Dean Mears has a look at whether West Ham should consider selling their ‘hit or miss’ striker Carlton Cole.
Cole has made an impressive start to life in the Coca-Cola Championship, having scored four goals in each of his four starts this season, but with clubs sniffing around for striker and having received two bids in the summer, should Big Sam look to replace Cole in January?
At Championship level, Cole has looked prolific, four goals in four starts is as good as anybody in the league but at Premiership level the story is a little different. For West Ham, Cole made 99 starts in the league and scored 31 goals, this works out at an average of a goal every 3.1 games, not good enough I would say, so if a Premier League club comes asking for his services at a good price, I think Sam would be foolish not to off load him.
Now, I know this season is all about West Ham getting promotion into the Premier League, and selling a striker who could possibly score you 25-30 goals this season would be a bit stupid. However he might have 15 goals by Christmas, which means his value will rise, you hold onto him and he gets injured second half of the season and he isn’t worth as much in the summer and your left without funds to buy some new talent good enough for the Premiership, don’t forget he was out for 3 months in 2009/1010 with an horrific knee injury. These are all metaphorical situations, but you have to take these into account, I don’t believe Cole is good enough for the Premier League and I think my stats back me up on this.
Of course, if you sell Cole you have to sell early on in order to replace him, so who would be the ideal signing? Well with the summer window closing West Ham missed out on some great chances to sign some big players, Craig Bellamy would have been a perfect fit for West Ham, his work rate and effort would have made him a fan favourite at Upton Park. Realistically, you need a Premier League striker who isn’t getting much action who would be willing to step down the leagues, difficult I know but it is do able. Even if West Ham were to sign someone on loan until the end of the season, the cash could be invested on a player whose team have been relegated from the Premier League, or even one of Manchester City’s unused squad members perhaps?
If a suitable offer does not arrive in January, then I have no qualms with Cole staying at Upton Park, but if it does and Sam holds onto him, he may live to regret it if promotion is achieved and the funds aren’t there to buy a quality Premier League striker who can score regular goals, and West Ham find themselves struggling back in the big time.
What do you think we should do with Cole? Let Dean know at www.findingrowz.blogspot.com
