Andy Irving’s disappointing loan spell at SK Austria Klagenfurt is partly West Ham United’s fault, with a failure to outline his future clearly causing problems.
That’s according to Klagenfurt managing director Günther Gorenzel, who has criticised West Ham for their approach to the 23-year-old.
Irving joined West Ham in a €1.76m deal from Klagenfurt in August last year but was instantly sent back on loan to the Austrian side for the remainder of the season.
He’s been a regular for them so far with 23 appearances to his name in the Bundesliga but has found himself out of the side since the middle of March, only managing 18 minutes, 31 minutes, 33 minutes and 45 minutes in his last four games.
That’s come amid a poor run of form for the club, whose last win came against Blau Weiss Linz back in February and has been followed by a run of no wins in six, including three defeats.
That’s seen Irving replaced in the team, with criticism coming his way for his performances and questions being raised about the West Ham loanee.
That’s unjustified for Gorenzel, though, who believes the player’s parent club are to blame for the situation he currently finds himself in.
“He is constantly being monitored. There is also monitoring on his nutritional supplements, where certain things are specified and then athletic monitoring of training and games,” he said.
“But yes, of course the transfer does something to a player and it’s the same with him. Andy was still in the third German league two years ago. It’s a huge step for Andy, this transfer, and it’s done something to him.
“I am convinced that he will still play an important role in the remaining games, and we will see where we go but this all has something to do with a young player not knowing exactly where he will be next year.
“We will see whether he will actually train with West Ham and play or whether he will continue to be loaned out.”
He isn’t the only one with that opinion either, with LASK striker Robert Zulj also believing that the transfer to West Ham hasn’t helped matters.
“I think that Irving is a good player, he’s already proven that. Of course he’s going through a phase now and that’s completely normal,” he added.
“It’s normal that something happens to you in your head. It’s important for him to know what will happen in the future, to have clarity on where he’s going to play, so he can focus on that.
“I was extremely happy that he was able to move from the Austrian league to West Ham and from a club that isn’t Salzburg. That doesn’t happen every day and there’s huge respect for Klagenfurt.”
