West Ham United Ladies are planning for a sustainable future if the club’s Development Squad is anything to go by
West Ham United Ladies are planning for a sustainable future if the club’s Development Squad is anything to go by.
Under the direction of manager Andy Hill, the Ladies’ second-string has produced a steady stream of players for consideration by first-team boss Julian Dicks.
With the Development Squad challenging for the FA Women’s Premier League (Reserves) Southern Division with five matches still to play, Hill is happy with the way things are going.
“Looking back at the season overall for the Development Squad, I don’t think anyone could anticipate just how well we did in the run up to Christmas,” he reflected.
“We’d played something like 15 games and were top for a large part of that because we’ve stood up to every challenge, worked hard and although as a manger you don’t really want to get carried away with results, a good run can make other teams sit up and be wary of our squad.
“For me, though, this part of the season is a completely new challenge for them because they are not picking up the results like they were at the start of this season.
“We have been the much better team in most of our games and got the results that we quite rightly deserve but now that the going is starting to get a little bit tough, it will be interesting to see how much the girls really want it.”
Hill was alluding to a run of just two league wins since the turn of the year which has seen West Ham drop off the top of the table.
“Overall this season, I am 100% happy with the standard of my team and one of the main areas that I wanted to focus on when I took the job in the summer was the progression of girls through the Development Squad and into the first team,” the 26-year-old confirmed.
“It would be easy to sit and talk about Jade Smith and Whitney Locke, who have been regularly in and around the first team, but I think we have had nine Development Squad players either train, travel or play for Julian Dicks’ first team so far this season.
“We have then been able to bring players up from the U18 team and they are making an impact for the Development Squad – players like Danielle Sillitoe, Natalie Strange, Alleah Headley and Ciara Bland. Those four have been fantastic this season and have even been impressing Julian over the past few months, so it shows that we are on the right track.”
The Development Squad traveled to Chichester City last Sunday and returned to winning ways with a 1-0 victory through Katie Bottom’s late goal
Dicks’ first-team had a weekend off after coming from a goal down to thrash Gillingham Ladies 5-1 at Aveley FC. Emma Sherwood and Lily Mellors scored twice each, while Vicky King was also on target.
West Ham will look to repeat that scoreline when they head to Kent for the reverse fixture on Sunday 29 March, before traveling to South Wales to face top side Cardiff on 5 April.
The next home match will see Charlton visit Aveley FC on Tuesday 7 April at 7.45pm.
Follow updates from all Ladies' fixtures on Twitter @westhamladies.
Under the direction of manager Andy Hill, the Ladies’ second-string has produced a steady stream of players for consideration by first-team boss Julian Dicks.
With the Development Squad challenging for the FA Women’s Premier League (Reserves) Southern Division with five matches still to play, Hill is happy with the way things are going.
“Looking back at the season overall for the Development Squad, I don’t think anyone could anticipate just how well we did in the run up to Christmas,” he reflected.
“We’d played something like 15 games and were top for a large part of that because we’ve stood up to every challenge, worked hard and although as a manger you don’t really want to get carried away with results, a good run can make other teams sit up and be wary of our squad.
“For me, though, this part of the season is a completely new challenge for them because they are not picking up the results like they were at the start of this season.
“We have been the much better team in most of our games and got the results that we quite rightly deserve but now that the going is starting to get a little bit tough, it will be interesting to see how much the girls really want it.”
Hill was alluding to a run of just two league wins since the turn of the year which has seen West Ham drop off the top of the table.
“Overall this season, I am 100% happy with the standard of my team and one of the main areas that I wanted to focus on when I took the job in the summer was the progression of girls through the Development Squad and into the first team,” the 26-year-old confirmed.
“It would be easy to sit and talk about Jade Smith and Whitney Locke, who have been regularly in and around the first team, but I think we have had nine Development Squad players either train, travel or play for Julian Dicks’ first team so far this season.
“We have then been able to bring players up from the U18 team and they are making an impact for the Development Squad – players like Danielle Sillitoe, Natalie Strange, Alleah Headley and Ciara Bland. Those four have been fantastic this season and have even been impressing Julian over the past few months, so it shows that we are on the right track.”
The Development Squad traveled to Chichester City last Sunday and returned to winning ways with a 1-0 victory through Katie Bottom’s late goal
Dicks’ first-team had a weekend off after coming from a goal down to thrash Gillingham Ladies 5-1 at Aveley FC. Emma Sherwood and Lily Mellors scored twice each, while Vicky King was also on target.
West Ham will look to repeat that scoreline when they head to Kent for the reverse fixture on Sunday 29 March, before traveling to South Wales to face top side Cardiff on 5 April.
The next home match will see Charlton visit Aveley FC on Tuesday 7 April at 7.45pm.
Follow updates from all Ladies' fixtures on Twitter @westhamladies.