steveyrockstar wrote:Question time, folks!
Is the overwhelming dislike towards Carroll because of the belief that his injuries are largely self-inflicted through not caring for himself off the pitch? Or is it because he is literally just injured all the time, therefore borne of sheer frustration? Or is it because people don't approve of his alleged lifestyle, a sense that he's living the dream life without ever having to do much?
If it's the latter, Frank McAvennie was apparently one of the biggest liggers and playboys around, yet he regales his stories to fans and everyone thinks he's an icon, a legend and hilarious. But he had one brilliant season so that makes it all okay? Or do some view him in a similar light?
An excellent question , Stevey .
If you took away the 1985/86 season , the best season of mine and others' lifetime it is possible to compare Frank's West Ham career to that of Andy Carroll's .
The injury which broke Frank's leg back on the opening day of the '89/90 season just compunded the bad luck that had been haunting us ever since that memorable season of 85/86 . After finishing 3rd we could only manage 15th then 16th and then 19th and relegation , John Lyall the best manager West Ham have ever had and the man who re-signed McAvennie had by now been sacked .
By the time Frank had recovered from injury Lou Macari had come and gone to be replaced by former West Ham Captain and hero , Billy Bonds - Frank's lifestyle didn't go down too well with health fanatic , Billy and the two inevitably fell out . Now the fans had a bit of a problem on their hands , who did they back , goalscoring hero or manager ?
At the time I thought Frank could do no wrong and I blamed Billy for being too much of a disciplinarian but of course I had no inkling of what was really going on behind the scenes and with hindsight I'd always back the manager .
West Ham made Frank McAvennie , after scoring 28 goals in what was a superb partnership with Tony Cottee he appeared on The Terry Wogan Show and on the back pages of every newspaper in Brtain , from relative unknown at St Mirren he was now a footballing celebrity and despite only a earning 2000 pounds per week in 1989 he partied like it was 1999 .
But Frank helped give us some of our best ever memories and for that we'll always look back on his West Ham career through claret and blue specs despite the reality being somewhat different , we'll always remember Frank for '85/'86 , not for any other season he played for us but despite all that you can't help but love the man .
Andy Carroll's first season at West Ham was a success too , the supporters sang songs begging him to stay but like Frank McAvennie he only gave us one great season but unlike Frank I can't see West Ham supporters looking back on his career with any fondness .