Ravel Morrison should NOT play for England

This is a plea in the national interest to the senior England team NOT to choose Ravel Morrison until after the World Cup.

After that breathtaking trip to White Hart Lane, which now seems like a foggy dream after a rare international break of actual importance, the name on everyone’s lips is Ravel Morrison.

Suddenly, after being ditched in the depths of football’s bad boys and labelled a thuggish outcast, Morrison has been linked with a new contract, a glorious return to Manchester United, and a seat on the plane to Brazil.

Many people have been credited with the early stages of Morrison’s rehabilitation - Sir Alex Ferguson and his Manchester United set-up for having the foresight to let him go, Sam Allardyce for patiently working with him, Lee Clark for nurturing him during his loan spell at Birmingham City and, of course, Morrison himself.

One of the most positive elements of West Ham at the moment is what seems to be a strong and united dressing room. It is fair to say Kevin Nolan’s lack of mobility in midfield may earn him some criticism, but his leadership skills are evidently some of the best we’ve had for some time. The English domination of the dressing room must also create a greater sense of comradeship than other recent groups we’ve had.

This background atmosphere is highly likely to be a major reason why Morrison has begun to flourish. Suddenly he feels part of a team, whom he is equal with, who are relying on him to focus and work alongside them. It has been widely reported that Mark Noble in particular has built a protective bond with Morrison and made gestures such as inviting him into his home for dinner in an attempt to help him to integrate with the squad.

No longer is he the problem child, confined to a special support unit in what is a huge, unforgiving and assumedly overwhelming machine in the form of Manchester United. Morrison has been freed of that boarding school environment, which he so easily rebelled from, and is now affectionately ‘one of the lads’.

The faster Morrison’s reputation elevates, the faster this cosy set-up will disintegrate. The organic support system now surrounding Morrison will protect him from himself until his own ego transcends his perception of the club. Stars such as Rio Ferdinand tried and failed to tame Morrison’s wayward attitude, so Nolan and Noble deserve credit.

Both having had distinguished Premiership careers, these two players have yet to attain an England cap and it looks increasingly likely that neither will get the opportunity to represent their country. Particularly for Nolan, who has consistently scored a high volume of goals in the Premier League, an England cap has remained an illusive pinnacle of his career which, frustratingly for him, it seems he will never reach.

I would not like to suggest either Nolan or Noble would begrudge Morrison of a chance to play for England, but human nature would suggest an element of envy would certainly affect the relationship if Morrison was handed a call-up just a few good games into his career. In addition to this, Morrison’s past psychological problems suggest that he may then begin to see himself as superior to the pair who have taken him under their wing, and the relationship in its current form will thus be destroyed.

I have been personally surprised by Morrison. I don’t think it his quality which is surprising but his personality. I imagined him to be far more boisterous than he has been. It seems it may have been a little unfair, but the ‘gangster-wannabe’ stereotype has inevitably been associated with Morrison.

After a couple of goals, I’m sure I’m not the only one who expected him to bowl out of the changing room, snatch the bottle of champagne from Geoff Shreeves and declare himself on par with Lionel Messi in a rap-infected dialect. But whether it is due to good advice or his own judgement, Morrison has remained impressively quiet.

It is, finally, his football thrusting him in the limelight. He is undoubtedly a player of immense quality and his penetration in the attack is very special; his ability to glide past players and complete the move with a finish was shown against Spurs and repeated for the under-21s on Tuesday night.

But the FA are already drawing intense attention to Morrison. In his few days with the under-21 squad they released a video of his skills in slow motion, set against a dramatic, operatic soundtrack, and also leaked footage of him scoring an ‘outrageous chip’ in training. West Ham have also used Morrison’s image to promote today’s game.

2 goals for the under-21s will not help us quieten the Morrison hysteria - but a heated exchange with Manchester United’s Wilfried Zaha was a reminder that his maturing transition from hot-headed prospect to world-class is not yet complete.

I don’t wish to put a downer on the Morrison revelation. He is a player of immense quality and has been a breath of fresh air and much-needed creativity in our team. It would be great to keep him as part of our progress as a club into the Olympic Stadium, but if not, dependent on contract clauses, we could make a huge profit on him enabling us to propel the club upwards, much like how Tottenham have profited from Gareth Bale.

But Morrison is a complex issue. It may seem selfish from a West Ham perspective, but, at 20 years of age, I think at least a season focussing on domestic football, off of the international stage, would be beneficial for everyone. Undoubtedly Roy Hodgson and Allardyce will speak about Morrison, time will tell if they feel the same way.

Follow me on Twitter @RichMaher93

EXCLUSIVE: Interview with David Sullivan on University, East London and Olympic Stadium

David Sullivan is the proud owner of Premiership football club West Ham United, who will soon be moving into the 54,000 capacity Olympic Stadium. His journey to riches and controlling the club he supports has been somewhat unconventional - but it all began at Queen Mary.

Mr Sullivan made his millions in the adult industry and admits he was a little naive with regards to the stigma attached to his business. However, it is fair to say he has little regret considering the fact he became a millionaire just 3 years after graduation.

Sullivan insists “it was a very easy market as it hadn’t been exploited and the people in it were like old gangsters so if you had a bit of marketing skill and some brains you could slice right through it and make bundles of money”.

Undoubtedly, Sullivan is a very shrewd and intelligent man. He achieved 3 As at A Level before veering away from the likes of Oxford and Cambridge in the hope of a less ferocious three years at university.

He eventually decided to follow his brother to Queen Mary to study Economics. “Queen Mary was a really good college”, he said, “they call them all universities now to cheat the stats, but they’re really polytechnics called universities”.

The Hammers’ chairman certainly reflects back on his time with mixed emotions. Whilst he gets a warm feeling if he returns to the area, an issue which resulted in him narrowly missing out on being one of the only students in his subject to get a First still bothers him.

“Unfortunately we were taught the wrong maths syllabus and with 3 weeks to go our stupid, stupid young teacher said I’ve taught you the wrong stuff and I’ve now got to teach you 2 years in 3 weeks” he said. “I would have got a First had I been taught the right syllabus. I’m still bitter! Even 43 years later I’m sour about it”.

Whilst being happy he did the course, Mr Sullivan concedes that university probably wasn’t the best years of his life - and he’s certain that the six boys to one girl ratio in the economics department played a big part in that!

Sullivan had a fair amount of involvement with the Students’ Union during his time. “I was chairman of the economics society”, he said. “And I ran for President but they disbarred me because I was going to win! Because the Economics department was down the road then it was scary for them that someone from outside the main university could win”.

In terms of sport, Sullivan trained with the University of London boxers religiously during his second year, but he is more grateful for what he avoided rather than what he gained from the experience. “One night we were due to fight the British army who would’ve absolutely mutilated us”, he said, “it got called off for some emergency - I look back now and it was like a miracle! It would’ve been like slaughter!”.

Despite earning such a fortune so shortly after graduating, Sullivan does not underestimate the challenges faced by current students. He described the ‘work-for-free’ and internship culture as appalling and admitted it was far simpler for him to find employment in his time.

With so much money in the bank, Sullivan came to a point in his late-twenties when he questioned what to do with his life. After exploits in race horses and independent films (as well as an early attempt to get on the board at West Ham), Sullivan purchased Birmingham City FC with business partner David Gold.

“We bought Birmingham to have a hobby and a bit of fun”, he said, “that’s one thing money allows you to do. But the fans knew we wanted to be back in London and, despite being there for 17 years, they didn’t really respect the job we did until after we left”.

After finally taking over his beloved West Ham in 2010, again with David Gold and Karren Brady, Sullivan claims the West Ham fans have been far more appreciative of his efforts, especially the initiatives like ‘kid-for-a-quid’ and other attempts to “put a bit back into the community”.

A little unsatisfied, he hopes that even better times for West Ham are just around the corner, and is clearly itching to progress further. But he is very happy that he and David Gold have managed to secure the Olympic Stadium as the Hammers’ new home ground.

“I think it’ll be fantastic”, he said, “I think we’ll attract new supporters and the atmosphere will be terrific. The alternative is an empty stadium - that’s no legacy. We’ll have a vibrant stadium that’s used all the time and the surrounding area will get a huge boom on match-days. The legacy will be jobs, usage and the fact that every time people come they’ll think of the Olympics - mentally there will be a legacy”.

It has been reported that the extra capacity will allow West Ham to offer tickets at a very reasonable rate in comparison to the average fee for a Premier League football match.  Ticketing initiatives involving local schools and colleges are inevitable and Sullivan insists Queen Mary could be a part of that.

Surprisingly, with so many universities in London and Queen Mary just five stops away from Upton Park on the District Line, the student market hasn’t been particularly fruitful for West Ham. “We’ve tried cheap deals where students would have to produce an NUS card and we only sold a handful of tickets. I used to go when I was a student so I thought they would watch football - it’s a market we will continue to work on”.

Another market Sullivan is keen to penetrate is “English-Asians”. He explained that much of West Ham’s core support had now moved out further into Essex and that many areas of East London had become far more multicultural and “many of those living there don’t support football”.

“We are attracting small numbers”, he said, “we do have some Indian and Pakistani season ticket holders of all ages and a few corporate clients but we would love to become the club that English-Asians supports in London and that is probably our next big challenge”.

At the age of 64, Sullivan shows no sign of slowing down. His memories of Queen Mary are still incredibly detailed and vivid but his mind is certainly in the future as opposed to the past.

“They’ve never invited me back for an honorary doctorship or anything” he said, citing Karren Brady’s honorary doctorate with a little envy. Perhaps Queen Mary should be looking to to form a better relationship with this member of their alumni who is bringing accessible Premiership football even closer to their doorstep.

This article was written for QMessenger (http://www.qmessenger.co.uk/2013/10/515/), the student newspaper for Queen Mary , University of London