Monday 14 September 2015 10:49, UK
Michail Antonio could complete his journey from non-league to Premier League when West Ham host Newcastle United on Monday Night Football. Adam Bate got the views of ex-team-mates and coaches to find out more about the Hammers' new signing…
With Slaven Bilic's West Ham facing Steve McClaren's Newcastle, much of the focus ahead of Monday Night Football will be on events that happened in November 2007. It's indicative of how far he's come that West Ham's new £7m signing Michail Antonio was lining up for Tooting & Mitcham United in the second tier of the Isthmian League at the time.
Antonio's route to the top has been far from typical. There was no academy life for him. Even when the big break did come with Reading, he made more appearances out on loan at five different clubs - winning the Football League Trophy with Southampton in 2010 - than he did in four years for his parent club. Former West Ham man Martin Allen, then in charge of Cheltenham, was one of the coaches to give him a go.
"I took him on loan," Allen told Sky Sports. "He was a very pacey right-sider with a long throw. A good athlete and a down-to-earth lad too." But he was raw. During a later loan spell at Colchester, manager John Ward described his finishing as "very wayward", bemoaning Antonio's unfortunate habit of "knocking it on the A12".
There was potential but it would not be realised with the Royals. "Reading took him and then let him go, surprisingly," added Allen. "They didn't really sell him for enough money." It was in a Sheffield Wednesday shirt that Antonio's development would really become apparent - off the field as well as on it.
David Prutton, now a pundit with Sky Sports, was a team-mate for much of Antonio's stay at Hillsborough and remains in touch. "I rang him before the Forest game at the start of the season for a bit of insight," said Prutton. "He was as good as gold and had plenty of time for me. Let's just say some players might have been too busy.
"That non-league experience gives him perspective and the grounding you want in a player. When he came to Wednesday, there was a bit of maturing that happened that first season that endeared him to the lads too. He really grew into it. That temperament is going to stand him in good stead."
He was a tremendous team-mate because of the attributes that he's got. He's tremendously strong and quick. He's just so direct.
It's not that Antonio didn't have an ego, but that it was a positive - "you need that to perform in front of 20,000 people" - and it wasn't long before he emerged as Wednesday's most important player. In one of the Championship's struggling sides, Antonio was the man who provided the threat.
"He was a tremendous team-mate because of the attributes that he's got," said Prutton. "He's tremendously strong and quick. He's just so direct. When you're at a team like Wednesday were at the time, what you want is that kind of outlet like Antonio who can carry the ball 40 or 50 yards up the pitch. He was a massive player for us."
A move to Nottingham Forest followed in 2014 and Antonio proved just as vital to his new club. He scored 14 goals in the Championship last season and ranked in the top three in the division for completed dribbles. Prutton, a former Forest midfielder himself, feels that solo work should not be underestimated - it's teamwork of a different type.
"There was one stage at Forest last season when Andy Reid and Britt Assombalonga were out where it was literally, 'Let's give it to Antonio and see what he can do with it'. That might sound like fun but when it's 90 minutes, twice a week for 10 months, that's going to take its toll. But he understood and embraced that responsibility." And then some.
There was the goal against Bolton last season where he ran from inside his own half before cutting inside to score with his right foot, having already done something similar with his left foot against Brentford earlier in the campaign. The control and composure to equalise against Fulham last September was top class too. He's already scored four goals this season.
Now Antonio's lengthy journey from non-league to Premier League is complete. In contrast, it's a relatively short one via the London Underground from Tooting & Mitcham's Imperial Fields in Morden to West Ham's Upton Park and while Antonio admits he's thrilled to be "back in London", the challenge ahead of him is rather different now.
"West Ham brings the instant glare of the Premier League and competition for places," said Prutton. "He's not going there as the main man as he was at Wednesday and he became at Forest. He'll have to harness his performances for the team but he can do that and it's all part of the learning curve."
Nevertheless, Antonio is confident of making an impact. "What I bring to the table is pace, power and goals," he told his new club upon signing. Allen agrees. "I think it's a very good signing - and a very exciting signing - for West Ham." Bilic has no Luka Modric this time. But maybe it'll be a man from Mitcham that can help ruin McClaren's night eight years on.
Watch West Ham v Newcastle live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 7pm on Monday
