West Ham academy chief hails Graham Potter influence on wonderkids – ‘my eyes opened up’

Ollie Scarles has developed into a part of the first-team squad at West Ham since his Premier League debut and academy chief Kenny Brown points to manager Graham Potter’s support

West Ham United’s reputation as a breeding ground for top young talents precedes them, but sometimes it takes the emergence of the latest first-teamer to remind people there have been times when that wasn’t the case. For every Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole or Mark Noble, there are countless more who get within touching distance but don’t quite make the grade.

There have been green shoots and then some over the last 12 months, though. George Earthy’s emergence at the end of last season brought positivity at a time when on-field results weren’t what they might have been, while this year it’s been the turn of Ollie Scarles to step up.

Scarles, 19, made his senior debut under David Moyes, playing 90 minutes in the Conference League against FCSB in November 2022. His Premier League bow followed in December, when Julen Lopetegui was in charge, but it’s under Graham Potter where the teenager has seen opportunities come his way in earnest.

When West Ham travelled to the Emirates Stadium in February, Potter trusted Scarles to start at left wing-back. He played a full 90 for the first time in the Premier League, keeping Champions League winner Emerson on the bench, and Jarrod Bowen scored a famous winner for the Hammers.

The last few months have been a whirlwind not just for Scarles but also for Kenny Brown, the former West Ham defender who took over as the club’s academy manager in 2023. Speaking to Mirror Football at a special screening of Premier League Stories: Dylan Tombides at Curzon Bloomsbury, to mark the start of Testicular Cancer Awareness Month, Brown opened up on how he has worked with Potter to get his academy stars ready for first-team action – and why he’s sure Scarles won’t be the last to make the step up.

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“I think we can create a pathway within the academy but what you need and what these players need is an opportunity,” Brown says. “We’ve got a manager at the moment in Graham who quite quickly identified Ollie and got him in the first team environent and he hasn’t looked back.

“I’m sure he’s going to have a brilliant future with us. But there’s others alongside that, we’ve got talented players out on loan, they’re going to have an opportunity to be under the company of the new management in pre season and then it’s down to them.

“But what you do know and what’s been evident is that if you’re good enough then the manager will pick you and get you involved. It’s very much a bit down to the players to show what you can do because the manager’s going to have eyes on you.”

Former Hammers star Matt Jarvis has been similarly impressed with Scarles’ rise into the first team. Jarvis played alongside academy graduates Mark Noble and James Tomkins in the majority of his 90 games in West Ham colours, and also saw much younger players given their opportunities under managers Sam Allardyce and Slaven Bilic.

He’s been impressed by Scarles in particular this term, while fellow academy talents Kaelan Casey and Lewis Orford have earned senior minutes this term. “That’s a big part of the West Ham way, bringing youngsters through, and Scarles is the one this season that’s really stamped his place into the team,” he says.

Potter’s own comments after that Arsenal game tell their own story. “I said after the game, of course it’s his football quality, but I think he played the game as if he’d been there before, almost,” the manager said.

“He was intercepting things, his reading of the game was at a really good level, so again, I say credit to him, his family, the Academy, because that development process has been a long project. He’s done a good job but, as I said, he’s a young player that we have to be careful with, not to speak too much about, but certainly from the initial first impressions of him, it’s really positive.”

Comments like those from the manager, as well as the simple willingness to trust youngsters in the first team, have made Brown’s job that bit easier too. “You can’t underestimate how valuable that is,” he adds.

“It’s tough when you see talented players not getting an opportunity now, and for different reasons. there’s definitely not a slight on our previous managers in David and Julen. because I think also you’ve got to think back, they’re a little bit younger, the players, they’re a bit wiser now, a bit older, got a bit more experience, and you just think with that you do need a manager who backs it.

“I remember looking at one of [Potter’s] first interviews, he mentioned the academy and my eyes opened up and my ears pricked up and I went ‘okay, let’s see – that sounds good’, but he’s completely backed it.

“He’s been a breath of fresh air for the academy but you’ve got to be good to get in. It’s supposed to be tough – it’s a tough environment but we believe the players and their characters will be good enough – along with their talent – to make their way as players”

It’s not just about getting the opportunity to audition, though. As Brown recognises, these youngsters need to be able to bounce back from mistakes as well as building on those stand-out performances, and he’s confident Potter can recognise that too.

“You can have a great academy but if you don’t get anyone into the first team, is it a great academy?” he asks. “Likewise, if you get a load in, does it make the academy all singing all dancing? No because we’re still making mistakes and still not getting it right.

“But what you find is that the boys that show those attributes both on and off the pitch have got the best opportunity to get through, and we’ve got a manager now that will give them that opportunity and that chance and will back them, and knows how to handle them. So they’re going to make mistakes, they’re going to do things wrong, but what will happen is you look at Graham and his staff and they want to help develop them.

“Because they’re still young in their game. The Rios, the Joe Coles, they made loads of mistakes but they had the staff around them to support them. And through the academy and now through the first team, they’ve got loads of support for those moments.”

West Ham host Bournemouth on Saturday, looking to pick up points where they can between now and the end of the season. Potter’s side were quiet in the January transfer window, but the current squad members – including those youngsters – will want to show the boss they deserve to be in his plans next season.

“It’s a really good squad of players, definitely,” Jarvis adds. “Everyone’s going to want to bring in players, even if you’re top of the league and you’ve won the league you’re still going to want to bring in players because you need to freshen it up, so that will always be the case. But it’s a really good squad and the manager knows how he’s going to want to adapt the team.

“Now he’s had a good opportunity to look at the players and the squad and realise potentially maybe what he needs or what he’s already got. Especially for West Ham and the academy as well, that’s such a big pull that anyone has.”

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