Gold leaps to Carroll’s defence

David Gold is convinced that Andy Carroll has a bright West Ham future despite his ongoing injury problems.

Manager Sam Allardyce this morning declared of the latest Carroll injury: “It has to be a concern, there’s no doubt about that. He’s been picking up injuries for three or four years.

“But the specialists say there’s no long-term problem there, so we would hope that he’ll recover from this – and hopefully that’ll be the case for a period of time.”

But Gold believes the player’s major problems – heel and ankle are now totally under control and told ClaretandHugh: “Once he returns from the knee setback – which is an entirely new issue – he should be fine.

“We have learned how to look after the heel problem and the ankle problem has now been dealt with. He had a loose ankle and should have had surgery before joining us but that is now totally solved. The ankle is fine.

“Once we get him back from his latest problem he and the club are due an injury-free spell. We need a change of luck because what happened at southampton was just desperately UNLUCKY.

“People have been writing him off for a long time and he has this playboy image promoted by the media but I know better. he’s a complete professional and I’m sure he has a long and bright future at this club.