Is it time to expose the Academy myth?

 

It is our big boast. OK, a World Cup apart, we have never really won much - a few FA Cups, a Cup Winners Cup and an Inter Toto token - but we are the seedbed of English football talent. Made in West Ham is stamped on the arse of most talented English players and without Tony Carr and our famed Academy, the England national team would be...well rubbish!

Just trot out the names of our home grown stars: Moore, Hurst, Peters, Brooking, Martin, Lampard, Ince, Ferdinand, Carrick, Cole, Johnson, Terry, Defoe...the list is...well not that long actually, and not that fantastic when you analyse it closely.

Indeed, take out Moore and Peters, two true greats, and what have you got?

Hurst will always be remembered for that World Cup final, but he wasn't even a first choice player as the 66 World Cup approached and would not stand comparison with, for example, Alan Shearer.

Brooking is revered by Hammers fans but took an age to break through into the national side and never really left a significant imprint on the international game. There was that game against Hungary and, that apart, he was ordinary.

West Ham fans will hate me saying this, but Lampard is the third best product of the Academy. His record for Chelsea in terms of appearances, goals and honours ranks him up there with the greats of the game. He may be fat but his record is fantastic.

What of Rio? For me, he remains an unfulfilled talent . He was supposed to be the new Bobby Moore or Franz Beckenbauer but he has never reached those heights. A very good defender yes; a great player? Never.

Ince made the best of his talent but, that goal against Millwall apart, he never really set the world on fire did he?

Does Terry count? Not for me. Do we want to claim him given his personality and loyalty to Chelsea anyway?

And as for Cole, Carrick, Johnson and Defoe - they are the great underachievers of the so called "golden generation", players who were supposedly supremely gifted but who have wasted their talent or been found wanting at the highest level.

And what have we produced since? Tomkins and Noble. I rate both, but neither have progressed to the full England team yet.

And the latest crop? The decision to send them out on loan does not bode well. If you are good enough, you are old enough. Some are expressing surprise that Potts and Hall, in particular, have been allowed to leave given the threadbare nature of our squad but that suggests that Allardyce knows they are not up to the job. It could be a case of Freddie Sears all over again.

Whisper it quietly, but maybe the Academy is not all we crack it up to be!