Birmingham boss hails West Ham loanee after Leicester and Millwall performances

By Tom Moore Wednesday, October 24, 2012
12:58 PM

Birmingham City manager Lee Clark is delighted with the way West Ham youngster Ravel Morrison has responded to his instructions after his excellent performances against Leicester and Millwall.

The Blues boss was unhappy with the way the 19-year-old, who is on loan at St Andrews for the season, was performing in training and it had been reported that the senior players had lost patience with him sparking the possibility of a return to West Ham in January.

However, the pair had clear-the-air talks which have seen a big improvement in Morrison.

“Since the conversation I’ve had with him he’s improved,” the Birmingham boss added. “He’s a super kid.

“I know there have been headlines about things that have happened off the field.

“I haven’t had a problem with him off the field. He loves his football. You see a big smile on his face when training.

“When things weren’t going his way, his level of performance in training was affected.

“He was on a downward spiral and we had the watershed moment. I had the conversation with him and told him that I didn’t bring him to the football club to be a sub sometimes.

“I want him to be one of the main players. He’s knuckled down. His training has been excellent and he was outstanding in a development game before Leicester.

“I gave him a chance and he’s done well. He’s got to be consistent and we’ll continue to help him.

Clark has been impressed with Morrison’s performances in the past week and was especially impressed with how the 19-year-old coped in a hostile Den atmosphere.

“He’s done really well in the last two games,” Clark added.

“He’s still a youngster and though it hadn’t gone well for him in the first half , he had the courage and conviction to come out in the second half.

“He mirrored what the team did. There aren’t more intimidating places like this when you’re parent club is West Ham.”

During Morrison’s time at Manchester United he was fined £1,445 in costs and compensation after admitting two counts of witness intimidation in early 2011.

Morrison joined the Hammers in January 2012 and only made one appearance for the east Londoners, as a substitute against Leeds. A month later he was fined £7,000 for posting a homophobic threat on Twitter.