So, West Ham did pretty well without Andy Carroll on Sunday against his parent club Liverpool, right? Managed to park the bus to get the point, whilst at the same time managing to have some good chances in the match.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and I just don’t think it’s realistic or rational to keep Carroll beyond his loan spell come the end of the season.
I don’t think he’s played anywhere near well enough to warrant us spending £17 million on him, scoring 5 goals in a Hammers shirt. I know he’s been injured so has been limited to 17 appearances, but I would expect a striker with that price tag to do better.
It pains me to say this, but he does play better than Carlton Cole, another player whose contract is up at the end of the season. But Cole won’t be demanding the same wages, and will be good as a back-up striker if nothing else. And you must all be aware by now that I have blind love for him and will be heartbroken if he goes!
Also, if we fork out that amount of money on Carroll, then surely we don’t have enough left over to make further squad improvements. I think realistically Jussi hasn’t got too many seasons left in him – and is out of contract this summer – and it looks like Henderson won’t make the grade in time to be a suitable replacement. In addition, we need to get some more defensive cover as injuries have left us a bit stretched this season. Although I do think if we extend Rob Hall’s contract then I think he could do a job next season, as well as other youngster Danny Potts and the returning Ravel Morrison.
But anyway, I digress. I wouldn’t be saying I was against Carroll signing if it was for £8 million, or maybe even £10 million. He’s a good old fashioned striker who gets stuck in and instills fear in the heart of the opposition. But at £17 million, I just don’t think he’s worth the punt.
I definitely think it would be better for the club to keep Cole on and then buy another striker that will be cheaper for the club. What do you think? Who should we go for if we don’t buy Carroll? Or should we shell out the £17 million? Leave a comment below or tweet me at @alwaysintune.
I’m not too greatly worried about the Carroll situation mainly because I trust the chairmen and Big Sam to make the right decisions regarding Carroll’s signing OR not, as the case may be.
There are many variables with Carroll and most of it may be out of our hands i.e Liverpool may decide to keep him…..Newcastle may want him more or simply that he either wants to stay with Liverpool or want to go back to Newcastle.
We need to push on and its something both Big Sam and the chairmen know, so the decisions will be made and funding will be found to push the team and club forward, with young players of quality being brought in with players being released.
Personally I think Cole has the ability to do a job for us still and know & understands what Big Sam wants. If a contractual solution can be found I expect him to provide experienced back up to the other strikers (unknown, who will be brought in). I don’t feel there is any need to discard of him as we are not in a position to do that.
As for the youngsters Hall, Potts, Morrison and others, the loan system is what our youngsters were missing before Big Sam decided on getting our youngsters out to gain first team experience. Ravel is the player it will be very interesting to see how much he has developed and grown up, as it seems that he has managed to get his head down and produce the sort of performances that we are in need of.
Anyway I don’t expect the Chairmen and Big Sam to drop the ball anytime soon!
At 8m your right carrol would be worth it, we are going to have to shell out cash in a decent strike force as cole is old news and could do with putting hes wages and any fee we get elsewhere, i think we need a complete new revamp in our stike force cash in on cole and maiga and replace with carrol and bony
You won’t get Carrol for 8. He’s an England international with something different-height and power. 17 is a snip for him. If he was in the Jupiler league maybe 8 mil.
Furthermore Bony will go to a top club. He’s the top scorer in Holland and will go for low 20s to a Chelsea or Juve type club. Don’t let the paper talk fool you.
Ok then lets just get another 8 million pound squad player to add to our already average squad. Think on this. If you do not get plenty of consistent quality srvice how many goals will you score? Thats right. Not many. Personally I think he is a breath of fresh air and a must keep.
Nigel who is this directed at? If its me be more precise please
WE WANT AND NEED CARROLL HE IS NOT JUST A STRIKER HE IS A PLAYER WHO WILL GIVE HIS ALL ON ANY PART OF THE PITCH. AS SEEN ON SUNDAY COLE DOES NOT AND CANNOT DO THAT, SAD HE HAS BEEN GOOD COLE THT IS BUT WE NEVER HAD ANY COMPARISONS, BUT WE HAVE NOW . KEEP HIM( CARROLL )PLEASE AND SELL SOME OF THE DEAN WOOD AND O
THER DESPERATE BUYS
Sorry to say that in my book Carlton Cole has had enough time to develop and deliver the goals and assists that a Premiership centre forward should be contributing. A nice guy and claret and blue blood as well, but we cannot allow sentiment to cloud the issue and the development of the squad be compromised.I Would only pay a maximum of 12 millon for Andy Carroll, if he is totally happy and content to be a hammer. If not Loc Remy should be available come Janurary.
Andy Carroll is not worth 17 mil and 90,000 a week, end of. Much, much better players out there for less than that.
end of?? … has your opinion become fact now has it?? … You are entitled to your opinion but thats all it is, an opinion. It hold as much weight as anyone else’s.
I like Carrol but like a lot of people I don’t think he’s worth that much. He seems injury prone and due to the amount of game he has missed this season the price of 17m will surely have to come down.
Top wack the chairman should pay no more then 12m and I even think this is high but true when he came back for us after his injury we have been much better …eg better results .I’d prefer to have him then not but as I said previously not at 17m we could buy 2 decent strikers for this money .
I don’t think we should get rid of Carlton Cole.
The guy bleeds claret and blue. He is a handful and if we do decide to go 2 up top then Carlton will surely chip in with a few assists and goals . Also more obvious is injuries. The former England man will be decent cover for any 1St team striker that gets injured or suspended. So I say keep him. I’d rather have one of ours on the Bench then some other player that will feel frustrated on the bench and be disruptive .
“Carlton Cole ,Goooal always believe in your soul ..yr indestructible always beliiiieve innn
I just love him, it pained me enough in this article to say he wasn’t as good as Carroll!!