Again we are backing looking into a younger option that Sam Allardyce might like to consider. Ipswich Towns Tommy Smith is a product of their youth system, but has had to bide his time since becoming a senior player in 2007. Part of that process has included going out on loan to Stevenage, Brentford and Colchester in order to learn his trade. He has now gone through that process and has established himself as a regular with Ipswich both this season and last season. The 23-year-old has established himself as the sixth most in-form player in the Championship this season with an average rating of 7.54. The players obvious talent is further underpinned by playing 30 international games, scoring two goals for New Zealand since making his international debut in 2010. In terms of his stats this season, Smith has managed 1.3 tackles, 1.1 interceptions, 13.4 clearances and 0.8 blocked shots per match; he has also managed to contribute on the goal front by scoring three times in 24 games this season. The great thing about this player is he seems to have plenty of room to grow and improve, despite being in such good form this season. Do you think West Ham should consider signing any of these players? Share your thoughts below in the comments thread.
James Kent is a freelance writer published on Yahoo! Sports, Bleacher Report, FTBpro, Bloomberg Sports and many others. He has also been featured in the Daily Telegraph, Zoo Magazine, MSN Sport and the Manchester Evening News.
His role on What Culture is currently to produce compelling football articles that nearly always use of combination of stats and strong opinion. Feel free to connect with James via Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.
