It is strange for a club record signing to simply fall off the radar of a football club, but this is exactly what happened to our favourite ponytailed Geordie at West Ham.
Funny what a few goals and solid performances from some recently acquired healthy strikers can do in that respect.
The Chronicle, apparently on the pulse of all news concerning England’s North East, are running a story that West Ham will be looking to cut their losses and offer Carroll back to his hometown club Newcastle in January, presumably for a bargain transfer fee provided that Newcastle take Carroll’s 90K a week wages away from our wage bill.
Hugh Southon again claims that it will be difficult for West Ham to find a role for Carroll when he’s back from injury, due to Sakho and Valencia playing so well together, all this according to assistant manager Neil McDonald. All this makes a lot of sense when you read and hear it like that. But at this point in time it is all academical as Carroll is not even back from injury. Optimistic estimations put his return date at the end of November, but we all know it takes players a while to get themselves match fit and in top condition, especially ‘wor’ (Geordie slang for ‘our’) Andy. We’ve heard all the unhealthy rumours of clubbing, boozing, falling off table tennis tables while under the influence, about bones made of porcelain and tissue made of pudding. While also hearing from the West Ham board that this time finally they are confident that Carroll’s injury problems will be under control and he should be able to have a lengthy injury-free spell on the pitch soon.
I’ve been a fierce critic on here in the past, admittedly only feeding off rumours and having to witness like the rest of you Carroll being out for the majority of his reign at West Ham. It’s frustrating to see your club record signing out injured all the time and the frustration doubles when you choose to believe rumours of Carroll leading an unhealthy lifestyle not expected of a professional athlete. On top of all that Carroll isn’t even what you could call a prolific goalscorer (except during his spell at Newcastle where he scored 31 from 80 appearances), at West Ham he has scored a measly nine goals in just 39 appearances spanning two seasons. Which about equals the goal ratio of a certain often ridiculed Carlton Cole. Putting all of this together I should be happy about rumours indicating an impending transfer to Newcastle.
The truth is: I want Carroll to stay, I want him to play and I want him to turn his career at West Ham on its head and start afresh. A healthy Carroll, fingers crossed, knock on wood, all rabbits’ feet over here now please, is still undoubtedly one of the best British strikers. Period. He is 6ft 4in of concentrated power and strength. It’s hard for defenders to win a header against Carroll without fouling him. Defenders all around the league hate playing against him. Carroll makes every teammate playing with him better, everybody seems to run a little bit faster, try that little bit harder to win the ball and if defenders employ two players to deal with Carroll it creates space for other West Ham teammates to exploit and cause havoc. I’m 100% positive that Carroll will thrive playing within our current setup, with guys like Sakho, Zarate, Valencia, Downing, Jarvis.
Having so many other weapons out there will make Carroll’s threat only that much more lethal.
I’ve even heard rumours Carroll might probably play in some kind of formation with Sakho and Valencia on the pitch at the SAME time. I’m not sure it would work, but I’m itching to find out. A healthy Carroll with even slightly above average form is almost unplayable.
It’s time that Carroll paid West Ham back for the patience shown by the club so far. Let’s not get impatient now. With this squad Carroll no longer has to carry the burden of being our saviour on the pitch – instead he is just another very nasty weapon the opposition can NOT look forward to facing. We can afford to show some more patience, bed Carroll in slowly, give him playing time from the bench, try him out with different players alongside him and see what works best.
Either way selling him in January would be sheer stupidity. Why should we buy high and sell low ? Have we learned nothing from Liverpool ?
It’s a bit of a gamble, but it should be well worth it. I still think it is entirely possible that Carroll turns his career around at West Ham.
If we have to eventually sell him we should increase his market value first. And that can only happen if we still find a playing role for him that allows him to score goals and create goals for us.
Competition for places at West Ham is the best thing that could ever have happened for Carroll. It should bring out the best in him. It should make our team even better.
And it may ultimately help us to attract more good players coming to West Ham next summer. I am confident that our Christmas Carroll will make sure that West Ham finally won’t come down with the christmas decorations again. Another change at West Ham I’d love to see happening.