Tony Carr: Pay-off talks not at an end!
Yes a club legend who, with his chief scout Jimmy Hampson, unearthed some of our greatest names from Tony Cottee through Michael Carrick, Rio, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Glen Johnson. His name is written large in our Hammers Hall of Fame.
His and Jimmy’s contribution to our club history is totally unforgettable so to read the quotes most of us have now seen in the morning papers is disappointing..
Since reading them we have made our own telephone calls and have been assured that at this stage no final agreements have been signed off so over-reaction is not necessarily the way forward!
In our view whatever Tony gets he will deserve. The word legend is thrown around far too loosely in these times but that is exactly the description which fits this man.
He’s an all round good guy although he might have been better advised than to talk with the Daily Mail ahead of what we believe will still be a negotiated outcome. The talking has not yet been concluded.
For the sake of balance, it should be remembered that he was employed on a fixed two year contract back in September 2014 worth around £200- £250k plus expenses and is now a year beyond his natural retirement age.
Alongside that, his testimonial in 2009 is believed to have yielded around half a million pounds from which the club took nothing. The club clearly hold Tony in the highest esteem and that was the reason for that and the offer which followed.
In reality rather than perhaps send this issue to Human Resources Tony should have been allowed to retire – it comes to us all.
Sadly this one could have ended differently. Hopefully WHUFC and Tony can come to an agreement that suits them both.
In the meantime – many thanks top man. You have been a star!