News

Carroll costs considered

|

Slaven-Bilic-Andy-Carroll-Football365The finances of the Andy Carroll situation is exercising many minds inside West Ham right now.

With three years left on his contract and the never ending injury issues seemingly as bad – and perhaps worse – than they ever have been, one wonders where this chapter of issues can ever end.

We have said many times: “We have never needed him more than now” and yet here we are with an £80k  plus a week striker still unable to give, or be given,  any idea when he will be back in action and the medics merely declare: “He has some bridges to cross!”

We had a chat with several insiders at the club today and to say they are “frustrated” would be far too mild a word – desperation and near anger would be closer to the truth.

Whatever one’s view of the player the fact remains that in real terms he is rarely available and regular bulletins about his proposed return invaribly prove themselves some way short of accurate.

We were told: “Andy is not a player with whom it’s possible to take any chances. We need to be 100 pc certain he is okay to resume in case we worsen the situation.”

Andy is picking up around £3.6 million a year so unless an unlikely scenario arises he could still be here at the age of 30 having gathered in another £10.8 million with no  certainty he will play too many games.

Some have suggested he is being kept in mothballs ahead of a January move but as was explained to us this morning: “He needs to be playing over a reasonable period of time to have any value and it’s not happening right now.”

And the additional problem is that were a club to come for him at any stage it’s unlikely more than £8 millon max would be on the table with a wage offer of between £40k – £50k…well shy of his current pay levels.

And that raises the obvious question – Why would he leave?

The Irons look to have a real problem on their hands and all we can do it seems is pray that somehow, somewhere, sometime, somebody will get to the bottom of these dreadful injury problems which are costing him his career and the Hammers an awful lot of money.

And by the way nobody is making any judgement of him at all – merely reporting some facts which would be a problem anywhere anytime.

Share this article

Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!"

Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon

63 comments

  • Michael Miller says:

    I can’t make any sense about this thread, by the sound of it Hugh’s been busy deleting the swearers and insulters and the gist of the thread has been lost.

    • Michael Miller says:

      Why is there posts with earlier times after my last last post?

      Probably ‘orphans’ from deleted posts – maybe Hugh needs a rethink!

      • Andy Carrolls Stunt Double says:

        I was reading it lastnight,it got more & more confusing as the night went on & most of what was deleted was harmless & any swear words had been filtered to asterisks anyway.
        It is messing the whole thread up with this deleting.
        Stop it please whoever is doing it…..

  • Tone not Tore says:

    Whos moderating this site these days the nuns of St.Cecilias Lol

    • RickHammer says:

      Tell me about it Tone its getting on my nerves trying to read comments that are all out of sync because of some pretty inoffensive posts being deleted..pffff

      • essexclarets says:

        This is becoming very confusing trying to understand what is going on here tonight

        • RickHammer says:

          Yeah i know essex,its because big brother keeps on deleting comments which puts everything out of order.Its a pain in the ****

          • essexclarets says:

            Why, what & who??

          • RickHammer says:

            Too many to remember mate.GW,Rads,jimbo,Matte.I think they have all had posts deleted lool most for very little reason from what i read of them when they were still on here.Big Brother gone mad.We are football supporting men not choir boys.

          • essexclarets says:

            Oh right… that explains it then……??? Think i’ll give up & ģo to bed

  • mattefumi27 says:

    Lol what’s going on at this site? If I want to reply to a message my post goes to the bottom of the page… the Big Brother needs a rest… lol 😉

    • Radai Lama...Rises From The Ashes says:

      Yeah i know.Its because they are getting so busy deleting things Matte.The problem is it sends comments everwhere.

    • GW says:

      Its all your fault Matte introducing your foreign lingo to all of us and corrupting our fragile Neanderthal minds lol 🙂

  • Radai Lama...Rises From The Ashes says:

    As soon as the phantom deleter gets busy on here all the replys go ass about face.Its a bloody nightmare.The go all over the bloody place lol

    • CondorHammer says:

      Agreed Rads, although you probably won’t see this reply until next Tuesday.

      • Radai Lama...Rises From The Ashes says:

        Hahaha no i can see it but i bet this reply will probably be somewhere totally different Condor.Blame GW,it was his deleted post caused this mayhem 🙂

        • CondorHammer says:

          Careful Rads, I think mayhem translates to ‘ladies front bottom’ in Swahili. Oh, and another one of yours bites the dust. Just when did Mumsnet purchase this site?

          • Radai Lama...Rises From The Ashes says:

            Yeah i noticed.Its a bloody joke.Soon we will be handed out halos lol

  • essexclarets says:

    AC is unplayable & has been for the majority of the time he has been at the club. That’s the bĺoody problem though.. we can’t ****ing play him, useless lump. If we have to pay him off for about £10m we might as well fork out £11m in wages & at the end of his contract let him go for fk all. At least we might get some return for the money

  • jimbo says:

    Yeah but at least somebody purchased them!

  • mattefumi27 says:

    I’ve never seen a 6 years contract… I mean, we are not talking about Messi or Ronaldo, we are talking about a man who will have an orthopadeic ward named after him… lool 😀

  • CondorHammer says:

    Looks like the phantom deleter has struck again GW!
    I wonder in which language TVR is a curse?

  • pabloonechop says:

    Are we lining up for a breach if contract relating to his recent night out?!

  • GW says:

    Sorry mate was just being overly optimistic more likely to see the ghost of shergar winning the Derby again than Andy going a day without a pint or getting injured by a stray mushroom falling of his pizza:)

  • jimbo says:

    On his day he can be unplayable so they’ve a point. What they’re missing is its a handful of days a year and that ain’t acceptable, especially at £3.6m a year. So no value for money there. Bit like owning a Ferrari with glass bodywork. You’re too scared to drive the bloody thing for fear it will brake into pieces! And the cost of servicing it is a joke.

    • jimbo says:

      Just realised I’ve compared AC with a Ferrari. I withdraw that comment before Matte comes after me! Sorry.

      • CondorHammer says:

        Perhaps Lotus would have been a better comparison – Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious.

  • Tone not Tore says:

    It must be getting towards the time where decisions have to be made.He is only just over half way through this 6 year contract.Are the club just going to sit back & have another two full seasons of this farce?!?!?

  • ironswatch says:

    GET RID PAY HIM OFF it has to be cheaper then keeping him never mind the 80k a week what about the medical bills

  • CondorHammer says:

    At the moment I’d take a Twix and warm can of shandy Bass for him. Bite the bullet and pay him off, as I can’t see anyone wanting to sign him on those wages and as Hugh says why would he take a cut when he can rake it in under false pretences whilst still with us. That’d free up £80k per week and would go a long way to solving the FFP dilemma that SuGo are always banging on about come January’s window (if there’s anyone available, which I know is doubtful).
    God, how I wish we went for Chicarito!

  • bubs says:

    We are stuck with quite a lot of bad players at the moment that are going to be around at least this year,
    We need to start now planning how we can get the forwards we need next season,
    Samulsun will take Tores place no problem
    Fletcher and Martinez will be a year closer,
    Sak could turn things around,
    That leaves Zaza,AC and Calleri,at the moment I would bite the bullet and ditch them all at what ever cost,
    The wage savings are worth it alone,
    Send the scouts out and bring in at least 2 good players to blend with all the talent we have,
    No need to spend silly money,

  • jimbo says:

    Think we are all violently agreeing that Carroll doesn’t offer value for money, but at the same time nobody is going to take a punt on him. So where does that leave us? At £3.6m wages a year, and as close as damn it 3 years remaining, we’ve got to shed out another £11m. That’s madness and probably far more than his current (realistic) transfer value. So is the unthinkable now not only thinkable but the right option, and sell at a huge loss? I dunno – I fear if we did then he would suddenly return to fitness and score a few.

  • robbiem says:

    Have a read of the Telegraph article dated 10th Jan 2015 ‘Andy Carroll has cost West Ham over £45 million’. Signed on a six year deal by the same agent as Allardyce – Mark Curtis. Let’s draw our own conclusions.

    • RickHammer says:

      I remember reading it before Robbie.I dont know if its too wise to sign any player on 80 grand a week over 6 years.Carroll is proving why its a dangerous thing to do lool

  • jaybs says:

    Time to cut our losses, he has made the Club look a complete Joke!

  • essexclarets says:

    This guy drives me mad, all that about never been fitter after a full pre-season & ends up playing next to no minutes yet again & is out until Xmas. £80k aweek is a joke & all the club can do to get shot of him. Why the hell was he given such a long contract after that loan season?? Aahhh

  • Eddie says:

    We are stuck with him the way i see it.No one will buy him unless he gets a run of games to prove fitness.But that hever happens.
    They only way to get rid & be able to free up funds for another players wages is for us to loan him out,abroad maybe & they pick up the majority of his wages.
    I cant even see that happening though unfortunately 🙁

  • spyinthesky says:

    Yes and to think there were still voices pre season talking of his injury problems hopefully being behind him. There is faith and there is delusion and with 3 years left how the hell do we get rid for more than about 6 or 7mill, and I’m not sure that is anything less than the latter to expect a buyer to bite, after all it’s usually us who buy such players and he is hardly to be seen working diligently to change his lifestyle. Maybe Newcastle newly promoted might take the risk, we can only hope. Worse still we still haven’t found a potential replacement to allow us to do so as yet anyway.

  • slaven a laugh says:

    real shame that the owners still haven’t managed to bring in a better striker than Andy Carroll after all these years but the fact remains that when he is fit he is still our best option. So if you’re going to get rid of him then you need to replace him with as good or better.

  • Tone not Tore says:

    We are stuck with him i think Rad.Who would sign him,what manager would put their head on the block by signing him for any decent fee or high wages.
    They just wouldnt risk it i dont believe.

  • Radai Lama...Rises From The Ashes says:

    He is an albatross around the clubs neck.Sorry but in my opinion he is.I have been saying it for two years now that he is a liability & all this “he gives 100% on the pitch” get out clause by fans to justify him being at the club is even more of a joke.
    The sooner the board & club stop having to rely on him as our big money,he will be back soon striker the better.It will benefit the club going forward big time im sure
    The trouble is unless he retires how the bloody hell do we get rid of him.I cant see how,not even at a car boot sale at the moment 🙂

  • RickHammer says:

    Yeah & as usual many of the fans who popped at us for calling him a dud for the last two seasons are now all wanting to get shot of him GW lool

    • GW says:

      Surprised there talking football Rick it’s usually Brexit, the board, the toxic atmosphere or what topping on a pizza 🙂

      • RickHammer says:

        No they are ok tonight.An article on the LS so they can all start whinging about the place again after a few weeks break.You know they are never more content than when they can moan about the ground lool

        • Tone not Tore says:

          There aint many left on there is there.Any fan with any positivity has done a runner or are having the last bit of positivity drained out of them Lol

          • Stan The Man says:

            Yep it seems the continual moaning about the board,brady & the new ground from them has made most other users run for the hills.What a shame 😀

  • GW says:

    20 odd goals in 4 seasons, countless injuries and there are those still defending him? He’s another Keiron Dyer on stupid wages nothing more, sooner some realise that we’re lumbered with another dud who no doubt will be paid off eventually by the club the better.. Joke of a signing

  • Tone not Tore says:

    I think you have to be a bit of a plonker as a fan to beleve the Carroll saga isnt a major problem.Either that or you have your head buried in the sand or buried up your own backside!!

  • West Ham Fan No 32 says:

    I can’t believe he has 3 years left on his contract what was the length of it ? I always thought he had signed a 4 year contract but I guess it was a 6 or 7 year one ? If any desperate clubs come in for him in January would probably be best to take the money and get him off the wage bill, lets hope Allardyce gets the Sunderland job and can talk him into playing for the enemy or Rafa wants to take him back to the Toon.

Comments are closed.