You can lead a horse to water , but ...

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Ravel Morrison may not find himself another club having wasted his chance to prove his credentials at Cardiff, according to West Ham boss Sam Allardyce.

The 21-year-old's time at Upton Park appears to be coming to an end as the former Manchester United youngster continues to struggle both on and off the pitch.

Morrison faces the prospect of a January court case after there were allegations he assaulted his girlfriend last summer, and he had issues in the past which resulted in Sir Alex Ferguson allowing him to leave for West Ham in the first place.

Allardyce was keen to work closely with the player, who has undoubted talent, and - after a loan spell with Birmingham - he returned to London and worked his way into the first-team picture.

Since then he has fallen down the pecking order and, after a loan spell which helped QPR gain promotion to the top flight, his temporary move to Championship side Cardiff was cut short in December.

Reports on Monday suggested the player was close to agreeing a termination of his contract having contacted the Professional Footballers' Association for guidance but Press Associaiton Sport understands his situation remains unchanged.

Allardyce has spoken of financial constraints preventing from adding major signings to his squad but, when asked if shipping out Morrison could provide extra funds, the 60-year-old replied: "I don't think that's going to help in this situation because Rav didn't perform at Cardiff.

"He went there to play games of football and try and reinvent himself. If he'd have done the business there he could have created a much more healthy position for himself either back here or somewhere else but, because he was pretty much on the fringes of the team, he was struggling.

"He was expected to be pushing back for promotion so he's left himself in a very difficult position now."

Morrison's last game for the Hammers was in the 3-1 defeat at home to Southampton in August and he is now playing for the Under-21 side - scoring with a volley in their loss to Tottenham last week.

And Allardyce now appears to have given up any hope of helping Morrison fulfil his potential although he hopes that one day he will show everyone what he is made of.

"It's the old metaphor isn't it - you can lead the horse to water but you can't make it drink," he added.

"There's only a certain amount of times that you can advise and tell somebody what's the best way forward for them and what they should or shouldn't be doing.

"If they don't want to take it on board then there's little they can do. It's very difficult to sit and watch such a great talent.

"And it just shows how important you are in other areas to make sure you become a top player.

"Talent cannot be the only aspect of why you're going to be a great player. It has to be much more than just the talent.

"And in Ravel's position at the moment the talent is there, he just has to change his whole life and then hopefully somewhere down the line he'll become the player he should be."