West Ham United simply cannot rely on injury-prone striker Andy Carroll anymore.
West Ham United’s Andy Carroll
Carroll has had another injury ravaged season in a career riddled by them with just 17 league appearances to his name this term.
He won’t be adding to that tally this weekend when West Ham travel to Stoke City and there is a feeling of exasperation once again from the terraces to the boardroom.
Once again the Hammers have mistakenly relied on the big Geordie to somehow break his cycle of injuries and lead the line this season and once again it has backfired.
So surely the time has come this summer to take the highest offer and move on to pastures new – and more reliable.
No-one is doubting the target man’s work ethic. But it is a story West Ham fans have heard all too often before.
When Carroll was signed on loan from Anfield by Sam Allardyce in 2012, it seemed a match made in heaven. The club even inexplicably wasted more than £10million on flop Matt Jarvis to provide the ammunition for the 6ft 4 star.
Here was a player who cost Liverpool a record £35 million just the year before leading the attack at the Boleyn. Things could not have started much better for the big Geordie as he set up two goals during a towering display in 3–0 home win against Fulham.
But a lengthy injury, two words that have cast a shadow over the 28-year-old’s career so far, restricted him to just 24 appearances and seven goals that season.
Carroll during training
He made a long awaited comeback in the following February and scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Swansea. But in the last game of that season at home to Reading, he was injured yet again.
Nevertheless the Hammers were unperturbed and pressed ahead with sanctioning an £18 million permanent deal on a six-year contract – yes six years – which still has two years to run on around £90,000 per week.
It is a deal which outspoken West Ham co-owner David Sullivan has readily admitted since that he wouldn’t have done with the benefit of hindsight, as reported by BBC’s Football Focus at the time.
Four years on, and countless long, medium and short-term term injuries later, Carroll has become little more than an expensive bonus for West Ham.
He always gives 100% and when fully fit and firing there are not many better all-round forwards in the Premier League – this season proved that when he managed seven goals from 12 games to push himself to the brink of an England recall before injury struck again.
Carroll celebrates
It will be the words many fans fear will be forever associated with Carroll, ‘Great when fit but that’s the problem, he very rarely is’.
In the four years since making his move to Upton Park permanent, Carroll has made just 73 appearances from a possible 152, scoring 23 goals.
If the England international had stayed fit this season, the Hammers would undoubtedly be pushing for a top eight place, instead they are desperately searching for one more win to secure safety.
Many West Ham fans have started to give up on the club’s second most expensive ever signing and whoever is manager next season simply cannot afford to rely on his availability, let alone shape a team or squad around him.
With his boyhood club Newcastle United back in the big time next season and China sniffing around for Premier League stars, Carroll and West Ham could have options should they decide to cut their losses on the popular character.
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