With the Andy Carroll deal hanging in the balance and being described as “50/50” by David Gold, I say we start weighing up the most realistic and logical alternatives.
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Wilfried Bony- Described as the next Didier Drogba, Bony is most certainly building up a reputation for himself as a natural goalscorer. For his current club, Eredivsie based ‘Vitesse Arnhem’ he has notched up an impressive 46 goals in 63 games ending the season as the league’s top scorer.
Bony would fit Sam’s role as a big target man and with a price tag in the reigon of £12 million would be affordable, we will have to fight off stiff competition for the Ivorian’s signature as Newcastle and super rich Russian’s Anzhi Makhachkala remain highly interested.
Darren Bent- Unlike Bony, Bent is a proven Premier League goalscorer. At Charlton Athletic, Tottenham Hotspur, Sunderland and Aston Villa he has made an impact upfront, although last season was a rather forgettable one for Bent, failing to make any sort of impact at a struggling Villa side, it’s quite clear that Bent’s time in the Midlands is up, and at 29 it would seem he is reaching the end of his peak.
In 2007 Darren was on the verge of joining us but decided to join local rivals Tottenham instead.. So don’t be surprised if he comes under some scrutiny if the apparent interest is followed up, posing a cheaper alternative to Bony and Carroll, a motivated Darren Bent could prove to be a decent acquisition.
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Jordan Rhodes- Highly touted Jordan Rhodes has really burst onto the scene these last couple of years, dominating League One with Huddersfield and being a key part in their promotion. He carried on that form into his Blackburn Rovers career already scoring 27 in 43, linked with Rhodes last year and being only 23 years of age Jordan is certainly one for the future as-well as the present!
The only problem being that Blackburn would be reluctant to sell and with Rhodes being young, we need to avoid paying over the odds for a currently unproven Premier League quantity.
Gary Hooper- Throughout Gary’s short career he has found the back of the net, at Scunthorpe he started turning heads but it was at current club Celtic he really established himself.
With Champions League experience behind him and a few cups Hooper has achieved all he can in Scottish football so it would make sense for him to join a Premier League club, also being a local lad that could act as an extra incentive for him to join us.
The worry with Hooper is his height, not the tallest of strikers he is seen as more of a poacher than the type of target man we would expect Big Sam to go for. With Neil Lennon preferably keeping hold of Hooper, he would command a fee of around £10 million you would expect.
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We keep Modibo Maiga- Most of Maiga’s appearances have come from the bench this season but at times he had looked a genuine talent, with Andy Carroll being regularly preferred and the African Cup of Nations it proved too difficult for Modibo to really establish himself as a forward; mainly playing on the wing. He wouldn’t command a transfer fee so we could continue to look for added fire power without completely breaking the bank. With a good goal-scoring record for ex club Sochaux and a glimpse this season I believe we have only seen a small insight into Madibo Maiga and it would be a mistake to let him go at this current moment in time.
Well there’s my five, please feel free to contribute with your own and if there is anybody you think I have missed out let me know!
Santa cruz as a freebie I think its worth a shout.
Bent is a good call I think he is well worth the money
Bentner I know he is not a great player but would be a good back to come off the bench
Santa Cruz mmmmmm maybe not sure
Bent is a Big no no he turned us down
Bentner well that’s another no no
And Bony well hes a Big yes yes yes
Would take a punt on Bony all day long. I’ve also been really turned off Carroll. If, and it’s a big ‘if’, what the papers are saying is true. Then not only is he demanding an insane wage, but he’s showing no interest or desire to play for us. I don’t want us to build a team around a bloke who is only here because nobody else wants him or is prepared to pay through the nose for him. £100,000 a week on a 6 year contract? That’s over £31 million, plus the transfer fee, for a lad who seems scarily injury prone and isn’t exactly keen to be a hammer. For that kind of wedge, surely we can do better.
Dont want Carroll anymore not worth 15mil and definitely not 100 k a week when you compare him to other players you could get for that price. Should definitely look at stefan kiessling 6 foot 3 and top bundesliga scorer – worth a shot, also demba ba not in Chelsea’s plans apparrently, other players could be Kone Defoe and even a attempt to sign tevez although not sure if big sam could fit them 3 into his system
I would also 100 percent prefer bony to Carroll
Also if we was going to sign 2 or 3more strikers I think signing one who can also double up as a rw would be a good choice
I trust that we will get Carroll although the delay, rumours and speculation concerning him are worrying at times (we need to hold our nerve as supporters). When Zola was our manager he was very keen on getting Carroll & made several enquiries about his availability, a forgotten fact!
I’m not a fan of player comparisons but I have to admit that I like the look of Wilfried Bony and I would welcome him as an alternative and more so as a partner!
As for Bent, I don’t think we were ever in the race to sign him as I feel we were used as leverage in his preferred move to spuds and he NEVER had any intention of signing for us. I’d prefer his career to drown rather than welcome him here to be honest.
Jordan Rhodes has got age on his side but unfortunately we need someone who is READY and currently plays at a level where ability and expectancy is the norm. As stated we cannot afford to blow our budget on an artificially inflated price of a championship player. It WOULD be a gamble we can’t currently afford.
As for Hooper, I do like the look of him and if we were to go for him we would need either Bony/Carroll or a.n other to ensure if he didn’t hit the ground running we would still have a striker capable of putting the chances away.
I don’t like players being written off in their first season in English football because it is not always easy to get the pace of our game, so for me I’d like to see Modibo Maiga remain with us if possible with a season under his belt and probably with much to prove.
I think most of the names mentioned are the names that have kept on popping up and preferably I’d like to see Carroll and another of my preferred choices.
Surely we won’t have the money for Carroll and bony or even Carroll and hopper, or if we did we would have nothing left for the rest of the team so we would have nobody to create the chance for our new strikers
I know that will probably be the case (which is probably why Kone name is being touted around), but being a hammer, I’m a born optimist and I’m hoping for some rabbits being pulled out of the proverbial hat!
I’d like to point out that I do agree with most supporters on the subject of Carroll.
1. Injury (prone) record.
2. Speculated wages?
3. Large Transfer fee!
4. Lack of encouraging signs of a willingness to come to West Ham.
I am HOPING that the majority of the negative points are purely press speculation & hype. I too have been straining to voice my displeasure at my club being mugged off. I am putting my trust in the fact that we have chairmen and a manager experienced enough to avoid this fate.
COYI
Personally I’d rather not sign Carroll now but have a feeling we will, COYI
I agree with you ALL day long Frank, it’s probably because Big Sam & the club have nailed their colours to the mast and have made it clear that they are going ALL out for Carroll that I have taken it as fact, despite what I may feel deep down.
For ALL of the reasons that most of us agree on, I’d prefer Bony and a.n other if the truth be known. But I feel I owe it to trust in Big Sam and the David’s on this one.
Carroll will be a good signing, but not good value for money, which surely we need as we are still badly in debt.
I agree with you also Peter, but I feel not all has been revealed and maybe we have a little more financial depth as the last thing you want to be doing when you’re in debt like we have been, is to splash out £15M plus and pay of £100k per week!
……..and we NEED a few more “Quality” players to either stand still or to progress, this coming season.
Maybe, not everything has been revealed and publicly it’s never the best thing to do!
As first choice instead of Carroll i would take Remy, Bony, Cornelius and Negredo and as back up i would take Bendtner or Smith and maybe some players on a free.
Would love to see an all ivorian front line in Bony, Kone and Gradel. If what is being written about Andy Carroll is true then we should not touch him with a barge pole, as he will take our clubs money, play crap so he can get a cut price transfer back to Geordie land.
Absolutely agree with you mate. It is so obvious he came for the money last season and does not care for the club at all. If Demba Ba is released from chelsea, then I would love to see him back at west ham as he is a proven goal scorer. If Carroll really wanted to play at west ham, he would have agreed a long time ago. It is so obvious that he is hoping other clubs show an interest in him so I hope big Sam tells him where to go.
I did at first wanted Andy Carroll to sign for us, I am now starting to think he reckons he is to big for the club, if what I am reading is true. When I heard Sam was looking to sign Bony I think he is a better bet. The thing is,
if England get to next year world cup and Carroll gets into the squad, and scores goals it be nice to know around the world he plays for us.
Bony, kone, and ba! Got a nice ring to it! See, forgotten that Geordie mercenary bastard already! COYI!
Everything that’s been said since, I’ve already said in my earlier post. And this is our trouble. The doldrums. Nothing is happening except speculation. We all know you can’t trust a word the papers say on real news, and right now, footie is on the back-burner. But we do know that Carroll failed at scouse-land. He was injured for half season with us and is injured again now and consequently will miss the early part of next season. We have heard so much about Sam wanting to build the team around him. So what’s the plan for the vital start to our season without him, followed by his slow return to regular match fitness? For me the money he’s asking for is ludicrous. We need to look elsewhere.
Carroll Is a top class striker, the way he played last season was a joy to watch. To think that he would sign and not try is absolute rubbish, he covers every blade of grass, challenges every single ball and gets the team moving. He is even a asset in defence on the set peices. 15M is money well spent on a player of his calibre considering Liverpool paid 35M, the form he hit last year towards the end of the season was frightening. He put even some of the best defences to the sword even when not scoring he is creating. He is a must sign, I think the stalling is only because we are refusing to budge on wage demands but eventually will!! COYI – Would love to sign Mcgeady also from the Russian league who recently said he wants to come back to the Prem, him on the right and Jarvis on the left with Carroll in the middle would be a scary front three.
Yes i agree that Andy Carroll when fit and comitted to the cause is absolutly top class, but any player Andy Carroll included who wants to be at another club must have question marks against him. would love him to sign but only if he wants to be part of the two Davids and Big Sams plans for WHU.
I don’t believe a word the papers say.
People forget that Allardyce, Nolan, & Carroll all have the same agent. Don’t know what the panic is about!
Maybe now that Carroll is doubtful Sam may have to consider the two striker option which would be nice. Get in a two quality ones. Trouble is where will Nolan fit in if no big man to sit behind.
I like Andy Carroll but at home I would like us to play 2 up front, bring back days of pop Robson and the like.
Maybe Jose will not want Lecarkoo or whatever his name is, he looked really good and to me looks a far better player than Carroll.
Who knows, just keeps us guessing and checking the forums in close season
Lukaku would be a smashing signing but if Jose doesnt want him plenty of other top clubs in the champions league would! After smashing in that hatrick against United think you can safely say he is on the radar for a lot of clubs at the moment so would take a huge feat to pull that of! Andy Carroll deal will go through sometimes these things just take time, and when they do the Media are quick to pounce and feed a load of rubbish to just to fill there columns, I bet Andy is on holiday and when he arrives he will sign it is as simple as that. He really enjoys his football at west ham can tell by the way he celebrates and efforts on the pitch, sign him up and bring in Mcgeady and try to nick Bertrand from Chelsea while finding someone who is a little more capable than Nolan and we are laughing
I expect him to sign next week I was told this from someone that works at upton park .The David’s will be over the moon and will give the backing Sam needs I would like frimppng from arsenal his a free transfere and is young .Id like scot Sinclair and another striker maybe remy or bony and two loan signings I would be pleasd