‘A Star in the Making’ – West Ham’s Zavon Hines

Hines: A saucy striker for the future

West Ham can be credited with producing some of England’s finest talent of recent years. Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick and Glen Johnson all rose through the ranks at Upton Park to forge careers at ‘Big 4’ clubs whilst the likes of Mark Noble, Jack Collison and Freddie Sears are still on the books of the East End outfit.
It seems like every so often a new talent emerges from their ranks so what is so special about Zavon Hines?
After scoring the winner deep in extra time against Aston Villa, Hines’ name was on everyone’s lips but if you had been paying attention you would have noticed that the Jamaican born striker had been making waves beforehand.
After being spotted by Coventry manager Chris Coleman whilst impressing in the reserves, Hines went on loan at the Ricoh Arena for the latter stages of the 2007-08 season where he grabbed a goal against Sheffield Wednesday in his 7 appearances.
He returned to West Ham for the 2008-09 and after grabbing a goal in a Carling Cup tie against Macclesfield Town it looked like Hines would find himself involved with the first team more regularly but that would be his only appearance for the Hammers first team that season as a succession of injuries hampered the starlet’s progress.

But this season Hines has carried on where he left off with a series of impressive displays. He grabbed a goal in the controversial Carling Cup tie with Millwall, bursting past 3 of their players before blasting the ball past the helpless David Forde. Then he gave Jamie Carragher a torrid time, winning a penalty from the Scouser in West Ham’s 3-2 loss to Liverpool in September. He would also come off the bench in West Ham’s 3-1 loss to Man City with an impressive performance.
But at the start of November Hines really made a name for himself when in the dying minutes of West Ham’s game with Aston Villa, surrounded by Villa players and with the ball seemingly trapped under his feet, Hines put the ball past Brad Friedel to seal a 2-1 victory for West Ham.

Hines has impressed all with his attitude and the way he gets into goal scoring opportunities, when he misses a chance there is genuine disappointment is his expression. He uses his fast feet to confound opposition but it is his electric pace that really stands outs which makes him even more of a problem when he comes off the bench. In Carlton Cole’s injury enforced absence Hines may find himself starting more games than coming off the bench but will need to do better with the chances presented to him than he did at Everton.
After the euphoria of the Villa game, the Everton game only served to show that despite his impressive displays Hines is far from the completed article nut nevertheless if he continues working hard West Ham could have another star on their hands.