I am at a loss to explain why Dean Ashton hasn’t travelled to Austria with the rest of the squad. He was apparently fit by the end of last season. There can be only one of two explanations – that he has picked up another injury, or he has decided his future is away from Upton Park. If that is the case, his attitude stinks. He is one of the top earners at the club and owes it to the club to show it the same loyalty it has showed him.
No club should entertain the thought of keeping a player who wants to leave. I certainly don’t want a proven goalscorer to leave us, but if we can get a good price for him, maybe that is the best option if his mind is not right. Zola wants a team of players who buy into his vision. I am told that Ashton wants a guaranteed start but Zola has told him he will have to prove himself. There’s only going to be one winner in that debate and that’s the manager. Ashton needs to shape up or ship out – but not for less than £10 million.
Roymondo I actually saw the guy play for the New York Red Bulls a couple of years ago. I was in NY on business and stayed on for a few days to catch up with a couple of mates who live there. One of their girlfriends was a massive “soccer” fan and we went to the playoff game against DC United and Altidore had a stormer. He was also the face of a massive advertising campaign for Adidas in the US.
I think he ended up with a goal every other game that season.
He is big strong and incredibly fast and is a natural finisher. Think Carlton Cole with a footballing brain and a eye for goal! Trust me he would be an excellent addition.
This time last year I was talking about Marcus Berg and he has certainly come good, shame we didnt go for him back then because we couldnt afford him now.
Altidore made a bad move to Spain. Villarreal was completely the wrong place for him to go, its in the north of Spain, it is far removed from the international feel to southern Spain and its not the most lively of places. They loaned him out to Xerez in the south to try and help him acclimatise to life there but he picked up an injury and didnt feature in any games. Despite not playing since the start of the year he had a very good Confederations Cup campaign for the US, especially against Spain where he scored a very good goal. His scoring record throughout his career is impressive.
He is certainly worth a punt in my opinion.
Kim I agree completely with you about Bobby Z, I would love to see him back at West Ham. I doubt he would have been sold by Zola as he has a genuine attacking flair, I remember him beating 4 brum players in 10yards to score in our first season back. Mostly I remember him in the run in during the great escape, talk all you want about Tevez but no one worked harder than Bobby Z to keep us up, I recall him barely having the energy left to walk off the pitch against Arsenal at the Immigrants Stadium when we beat them. I have never seen a player work hard for his team, he was super human that day and the gooners fans who were sat near me actually applauded him when he was taken off.
Bobby’s biggest problem is he is too selfless in his play.
He is a Hammer through and through and I think he would be an asset to the team.
I love the quote from Tevez on argentinian radio after 10 days at West Ham he wanted to leave how gracious of you Carlos you money grabbing little swine you and Bellamy should compare notes cos if we had paid you what citeh are everything would have been rosy .When you both score a goal bend down and kiss your pockets not your badge mercenaries!
Relax Aussie, I bet most foreign imports want to leave after 10 days of rain and grey skys. I now live in Vancouver and last time I went home for a holiday I remember wanting to leave after a few days. At the end of his stay it would to argue that he had no affection to our club and fans.
I hate posts like this. Let’s jump to a conclusion based on pure speculation. Then attack the player for no reason whatsoever. It’s complete nonsense!
It wouldexplain why we are interested in Gudjohnson as a loan signing.Then if we did get at least ten million for Ashton there would be money for at least one more forward player.Heres a thought as well. I think Terry Dixon could be one to watch for anyone who hasn’t been following whats been happening he was signed by Spurs as a sixteen year old,was one of Eires youngest full international then did his knee in.He was told he would not play again.We then took him nursed him through his operations and gave him physio then when after a year recovery was possible we signed him to a three year contract.He’snow doing his first pre season for acouple of years could he be a suprise I hope so
My post disappeared…? Along with many others.
ANYWAY – Aussie – we already knew Tevez wanted to leave at first because he wasn’t being played. It wasn’t a dig at West Ham as such – although to be honest I don’t think I’d put it past him these days.
Like you Iain I am confused and dissapointed by Deano’s absence. He’s just what we need in the side right now.
I did not have him down as a prima donna so I guess he must be a crock – in which case I’m afraid we won’t get 10 million quid for him.
We have no chance of getting £10 million for Ashton.
I would love him to stay as I still believe he has the potential to be a great player, but if he is to leave I think we will be lucky to get back what we paid for him. He has only made 46 appearances for us in 3 years which will be enough to drive down the price as whoever is interested in signing him will be aware that he is injury prone and they will be taking a massive gamble.
As I’ve said many Times on here Iain Deano is rated 50 50 on a full recovery,he might never play again he has floating bone in his foot that might never go,when he runs fast this causes pain when it presses on nerves.
Come on Iain, we expect better from you…
I agree that the club are being ultra cautious in not returning him to action or competitive training too soon to avoid any further injuries… Unfortunately it is unlikely that we’ll ever get a full season from him, but on top form he is truly world class..
I am more worried about Parker still not being fit, that we still have the likes of Quashie and Davenport on our books and that it appears we are only concentrating on attacking players in this transfer window… Where is the cover for Parker..? No Mullins, Kovac has gone back and Behrami is injured…
Ashton’s not mobile enough for zola’s favored formation,one up and one in the hole,still think Deano’s a class act.
I’m more concerned about Parker,Has he gone?
I blame Pardew for Tevez thinking that way!! Pardew was out of his depth and hadn’t a clue how to play Tevez and Mascherano!
Ashton is a stayer so get over it, I am sure he will be back scoring 20 goals per season! The club is in a tight lipped mode as for transfers and info on injuries.
Chris, How do you know Deano is 50/50, do you work a the club, who is your source?
Poor Dean Ashton he must be gutted 2 years and he has hardly kicked a ball. I think the clubs medical team hold the answer and perhaps they are stepping his rehabilitation programme up before he mixes in with proper training. For all of us fans, the club, Deano it’s frustrating. I imagine over the next 2 weeks we should hear from the club the latest on his fitness. I personally hope he is fit wants to stay at the club and the club wants him. Then we need to give him time to adjust back to playing and hopefully we will see the best of him after 12 or so games.
Can’t recall anybody saying that Gabbidon should ‘shape up or ship out’ when he had a long-term injury. If Deano’s still injured then why should he travel to Austria? We’ve all heard the rumours of behind-the-scenes discontent but until these are clarified we should rely on facts i.e. he’s not fit to travel and therefore didn’t travel!!
Stephen, I agree!
James… My son plays in the youth team.
Chris, Good stuff mate, I have to check as we have a few dreaming fans on here, As I am sure you agree!
50/50 that is bad news, Do you know if Deano has been doing any type of physical training yet or is he still un-able?
Had a chat with Berhami at the weekend- from what he said he is far more advanced than Deano in the healing process- Jiminez is a great player- he played with him at Lazio and Mancini doesn’t fancy us!…In a nutshell!
James last time I heard he was light jogging but anything harder caused pain,This Is what people tell me,but they are just rumours around the places you pick your kids up, coffee rooms etc,although you do rub shoulders with the training staff.
I don’t know reason he hasn’t travelled, but we must all start to wonder what the hell is going on with the continuing Dean Ashton affair.
Is he ever going to be fit, will he ever play again if so will he be the player he once was.
The main question you have to ask yourself is “who on earth would want to buy him” it shows the state of the transfer market that there maybe a club prepared to gamble up to 10 million on him. For sure it will not be a big club so it is even more incredible that a financially strapped club (as most are) would be willing to do so.
Unfortunately it could be out of Ashton’s hands, he can only be classed as a fringe player due to his lack of games over 2 seasons and as Duxbury said “certain fringe players will be sold”. The club may have come to the end of the road with him and cashing in would seem the best option, a terrible shame but business I’m afraid. I would like to see him stay for another crack as a West Ham player because the facts are, he scores goals for fun and has done so throughout his, albeit, short career. The problem is apart from Iain’s interview with Duxberry, communication from the WHU website, other than the continuous sales pitch, is not very good and is something that should be addressed to stop this kind of discussion.
WHERE’S SJ ?
Chris- I think that the floating bone fragments problem was what halted his comeback last season and was resolved over in Amsterdam with surgery just after Zola joined. Parker is over in Ausrtia with the rest of the boys though on a personal training programme like Valon.
Roshi- Duxbury did talk about fringe players being sold but also clearly stated in the same interview that Ashton is not one of them/ would definitely not be sold.
The club can’t sell him with such a longstanding injury anyway, if he is capable of playing again which I do firmly believe he is, then the club need to find this out and get him fit with some games under his belt for our benefit and his benefit. I can’t see him passing any sort of medical if we did want/ try to sell him anyway can you?!
P.S. Savio is definitely over in Ausrtia, he appears in the released photos part 2 :0).
I’ve been saying on here for months now that you can see when Deano’s running – when he is playing – that he isn’t running freely, he carries that ankle and it affects his gait. A mate of mine played decent lower leagues a few years back and did his knee playing against Billericay, he now runs in exactly the same way. It’s barely visible, but it is there if you watch carefully. I wish the guy no ill, obviously, and would kill for him to be fit and playing at the top of his game, but if all the physio (and care) in the world isn’t fixing it then it’s cut and run time I’m afraid. Harsh maybe, but in a year’s time I don’t want to be like a Newcastle fan talking about Michael Owen. We need at least one, probably two, strikers in and sharpish.
I saw SJ hiding behind someone wearing a red and white striped jumper
chris – I made mention of Parker’s absence earlier in the thread – a much bigger worry for me.
As an aside, rumours that Sunderland are after Collins. As mush as I like Ginge, he is limited, as illustrated by the goal that Grays scored and perhaps it would be worth moving him on to enable us to spend up front?
Thoughts?
I can rest assure people that Ashton is shaping up, he is at Esporta in Romford most days with 2 physios and goes through a very intensive programme as my g/f always comes home and tells me, I think the bloke is superb but i do question he’s attitude sometimes but i’ll give him the benefit of the doubt here that he’s not gone to Austria to work on he’s fitness here…time will tell.
Yes very interesting not seeing Deano in any training pics.
Aside from the hard work, it looks fun to be a football player. Beautiful weather in Austria.
from wot i know ashton will not be sold he was ready to play last season but zola held him back he aint in ausria because hes already done alot of pre season work on his own.you will see him in the asia trophy fit for start of season!!!terry dixon will be the surprise!”!”!”!”!”!”!”!”!”
eleenyc can’t complain can you 30, 40, 50 grand a week, 2 weeks in austria, another in china, 2 training sessions a day, a couple of games. I’m not sure what i am still doing sat in an office. Oh wait….
Devodevo- no need to worry Parker is in Austria with the squad but working individually on his groin to get back to fitness, expect him to start his pre-season in Beijing.
I can’t understand the presumption that Ashton wants to leave. Why would he? He’s on a very good contract. He has witnessed the arrival of an excellent coaching team that he will undoubtedly benefit from. His club has shown great loyalty and commitment in helping him overcome a series of injuries.
Zola knows if they can get Ashton right the team will have their potent striker who can finish off the attacking football we are establishing. Patience is needed. Maybe there were small setbacks. He’s a big unit and he doesn’t have a naturally fit body. But very few in the game have a better instinct for goal than he does. He can make scoring seem effortless and as supporters we must show our faith.
After two games back and he scores a brace, we’ll all be patting ourselves on the back saying how great he is. Let’s not be too fickle. But instead keep the faith. Go Deano!
COYI
Iain, a shame you posted such negative comments without facts to back your attribution, after such an enligghtening series of interviews with Scott Duxbury.
This sort of speculation only serves to stir up negative emotions and will not encourage key personnel at WHU to take an open approach to this or other sites that reflect the comments seen too often in the press.
That said, the issue about Dean Ashton’s fitness is a concern and, if true, his attitude may also need to be questioned.
IMHO we need to trust the medical and coaching team’s descision to prescribe the best course of action for his rehab. After all, haven’t we praised these functions as the cornerstones to rebulding success at the club?
If it is a question of attitude, I will rely on GZ to deal with that in a firm and decisive manner (as in the case of Davenport).
Having spent time and money on getting DA back to fitness it would seem a shame not recoup this effort with some great performances (no doubt enhanced with some 121 sessions with GZ). Equally, it is unlikely we will get any meaningful return by selling him now with no track record in two seasons.
So unless the attitude is ala Bellamy, we will see him on the books/bench/team sheet come September.
Hilarious, you slag me off for posting this and then you agree with it. You should be in politics.
I don’t write stories based on nothing. Sometimes you need to read between the lines…
With apologies for stepping on any sensitivities but please don’t take it personally Iain. I made those comments to encourage a response (as others have done) to test your attribution.
I only commented on what you said at face value as reading between the lines is best done by politicians ….and I am not one as you might guess.
However I CAN read between the lines now, given the nature of your reply lol!
P.S. In true PC manner, I did praise your Duxbury interviews at the time you posted them and hope you are able to set a precedence for future articles of that nature.
I, like 1000`s of true ammers , hope youve got this one wrong Iain. Ashton when fit is as good as they get.
Sorry but on this one your just speculating to attract visitors.
Your article should read…..
Ashton is looking good for start of season. Ashton is working hard on his fitness and hopes to start pre-season match fitness training by August, competing for a place in the team for the start of the season.
References
1/ Hammers Arrive in Austria, http://www.whufc.co.uk, 13/07/09
“Dean Ashton and Terry Dixon are the only absentees as they have both stayed behind in England to work on there individual training plans”.
I agree fully with Iain. If indeed Ashton is with phyios, then fine. But I think he owes us alot of goals before he departs. If we dont see him soon, then something is definitely not right.
I agree with CelticHammer as well. Altidore would be a really good striker for us. Ive said that for years now. And too bad Bobby Z isnt here at the moment. Imagine him with Zola?? I can only imagine what type of striker he would have turned into. I think we forget sometimes to give him the credit he well deserves in the big escape season.
Not less then 10million? He has missed two seasons in total due to injury. We will be lucky to get 5, we should of sold him when offers of over 10million were tabled. What a huge mistake.
GOOD NEWS- Parker completes first full training session having fully recovered from groin injury!!
Ever stop to think it may be that Zola just doesn’t fancy him?
i think zola does not know how to use him to be fair. i can see one target man with an attacking midfield and parker as anchor. look at the signings he has made, savio and jiminez, with any two from noble, behrami, collison etc. i think cole is the preferred option up front as he is good at holding up play and being an all round pain in the arse. to be honest i wouldnt be too upset at seing him go
I know I’m really late in mentioning and posting this comment, but it only just occured to me….
A friend of mine played at Ashton’s wedding, which was only two weeks ago… is it not possible the reason Ashton hasn’t gone to Austria is because he is on his honeymoon??
Seems unprofessional I know, but it would definitwly explain his absense.. and it’s not like the club would come out and say he is on his honeymoon… so they’ve just said he’s staying behind doing his own rehab…
I dunno, just one possible reason…
Deano has had two years of doing sod all to get married and have his honeymoon thank you. He can’t really have organised his wedding for pre-season time surely.
It seems that most on here want Bobby back too. Can we get a petition to save him from Hull. Tis a long way north for our Bobby!! I am sure that Z&C can improve him technically.
I agree with CH that we owe more to him for the great escape than to Carlitos. He had to have pain killing injections for most of the latter part of the season but he played his socks off. That goal at The Emirates was the turning point in my eyes. It was when I began to hope.
http://www.iltasanomat.fi/urheilu/uutinen.asp?id=1710953
I hope this is just a coincidence, but this finnish site is telling about six EPL players who may have got HIV. I just hope one of them is not Deano
I know its late, thought i would kill 2 birds with one stone
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-23720154-details/Gianfranco+Zola+in+a+hurry+to+sign+Mancini/article.do
says Deano will not be fit for another 2 months, which may be why he is not going and may be staying in england to improve fitness
and also that GZ is still hopefull of bringing in Mancini, which is crucial.
Eddie – good to hear, but groin injuries have a tendency to reoccue when flat out, not in training. Hope I’m wrong.
Can’t believe people are clamouring for the return of Bobby Z? Like everyone, I liked BZ when he played for us, wholehearted, local lad, nice fella. Trouble is he is not a goalscorer at the top level. I said this on here when he joined Fulham and how many goals did he score, 2? Gets in great positions and misses sitters, missed two against us at the Cottage.
If we are to push on and challenge for top 6, signing the likes of Bobby ain’t gonna get us anywhere near.
Joe Cole still hasn’t signed a new contract?
Handon – What?
Heres a link courtesy of Celtic fans so you can send best wishes to John.
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/csc1888
(hope you dont mind me posting this Iain).