Carlton Cole should be loved more than Paolo Di Canio

It was a great relief when Carlton Cole put pen to paper on a new contract that will keep him at West Ham until the end of next season.

The striker has played remarkably well this campaign, especially when you consider his release in the summer, before returning in light of the clubs striking crisis, and even then taking a while to get his match fitness up before he could play a major role in the side.

Cole is West Ham’s top scorer in the Premer League with four goals, which is a very good record considering he has only started five games this term. He came back when the club needed him most, even when he knew he was not going to be a first choice player, but nonetheless has still plugged away and done a much-needed job for the team. This is typical of the attitude of Cole during his long West Ham career, and it is puzzling why he is not more of a fans favourite than he actually is.

Cole was originally signed for the Hammers by Alan Pardew, way back in the summer of 2006, and he had to wait a while before establishing himself in the first team.

During that season, there was of course the Carlos Tevez saga, and Cole also had Marlon Harewood and Bobby Zamora who were ahead of him in the pecking order at Upton Park. He therefore had little opportunity. Things changed in the next campaign, with Alan Curbishley’s first full season in charge and due mainly to injuries to the likes of Dean Ashton, Craig Bellamy and Bobby Zamora, he played a large role.

His contribution was vital to keeping the West Ham clear of the relegation places in an injury hit season, having to play a loan striker role on a lot of occasions. He only scored four goals in 31 appearances, but also provided nine assists, underlining his importance to the team.

It was the next year with Gianfranco Zola at the helm when Cole really showed his top form and he became one of West Hams most prized assets. He adapted well to the new possession style that Zola had brought in, and formed good strike partnerships first with Craig Bellamy, and then with the on loan David Di Michele.

He scored an impressive 10 goals in 27 appearnces in the 2008/2009 season and his all round contribution was widely praised. If anyone doubts how well he did play that season then look no further than the fact that he received his first full England international cap, coming on in a 2-0 defeat to Spain in February 2009. After that summer, he attracted plenty of interest from other teams but never expressed any desire to leave.

He played in a struggling team in the following season, the 2009/2010 campaign, but was still one of the few shining lights, notching 10 goals in the 30 matches that he played in. Considering the club only escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth that season, this contribution can be viewed as particularly vital.

There was again specualtion about his moving to a bigger team but nothing ever materialised. However, both West Ham and Cole had an awful season in 2010/2011 under the hapless Avram Grant, with Cole finding the net on only five ocassions in a year that ended with relegation.

It was widely expected then that Cole would be sold on, and there was lots of speculation that this would be the case, with the club even accepting offers from Stoke City and Galatasaray. However, Cole decided he would stay and help the Hammers get promotion straight back to the Premier League under the stewardship of Sam Allardyce. And he most certainly did, ending as the clubs top scorer that season with 15 goals.

Most vital of which of course was his goal and assist which won the Play-Off final against Blackpool to secure promotion. Soon after he revealed that he had taken a 50% pay cut to stay with the Hammers during that season, showing his love for the club.

Last season, he begun as the first choice striker under Allardyce once again, until the club pulled off the remarkable coup of securing the services of Andy Carroll on loan from Liverpool. Nonetheless when the big Geordie was sidelined for parts of the season, Cole stepped in and played well, despite only managing two goals.

Onto the current campaign, and it appeared as though Cole’s career at Upton Park had finally ended before the start of the season. Cole didn’t sign a new contract that was offered to him; whether that decision was to do with money or the fact that he didn’t want to continue playing second fiddle to the now permanently signed Andy Carroll is not clear, but without a club, and West Ham facing a massive striking crisis, Cole was re-signed in October this season, before his excellent performances warranted him a new long term contract this week.

It is true that Cole has had his share of bad games for West Ham, but looking at his career at the club as a whole, he has generally always stepped up to the plate when the club needed him most. Very often, it was clear he has not been a first choice player, and he had to be patient and await his chance – without even a hint of discontent. Then, through injuries he has been drafted in and not let the club down.

He always looks a jolly soul off the pitch based on his media appearances and he would appear to be a very good character in the dressing room. Add to the fact that he has shown genuine love and loyalty for West Ham which is so rarely seen. He could have easily pushed for a transfer to a bigger team in the years where he was showing his best form for the Hammers but stayed put. And then took his huge pay cut to stay during the Championship campaign.
Yet, despite all of this, he has never really received the love he deserves from the Boleyn faithful. He has his song yes, the play on ‘gold’ by Spandau Ballet, but even this was hijacked from Carlton to some extent when Joe Cole returned last season. He deserved to keep that song for himself, with all the commitment he had shown to the Hammers over the years. Indeed you get the feeling many fans have never taken Cole to their hearts in the way some other players have been, many of whom have really have shown much less loyalty to West Ham than Carlton Cole.

Just look at the how former Hammers star Paolo Di Canio is revered by the West Ham support for example. He has his own bar named after him in the ground; supporters still wear his name on their shirts, and sing his name during matches. But did Di Canio ever really show so much loyalty and love back to the club?

He was a brilliant technically gifted player, there is absolutely no doubt about that, and produced moments of incredible skill that will not be forgotten. However, in some ways his attitude had to be questioned.

In many away games Di Canio would be barely involved, and he usually saved his best form for the big matches. Then there were the tantrums and theatrics that he was renowned for. Harry Redknapp managed to keep him in check by and large, mainly because he pandered to the fiery Italians every need. He had to be the captain, to take every free-kick, every throw in, every corner and of course every penalty (who can forget that famous moment where he fought with Frank Lampard to take the spot kick against Bradford).
Under Glenn Roeder, things turned very ugly, especially in Di Canio’s final year at the club. In Roeder’s first year, he had the temerity to subsitute Di Canio in a match away to Fulham, with Di Canio furious at the decision and throwing off Roeder’s attempt at a pat on the back.

All was blown over. But then, in the 2002-2003 season, in the middle of a relegation dogfight against West Bromwich Albion in the February of that season, Di Canio was hauled off early in the second half. After storming off down the tunnel, Di Canio made a very public criticism of the manager’s decision, and then allegedly went AWOL before turning up in Italy.

He wouldn’t pull on a Hammers shirt until the 2nd from last game of that season. This may well have been the difference between staying up that season, with one of the most influential players effectively on strike.

The attitude of Di Canio in this situation was probably in direct contrast to that of Cole, who has always been willing to help the team, even when things certainly haven’t all gone his own way. If Di Canio loved the club as much as Carlton Cole, would he have not made the effort to patch things up with Roeder, and help his beloved West Ham stay in the Premier League?

So I find it strange that Cole is not even remotely close in popularity to that of Paolo Di Canio. We should really treasure the loyalty and affection Carlton Cole has shown our club. Personally, I consider him more of a Hammers legend than Di Canio.