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Maynard or Sharp?

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The goals have dried up for the Hammers of late…whilst at the start of the season everyone seemed to be getting in on the act as we were winning 4-1 at Nottingham Forest and 4-0 at Watford. Lately putting the ball in the back of the net isn’t as simple and as fluent as it seemed to be earlier in the campaign.

Big Sam is looking to rectify this particular problem as it is becoming a crippling concern at a crucial stage of the campaign; in our last 6 fixtures we’ve failed to score more than one goal. We’re relying too heavily on Cole and Nolan, whilst Carew and Piquionne simply haven’t been good enough; more firepower is needed if we are to seal automatic promotion.

Two players with whom we’ve been heavily linked to solve this particular problem are Billy Sharp of Doncaster Rovers and Nicky Maynard of Bristol City.

Now I must admit I am a bit of a footballing snob. Over the course of my life as a Hammers fan I’ve seen the likes of Ashton, Di Canio, Tevez, and Bellamy upfront for us so the thought of signing Maynard or Sharp doesn’t exactly thrill me. But one look at the surroundings that are the Npower Championship suggests we should lower our sights and disregard a past with more illustrious names.

I must admit I’m not too familiar with either striker as apart from this season I haven’t paid much attention to the Championship; but having under-taken some research I must say I’ve been impressed by Nicky Maynard in particular. He clearly has the pace to get away from defenders (considering this current West Ham side is almost completely devoid of any pace/dynamism his speed would be a welcome asset) he seems to score a variety of different goals from tap-ins to goal of month contenders; he looks an accomplished striker at this level and whether or not he’d have what it takes to make the step up to the big league is at this moment in time irrelevant.

Billy Sharp on the other hand seems to me more of goal poacher, more a ‘right place, right time’ type of striker. Not as quick or as mobile as Maynard but excuse the pun sharp as a tack inside the box. Sharp is currently having a remarkable season as despite playing for a side that’s 2nd bottom from the league and that’s only scored 22 goals all season; Sharp himself has 10 to his name. More than any current WHU striker.

The lack of goals has become a tangible problem for us and whilst I wouldn’t say that I feel long-term either Sharp or Maynard is the answer; for the remaining 21 games of this season either one of them might just be.

If pushed for one over the other I would personally go for Maynard. We’re essentially a laborious side and he would add some much needed pace and dynamism.

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3 comments

  • Coops89 says:

    Nottingham Forest fan here. Whilst i rate both players, I’m quite sure even without them you are almost nailed on for promotion. The quality within your squad is head and shoulders above the rest and you have a good manager in Allardyce. Could have been a cricket score when you played us. As for the 2 players in question, I definitely feel a punt on Maynard would pose less of a risk. Sharp has had some amazing seasons, but I never felt he did himself justice once he left Scunthorpe a few seasons back where he scored goals for fun. Maynard on the other hand is turning into a very good championship player and was recently linked with Everton and Leicester. Whether that’s what you should be aiming for is entirely a Hammer’s fans perspective. Your a premiership club that has suffered a blip. Just make sure you don’t go the way Forest and Leeds have, seemingly stranded in this division for the long haul.

  • cb says:

    Err wesignedAshtonasa 22 year old from the Championship

    Isn’t that what Maynard is?

  • Kwame says:

    Maynard is around 24/25 and we signed Ashton after he’d already had a season in the prem with Norwich in which he proved he had the talent and ability to play at the highest level. You can’t compare the two.

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