at half-time. Looks like that one's all sewn up then.
19:54 BST
We're still getting plenty of Hazard chat on Twitter. A few are now saying that he's not worth the hype, others saying he was brilliant(!?) and others (which I agree with), saying he created much of his own hype. What do you think? Get involved!
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
19:35 BST
And another point from today: Eden Hazard wasn't great. Don't think you can judge him on one performance though. What do you think? Is it just a case of too much hype around the Chelsea-bound Belgian?
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