Playing the kids was the right thing for West Ham to do

Nottingham Forest's Jack Hobbs (right) and West Ham United's George Moncur battle for the ball during the FA Cup Third Round match at the City Ground, Nottingham. (Image: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

The mauling at the City ground was hard to watch, our young guns were literally lambs to the slaughter. Nottingham Forest from the first to the last minute were in complete control and 5-0 was just about right.

Now I don’t for one minute think such a demolition could be a good thing for our up and coming youngsters; one shudders to think how George Moncur for example will recover from such a horrific debut for the first team.

However I can completely understand why Sam threw our young guns to the wolves.

There is now only room for two priorities in West Ham’s increasingly flagging season, they are staying in the Premier League and attempting to win the league cup, our squad with all the injuries we’re currently suffering with is simply not big enough to cope with any more.

We’re 180 minutes from this club’s first cup final in 8 years; of course Sam was going to prioritise that over a by comparison meaningless FA cup tie. I feel for the fans that travelled up to Nottingham and witnessed the debacle and after such a pathetic performance I would agree with those calling for a refund; but I don’t think Sam had a choice but to name the team he named.

Our injury list is truly horrendous and we have to give ourselves the best possible chance against the superstars of Man City on Wednesday night, so surely we can all understand Sam wanting to rest our better players for a far more important game?

It wasn’t pretty and I feel for our young players, it’s not fair that they were put through such a humiliating defeat with barely any senior players to shoulder the responsibility and lead the way, but I can guarantee if the injury situation wasn’t so bad Sam would have had more experience in the team and on the bench.

As hard as it is to admit for a club like ours with such proud FA cup traditions and heritage; the cup ultimately had to be sacrificed for the bigger picture: attempting to stay in the league and attempting to win the Capital One Cup.

I’m not saying we’re going to achieve either goal, I can’t predict the future, but I am saying that being out of the FA Cup, not having to worry about replays and a further congested fixture list will definitely help our cause.