Rooney needs the kid gloves treatment

West Ham's three young musketeers an example to Everton on how to nurture raw potential

If Everton's manager, David Moyes, concerned perhaps about the monster he may have unleashed on the football world in the person of the 17-year-old veteran Wayne Rooney, wants advice on how raw potential can best be translated into proven achievement, he can always pick up the telephone and speak to one of his biggest fans, Sir Alex Ferguson.

Manchester United's handling of Ryan Giggs on the difficult road from promise to accomplishment, remains the textbook chapter on the subject. Sir Alex could even refer him to the chapter on pitfalls, featuring the embarrassing case of Giggs's contemporary Lee Sharpe. (Remember him?) Just as useful would be a chat with another admirer, the gist of which could take place in east London today, when Everton roll into Upton Park to take on Glenn Roeder's West Ham United.

The team-sheet that the home manager hands in an hour before kick-off will include no fewer than three names all touted at a frighteningly young age as The Next Big Thing, who are making steady progress towards achieving something in the game. Joe Cole (21 in a fortnight), Michael Carrick (21 last July) and Jermain Defoe (20 this month) have all taken the occasional step back as well as giant strides forward, and are all the better for it.

Roeder was first made aware of Rooney's talent by his friend Chris Waddle, who tipped him off before the two clubs met last season in an FA Youth Cup tie; West Ham duly went out at an unusually early stage of the competition, and Everton went on to the final. "He played very well on the night, and Walter Smith came down for the game and confirmed what Chris had told me," Roeder recalled. "I'm very impressed with David Moyes and how he's handling him. Alan Irvine, his assistant, is also very adept at handling young talent so between the two of them they've got the perfect partnership."

As a former mentor (at Newcastle United) and then minder (in Rome) to Paul Gascoigne, Roeder was well placed to observe the effect of fame in a celebrity culture; since taking a coaching job at West Ham under Harry Redknapp three years ago, then succeeding him as manager the summer before last, he has been intimately involved in the development of the club's three young musketeers, on and off the field.

If keeping Gazza on the straight and narrow Roman road was at times beyond the capabilities of any mortal, the present trio could hardly be less trouble. "I'm very fortunate," Roeder said. "They've come in with a sound background and stable family life. Jermain and Joe went through the [now defunct] Lilleshall school of excellence, which wasn't just about football, it was learning about life as well and how to handle yourself as a top young player.

"I know Michael's parents and again, a solid family background. They're easy young men to handle. I go to bed every night in the knowledge that they're wrapped up safely and will come in and train the next day with no problem – which is good in the society we live in with all its temptations. They've got their feet firmly on the ground."

And money? If young Rooney is unlikely to go too wild with his extra £10 a week until rival agents sort out themselves and a new contract, surely his head might be turned by the sort of sums that even Gascoigne could not dream of? "They've got such a love of the game, it's great that three young lads can put that to one side. They know the money's there, but it's not their driver. If the money's the driving force, I don't think people fulfil their potential."

Like Manchester United with Giggs, West Ham kept the media at arm's length from their prodigies before slowly offering a more welcoming hand. Cole and Carrick are handled by the same agent and now give increasingly confident interviews, on a selective basis; Cole offered Sky his thoughts after Wednesday's victory at Fulham, but side-stepped the press the next morning with a dip of the shoulder: "You want to talk about Rooney, don't you?" The boy is learning.

He seems to have been around so long, reaching 100 Premiership appearances on Wednesday, that some of those who were loudest in talking him up as England's great white-shirted hope have taken to doing the opposite, to Roeder's annoyance. "Joe's definitely moved up a couple of levels now and got a consistency in his performances. When I've heard one or two pundits who are no longer in football say he's had a dip in form, I know they've not been to Upton Park and not seen him play. I see him every day and, take it from me, the World Cup did him, well, a world of good – being round the best England players for six or seven weeks, seeing things like the importance of training well." Tracking back too, and tackling, both of which Cole's manager believes he is improving: "He's got everything to be the complete midfield player."

Little wonder that Carrick – "so laid-back sometimes, he's almost horizontal" – is often overshadowed in the West Ham midfield. Roeder dropped him recently, as part of the learning process, and believes he has come back stronger. But that, he insists, is a useful reminder about not expecting too much too soon: "These lads are still a long way off being the finished article. They won't start peaking till they're 25 or 26. With Jermain, we've given him a chance to develop and tried not to put him under pressure. It was ridiculous talking about calling him up for the full England team. It doesn't happen in other countries, where people play in their own age-group. There's a lot of things I admire about the British people, but one of the qualities we haven't got is patience."

Everton followers, however desperate in their search for a hero, should take note.