Ashton's Career Over? Well Said dave f king.

I have to compliment my old adversary on the org for this post:

"I have never knocked Deano and no-one has been championing his cause more than me. I am deeply gutted that he will no longer play for us and can't even begin to feel how the man must feel himself. The Pizza man and Beano jesters must surely hang their heads in shame for their pathetic mocking of a very young player of a career that is now no more, as the Mucky Tabloid itself explains, a loss not just for West Ham but England as well.

Maybe in future the poxy official site and Duxbury could be more open and honest with the fans in future instead of leaving things open to speculation. All the best Deano and my sincere condolences."

I have, of course, been one of Dean's most vociferous critics and IF this is true, I would like to offer a fulsome apology to the guy. However, Dave nails where the blame really lies in the penultimate sentence. The criticism of Dean is not really the fault of fans kept in the dark, but of the Dark Dealing Duxbury who, Blair like, manages the media to such an extent that he no longer seems to know either what the truth is or when it is beneficial and when harmful to spin. If Dean's injury has genuinely ended his career, then the poor sod has been hung out to dry by Duxbury's repeated claims that he would be returning any time soon. Is it any wonder the fans lost patience with a player who the Board and club manager said was approaching fitness at the end of last season but who never even went on the pre-season tour? If the injury is as serious as it seems, why were we apparently in negotiation with Stoke to sell the guy? How dishonest and irresponsible was that if true? If not true, why didn't Duxbury simply come out and tell us the truth?

But even more worrying is the way Zola seems to have been misled. Is he part of the spin machine or was he telling the truth when he said: "I am hoping I can have him in my team. Until they tell me something different, I am hopeful." Note the words, "until THEY tell me"; remember Curbishley using the word "they" rather than "we" when talking about the club? The Mirror are writing Dean's footballing obituary and the manager of the team seems to believe he is about to return. Square that circle if you can! In there somewhere is Duxbury's dark hand of deceit I suspect. Why, when interviewed yesterday by the Disney Channel, was Zola asked about Davenport but not Dean when a Sunday paper was reporting that Ashton was about to announce his retirement?

In fact, why has Zola never been asked about Dean on camera? It's a simple enough question isn't it? "When are you expecting Dean Ashton back?" Isn't it odd that this simple question has never been asked? Has Duxbury been screening the questions asked of Zola in the pre and post match interviews in the same way that he managed his own interviews with KUMB and WHTID?

And why now? Well the summer is over, the season is underway, there is hardly any time left to find a replacement, the club can say the news came so late that...blah, blah, blah. There will be compensation paid. Presumably Dean is insured for something like £12m based on his huge salary and England cap but Duxbury and the Board won't want all that spent on a striker, they will want some to feed the hungry brood of creditors, thus the attempt to sell first choice centre half James Collins for a frankly derisory £5m.

If true Dean, I am truly sorry but YOU know where the blame really lies.

Funny, I type the word lies and Duxbury's smiling face suddenly appears in my mind's eye. I wonder why that is?