Forum | General Discussion

Just when things were progressing swimmingly for the Hammers, a reminder of how fragile their precarious early progress is has arrived in the form of one Andrew Carroll being lined up for a potential return to the first team. A lot has happened since Carroll picked up his obligatory three to four month injury as the precursor to his and West Ham's season, is it going to be another Ground Hog Day? Usually the big geordie's return from injury is heralded by a fanfare that culminates in one or two impressive performances that usually involve him jumping higher and more powerfully than virtually any other player, these efforts are invariably rewarded with a goal or two which are swiftly followed by paper talk of an England call up 'to give the team something different'.

Gareth Southgate is due to announce his squad soon, but the England manager knows that the only Hammer he is really interested in is Declan Rice, Southgate like many others admired Carroll's once in a blue moon attributes but knows to avoid Carroll and his perpetual injuries like a barge pole. In a way Carroll's relationship with the club and it's fans is similar to a couple who have a bad relationship caused by 'cheating or beating', the transgressor shows remorse and promises to be better and try harder, only for the inevitable relapse to occur. Only this time Andy Carroll is not an intrinsic member of the first team and has never been viewed as one, we believe Manuel Pellegrini's instructions to his assistants have been to get the player fit ahead of being able to flog him to a team that are really desperate in the January transfer window!

We are in no way suggesting that Andy Carroll deliberately injures himself, we would mention that his 'health' regime was poor to say the least, particularly before he settled down with his current partner, it is just that Carroll is a race horse not a dray horse and as such his body cannot withstand the impact inflicted on it by his massive leaps in the air and subsequent landings. It is a shame to admit or accept. but Andy Carroll is one of football's 'nearly men', he had the ability but not the body! Dean Ashton is another example of 'matter over mind' although his injuries were severe and career ending, whereas Carroll's have been constant and perpetuated in the early days by a lack of healthy regime.

The club has progressed superbly under the guidance of Manuel Pellegrini and has reached a point where instead of looking back and trying to make the most of bad mistakes the club is moving forward and looking to the future, and that future doesn't include Andy Carroll, who no matter what, is not going to make a miraculous recovery and become injury free, the best medical people in the World have already tried and failed to get the ex-england striker fit for more than a few weeks at a time.

Talks regarding a new contract for Carroll have unsurprisingly not been scheduled, the club will just be looking to get anything they can out of his sale in the January window ahead of his contract winding down as it is in it's final year, Carroll was a 'vanity' signing in a similar vein to Joe Hart, at least Hart wasn't injured 90% of the time! West Ham have moved on, now it's time for other people to buy our has been's and failures instead of the other way! Time to go Andy - Ed

Winston Reid and James Collins at their zenith as defenders were a formidable duo for West Ham, however Reid sustained an unfortunate injury towards the end of last season that followed on from what had increasingly become a regular series of injuries involving a lengthy lay off and recovery period. Collins' contract that had expired was not renewed and a bright new future was envisaged, however the early results meant that the new players brought in by Manuel Pellegrini were under the microscope and there were calls for Collins to be re-instated once news of him 'keeping fit' with the first team was made public.

Fast foward a couple of weeks and the centre back pairing of Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena is being drooled over by fans and pundits alike, and rightly so. Diop's £22 Million price tag raised a few eyebrows on his arrival whereas Balbuena crept under the radar at a ridiculously low £3.75 Million. Both players took a while to adjust to the rigours and style of the Barclays Premier League, but both have taken to it with aplomb, their combined performances over the last three Premier League games have been imperious, beaten manager Jose 'Sourinho' was moved to say what a monster Diop was.

The defeated Manchester United manager might well have mentioned that Balbuena was also a 'Beast' and between the Beast and the Monster they hardly gave the visitors a sniff at goal, some marriages are made in heaven and some in hell, but the Diop Balbuena defensive partnership could quite seriously help the club finally reach the level to which it has aspired to for so many years.

A rock solid defence is what all great teams are built upon, and in Diop and Balbuena, abely backed up by Fabianski in goal and the ever improving Declan Rice, the future looks bright, brighter than it has been for many a year. Diop and Balbuena are both on long term deals, Rice is expected to sign a new five year deal in the next few days and along with the previously mentioned others could go on to help form the spine of the team for many a year.

It's just a pity that this 'rise from the ashes' that the club is currently experiencing might not happen in enough time for Mark Noble and Pablo Zabaleta before both of whom, who royally deserve to see some real sucess, hang up their boots! - Ed