Why does this Hammer divide opinion so much?

Carlton Cole is one of the longest serving players at the club, but the West Ham fans have mixed feelings for the powerful striker. There are a section of fans that admire

what he does in a claret and blue shirt and there are others that dislike his qualities as a player.

Cole’s former manager at Chelsea Claudio Ranieri once described the striker as “the best young player he has ever coached” and believed Cole had a big future at the

club. Nearly a decade on, Chelsea have moved on to become a major force in English Football, whilst Cole is struggling to score goals against below average teams in the

Championship for West Ham. During his time at West Ham, Cole has failed to score goals consistently since his move in 2006 and at times has faced criticisms from the fans.

The fastest growing Hammers website is now on Facebook, click the link to be entered into our up and coming competitions http://www.facebook.com/pages/ForeverWestHamcom/200938616608282

Cole’s West Ham career started off well when he scored on his debut against his former club Charlton Athletic. Many thought Cole would be given the chance to shine at West Ham after first team opportunities were limited at free spending Chelsea. However, he only managed to make twenty odd appearances in a turmoil season at West Ham, largely due to Bobby Zamora being in good form and the signing of Carlos Tévez. The following season Cole made over thirty appearances but only managed to score six goals alongside strike partner Dean Ashton.

Cole finally come of age when his former team mate Gianfranco Zola became manager of West Ham. For the first team in his career Cole managed to score over ten

goals a season. He was West Ham’s main striker after Ashton suffered a long-term injury and strikers Craig Bellamy and Zamora departed from the club. Zola managed

to bring out the best in Cole. He was fitting right in with Zola’s style of passing the ball along the ground and not using him as a target man. During this time Cole showed excellent pace and strength to beat the opposition defenders. Zola showed confidence in Cole’s abilities and he thrived from the encouragement provided by his

former Chelsea team mate. He won over the fans by scoring goals consistently and he started to reach his potential. His displays earned him his first England cap and he was in contention to go the 2010 World Cup. When Zola was sacked Cole lost his confidence and his performances started to decline once again.

Looking for experience? Just want to be heard outside of the Boleyn? We are currently looking for writers, drop us an email at foreverwestham@snack-media.com for more details

The first season after Zola departed Cole only managed to score five league goals.

West Ham were relegated and he decided to stay with the club. He has always shown love towards West Ham even though the fans have given him a tough time. For example, he recently posted a picture of himself on Twitter holding up two Hammers and saying “I Effin Love West Ham!! Even though some fans hate me, I’ll Always Love ya”. Fans appreciate his love towards the club, but some just wish that he could score more goals. The main difference between Cole and Frédéric Piquionne is that Cole does actually put in an effort when he is playing. Piquionne looks disinterested at the best of the times. Cole on the other hand will run the channels and is not afraid of putting in a challenge. Actions like these please the Upton Park crowd.

What is not helping Cole’s scoring ability is Big Sam’s tactics. As we all know Big Sam likes to play a style of football that is known as ‘Long Ball’. Kicking the ball

long to Cole is not bringing the best out of him. Under Big Sam Cole is not enabled to use his pace to beat defenders, instead he has to face aerial challenges. However, for his size and strength, Cole is easily beaten in the air by defenders that are smaller than him. He is then left frustrated and his performances start to dip. The fans then

get on his back demanding more and get annoyed with his performances. The main difference between West Ham and Southampton is that they have a striker that is scoring goals regularly.

 

Apply now for the dream job – Read about West Ham and YOU get PAID http://bit.ly/ffc-foreverwestham

For majority of his time at West Ham, Cole has experienced love and hate reactions from the fans. His efforts and affection for the club has been recognised by the fans but they just wish their number 9 could score more goals. In nearly two hundred appearances for the club he has only scored fifty-one goals. On average that is a goal every four games. Cole’s inability to score goals is the reason why many fans have a divided opinion on him. Some fans appreciate his loyalty when he declared his intentions to get west Ham promoted back to the Premier League and some fans just wish he could score more goals.