With the announcement that Carlton Cole is now leaving the club, the end of an era is upon us. Cole has been a mainstay in claret and blue since July 2006 (to mixed results on the pitch, and also mixed reviews from fans.)
Officially, it was announced that the club “decided not to renew his contract,” but rumour has it David Gold tweeted that Carlton was offered a new contract, which he rejected. If Gold has tweeted this (and I think he has- I seem to remember reading it and it’s been mentioned on many a forum), it has since been deleted.
He appears to have left on excellent terms – Gold has also tweeted “Good luck @CarltonCole1 one of the nicest men I’ve ever met in football,” a tweet which he’s yet to delete. Cole has also publically thanked the club and fans for his time there.
But was it a good decision for West Ham for Cole to move on?
For me, Cole never scored the amount of goals he should have (particularly as a giant forward in a style of play which has included a lot of long ball play over recent seasons.) He scored 59 times in 237 appearances, but spent the majority of this last season on the bench- appearing in 25 games, 13 as a substitute. He scored in only 2 of the games he played in (keeping in mind Maiga played in 17 games, only starting in 2, and scored 4 goals.)
His goals per appearances were never as strong as I would like for someone who does carry a very dominating presence onto the pitch. In 06-07 he made 23 appearances and scored 3 times, and in 07-08, 6 goals in 37 games. Between the years of 2008-2011 Cole came into his own, scoring 12, then 10, then 11, in three seasons, but he also played more games during this period than during any other time. Worryingly it was whilst we were in the Championship in 2011/2012 that Cole suddenly looked like a top class striker- scoring 15 in that season, including the first one at Wembley against Blackpool to win us promotion. This was good news for West Ham’s promotion, but not great news that Cole’s best performance was in a lower league.
Where Cole will always be a winner though, is where it came to his commitment to the club. West Ham, at times, can be a revolving door of players who have ‘always dreamed of playing football at an English club with so much history’ and yet they are waving their hands around for a transfer barely halfway through the season (they meant an English club all right; just not ours. Often the history bit is not so relevant either when more money is suddenly on the table.)
It’s refreshing then to have a player who, after our relegation, didn’t scream and pout for a transfer, but rather cut his wages by 50% in order to continue playing for the club- and didn’t let the cat out of the bag until we were safely back in the Premier League. That is the loyalty and dedication I want to see at my club, and I saw it from Carlton Cole.
That sort of loyalty is rare- you can’t buy loyalty nowadays; and if you have bought it, well it’s not loyalty then, is it?
Cole has been a committed player, who I genuinely believe always gave 110% when he pulled on the claret and blue. The problem for me is that 110% from him wasn’t enough to get us the goals we needed from a striker. On loyalty and faith, I’d have said he should stay, but loyalty and faith just aren’t enough to warrant a starting position next season- and I fully respect his desire to go to another club. I think it was the right decision for West Ham to allow him to leave, and hope he finds a club where he can recapture the form he found in previous seasons- particularly 2011-12.
I certainly wish Carlton well, and selfishly hope he doesn’t go to another Premier League team- he may have had a problem scoring for us this season, but I have a feeling he won’t have a problem scoring against us in the future.
And when he does arrive back at Upton Park, I will be one of the first on my feet to applaud him.
He is not a premier league player, struggled in the championship, I believe 1st Division would be he’s level maybe Wolves????
Lovely bloke but very lucky to play in the top league and a miracle to play for England.
A centre forward is there to score goals, hold up play, bring others into the game and lead the line, Carlton was not good at any of these.
I would’ve kept him as a squad player, without a doubt. But let’s face facts, it is so blatantly obvious that he would never thrive in the lone striker role. And sadly with BFS’s tactics, that was the only game in town. If the much lauded Andy Carrol, only managed to score 7 times in the same setup, it kind of says it all.
CC has plenty more to offer in the top flight, hopefully in a formation that better suits his style of play. I’m not saying he’d start many games, but he’d make great impact sub. 1st division wolves? Maybe if Jarvis was still there.
Everyone said Zamora wasn’t good enough when he left us, and he looked pretty good in his Fulham days. WHU is rapidly becoming a graveyard for strikers. The revolving door will continue to spin, regardless if AC signs or not.
And Dan, you need to check your eyes. A goal and assist at Wembley, and a goal and assist vs Chelsea. Maybe you missed those matches?
Were they right to let him go? YES
Cole was rubbish from day one . 1 st division at very best . Sure he is a good guy and loyal but when did that ever win you a game . Need to get rid of the dead wood and make room for a couple of the youngsters in the squad … Noble , Taylor , Tomkins never will be good enough and need to move on asap .
Idiot, you know nothing about football…go and support spurs !
In all the time carltons been at west ham i cant say we have ever had a team that created lots of chances.the service to him at times was rubbish .however for his size and strength he should have scored more than he did.where i sit in the ground he used to get some stick from a minority who would not need an invitation to get on his back.he always tried though but hrs not a natural finisher.i think we should have kept him at least for another season cos i dont think ac will come to us.would like bony ,rhodes combination.good luck cc in the us.coyi
Carlton has a heart of gold – he did try his best – & I will always be grateful to him for his honesty on & off the pitch – he will be missed.
Good Luck Carlton wherever you go
I think Dan summed this up perfectly, Carlton can count his lucky stars he has earnt top dollar playing at the highest level for all his career, when his ability should have kept him in the lower leagues. Sounds like a nice bloke, but you have no idea how nice i would be earning tens of thousands a week, never having to leave my home town and not having to achieve any targets we assume he must have been set.
Good luck but good riddance, should have been shipped out 3 years ago.
100 % correct kinbuck
Good riddance??i find that a bit harsh.im trying to rack my brains as a west ham fan to remember all these top quality strikers that we have had playing for us over the last 10-15years.we have been linked with plenty but none of them ever arrive.apart from the small Paul ince nobody stands out.to name a few ; macro boogers,Brian Deane ,lee chapman,mike small,davor sucker ,Ian wright(when he was past it),shearingham still had a bit in the tank,dean Ashton who was unlucky ,harewood(who seemed to be the boo boys preferred choice),and more recently maiga who hasn’t been given a chance,baldock,Maynard,chamack.the two best players in all that time were di Canio and tevez but in the current climate we aren’t going to get 2 world class players at the club.ac picked up £4mill in wages for 7 goals and he doesent want to stay otherwise he would have signed by now.im sure Vaz te will be gutted Coles gone as he will now be public enemy no 1.plenty of teams will come in for cole including 3 or 4 premier clubs.good luck to him!!