Andy Carroll

[Major]

Did any other club bar us really go after AC? Prior to the loan deal for a year.
Other than a sort of sniff from Newcastle i cannot remeber any other club getting involved, just seems weird as he was hailed as the next big thing for England.

And still is, I think he will walk the plane to Brazil when fit. The bloke is a freak, he is absolutely unplayable when played properly and when he is on form.

Like i have said many times, we need patience with AC he will come good.

[Crouchend_Hammer]

Billy - not even watching the football. When the transfer window closed I thought West Brom had done good business, and nothing has changed my mind. Yes they got lucky with the youngster coming through but having strength in depth and half decent subs on the bench makes a massive difference, even if individually the players aren't amazing. FWIW I think Sessegnon is a decent player and Anichebe would be ideal in our system. I can guarantee Sam wouldn't be playing with no strikers if we had him available. And by the way it is Clayton Donaldson, not Clayton McDonald

[westham,eggyandchips]

And still is, I think he will walk the plane to Brazil when fit. The bloke is a freak, he is absolutely unplayable when played properly and when he is on form.

Like i have said many times, we need patience with AC he will come good.

........ I just hope its not against the likes of Leyton Orient next season.

[Billydinho]

Yeah, realised I got it wrong so I changed it.

How much have you seen of Anichebe? Are you basing your analysis on him being a big lump?

How much have you seen on Sessegnon? He plays the Morrison Role which is currently occupied by Nolan so there's no room for him here.

Anelka? Barely kicked a ball and when he has, he's been appalling.

Long? Yes, can be good on his day but was already there before the summer.

Andy Carroll is miles better than all of these and is only two months from a return.

And, to put it the other way, if Shane Long picked up a long term injury they'd be in the same position as us.

[Crouchend_Hammer]

I really hope you are proved right Major, I just have the complete opposite opinion of him. How about a bet for the Bobby Moore fund? If he scores more than 20 Premier league goals for West Ham by the end of the 2014-15 season I will give £50 quid to the fund. If he scores less than 12 you have to. And anywhere in between it is £25 each

[Jumby]

Who is Andy Carroll, and what does he do?

[bobcar]

Yeah, realised I got it wrong so I changed it.

How much have you seen of Anichebe? Are you basing your analysis on him being a big lump?

How much have you seen on Sessegnon? He plays the Morrison Role which is currently occupied by Nolan so there's no room for him here.

Anelka? Barely kicked a ball and when he has, he's been appalling.

Long? Yes, can be good on his day but was already there before the summer.

Andy Carroll is miles better than all of these and is only two months from a return.

And, to put it the other way, if Shane Long picked up a long term injury they'd be in the same position as us.

They are all better than Carroll because they are fit and can play. It wouldn't do us any good if we had Ronaldo and Messi if they were injured.

Carroll has been 2 months from return for an awful long time.

[mumbles87]

I really hope you are proved right Major, I just have the complete opposite opinion of him. How about a bet for the Bobby Moore fund? If he scores more than 20 Premier league goals for West Ham by the end of the 2014-15 season I will give £50 quid to the fund. If he scores less than 12 you have to. And anywhere in between it is £25 each

see I never think andy will break 20 goals a season.. I think he is around a 10-15 goals a season man

all these crosses will go in the box he may win them.. but not score them.. he is more a creator and bringing others into the game.

I reckon once he back Morrison will start getting even more goals from his knock downs

[Billydinho]

So Maiga, Cole, Petric and myself, are all better than Carroll?

[DaveWHU1964]

No I can't .....

No I didn't think you could. And that was my point.

[Jumby]

I reckon once he's back

Brazil will have won the World Cup, we'll be in The Championship, looking to bring in Andy Johnson on loan.....

[Crouchend_Hammer]

So because I didn't mention this four months ago, I can't comment on it now? Righty-ho

[DaveWHU1964]

So because I didn't mention this four months ago, I can't comment on it now? Righty-ho

You can comment on what you want and so can I. Mine is that wise-after-the-event type comments add nothing, unless the person saying it was saying it before the event. As you admitted you weren't. It's on a par with all those regular and tiresome digs at the management last season that we should have signed Michu, when 6 months earlier none of us had even heard of him.

[the pink palermo]

It's on a par with all those regular and tiresome digs at the management last season that we should have signed Michu, when 6 months earlier none of us had even heard of him.

And six months from now we'll all have forgotten about him .

Chuck D did have the sense to say "let's see how many he scores next season" , last season, wise man that he is .

Top drawer strikers really are thin on the ground and they ain't cheap , which is why Sam has invested what he has in Carroll .

Norwich have signed a pair that won't be breaking any records any time soon .They cost about the same as Carroll between them , but seemingly only Sam gets it wrong .......

Andy Carroll is a good English centre forward imo and I'm sure the Manager will be vindicated in due course.

[DaveWHU1964]

Top drawer strikers really are thin on the ground and they ain't cheap , which is why Sam has invested what he has in Carroll .

Yep. Top draw strikers tend to cost £30 million and go to clubs for whom money is no object. Clubs like us have to sp*nk our unspectacular budget on the next tier down (and I like Carroll btw) and that comes with risks- players not being quite up to it, injury prone etc.

I could understand the recent panicky stuff more if Allardyce had had a £100 million budget and blown it on six injury prone players rather than the type of forwards currently gracing City.

[Crouchend_Hammer]

Just because we hadn't heard of someone or suggested something shouldn't automatically mean the management are off the hook for not doing it. I am not employed full time by a football club to find players or devise our transfer strategy. People are within their rights to ask why we didn't sign Michu, or had even heard of him, if Swansea could. And I am just using Michu as an example because you mentioned him rather than saying we should have signed him

[Hammer_atown]

I think it's also probably worth not judging the Carroll deal too much now.

He's what, 5 months into a 6 year contract? Whilst I'm irritated that's he's not fit, injuries happen. If his career with us ends now, it'll be a gargantuan waste. If in six years he signs an extension or we make a profit he'll have been doing something right. I suspect this period will be looked back as "the difficult starting period" or "the blip at the start".

It would be nice if he regained some fitness soon though

[Crouchend_Hammer]

Ok, TPP. What happens if due to Sam investing his budget in Carroll we get relegated because he hardly plays this season ( not that unlikely scenario) and thus Carroll leaves, can we then say it was a mistake? Of do we still have to sing the tune and say it was a good signing and he was worth the money?

[the pink palermo]

Yep. Top draw strikers tend to cost £30 million and go to clubs for whom money is no object. Clubs like us have to sp*nk our unspectacular budget on the next tier down (and I like Carroll btw) and that comes with risks- players not being quite up to it, injury prone etc.

Very much so .

Sam has signed Maiga - I'd never heard of him , played for a French side , towards the bottom of their first division, and he cost £4m+ .That's a real gamble - might come off , might not .

Andy Carroll a capped England international at around £15m and a year long sale or return trial is not a gamble , but he is a lot more expensive .

Carroll played well for us last season - I sometimes wonder what it is people want .

[Jumby]

Al I'll say about Michu is that it wasn't as if he was playing in some far out league we've never heard of, he was playing very well in one of the world's best leagues, so I think you can forgive people for wondering how he, seemed, to slip under the radar of most. I knew who he was, before he signed for Swansea, I'd seen the quality, I couldn't believe how cheap he was, less than half the price of Stewart Downing!