Interesting to see Avram is now insisting that Carlton Cole is going nowhere. If I was Cole, I would feel that this statement came at least two weeks too late, however, especially given the speed of Sullivan's insistence that Parker was going nowhere as soon as Tottenham put in an offer. Avram also waited for Pulis to deny Stoke interest before he made his statement.It seems pretty clear that the Remy deal is now dead in the water and that this is the reason why Carlton is once again our main man. For as long as the signing of Remy appeared a live possibility, we were happy for Cole to be linked with Stoke, with no threats to refer the matter to the Premier League for tapping up whatsoever, even when Etherington was explaining to journalists why the move would be good for Cole. Then, suddenly, Pulis came out and said the rumours were rubbish and Avram has announced that Cole is staying. Stoke appear to be saving face whilst Avram is reverting to Plan B.
It is to Cole's immense credit that he has kept his head down and remained loyal to the club through all this. Many, in his position, would have spoken out and "demanded reassurances or a move". Had he done so, nobody could have blamed him, especially given the way he is treated by a section of the Upton Park "faithful" who still seize on his every mistake as an opportunity to groan and howl insults. Cole's frustration at his treatment boiled over after the Stoke game, of course, when he went for somebody in the crowd. Grumpy from the Org has never scampered away so quickly!
The truth is, Cole has been a great servant of the club under three managers already - Avram is now his fourth! He was happy to wear the number 12 shirt, even when being linked with Juventus, Liverpool and Tottenham, and has shown great commitment to the cause, even surrendering his World Cup place by playing whilst carrying an injury. He may remain something of a rough diamond but his detractors would be well advised to focus on Carlton's strengths rather than on his weaknesses. When fit, he is pacey, strong and has surprisingly good ball control. True he is not a natural scorer but he has improved in that area already and may yet get better.
I am delighted that Cole is staying. He now needs support, not criticism, because he is an important key to our success next season. He must realise that he is not Avram's first pick but he wasn't Curbishley's nor Pardew's first choice either. Not being a Champagne Charlie, Carlton didn't let that upset him, he just got on with the job!
58 comments:
You are so two faced Hammersflan. You tell us 'He now needs support, not criticism' yet you spend 99% of your time criticisng everything about West Ham.
I struggle to think of the remaining 1% where you support West Ham but I was always taught that no-one ever deserves 100%
I am not two faced. I believe in honest and fair criticism and honest and fair praise.
There is a body amongst West Ham's fan base who hold Cole's Chelsea past and colour against him. Some, like davefking on the Org, actually want him to fail. Perhaps the sickest post I have EVER seen was when Mr King said he was PLEASED when Cole was injured last season, so desperate was he to see him out of the team.
There were guys near me in the ground last season who jumped on Cole's every mistake and actually booed when his name was announced before kick off. This is the man who has been our top scorer over the last two seasons and who forced his way into the England squad. Mad.
I am not two faced at all. Guys who wear the club colours but boo a player in the team because of prejudice are the real hypocrites.
It's simple really. Avram wanted to sell Cole and buy Remy. After a couple of weeks of watching him close up, Avram decided that he wants Cole. That means Parker & Cole staying, new contract for Green in January and Upson's replacement in Tal Ben Haim about to sign...maybe even Upson staying who knows?
What is far more interesting to me personally, is how well our squad performs under Avram. Pre-season results are notoriously unreliable predictors of future performances but this is without doubt the best pre-season in a long time with 5 wins out of 5.
Sure we've made some promising shrewd signings but with the exception of Hitzlesperger, our good results are from players that were at the club under Zola... Picquionne and Barrera have played just a few minutes each in the Ipswich game.
If the greatest service Grant and the two Daves bring to WH is to keep our main players and add a few freebies and low budget signings then I think we are very lucky to have them running our club and I see us headed in the right direction.
I agree except I expect Parker to leave.
Oh and Remy turned us down, like the guy at Arsenal, Chamakh.
No doubt there are lots of strategies with regard to transfers that are being played out behind closed doors that we'll never know about but your speculation in this article is basically fantasy. As usual, take 2, add 2 and come up with a total of 5.
Why do you believe the club when they say Cole will stay but not when they say the same thing about Parker?
If Cole were to go, there's still plenty of time to sign a replacement striker before the window closes.
And did Cole really 'surrender' his World Cup place? I very much doubt that. If anything it might have been the other way around. He may well have underperformed for WH at the end of the season because he came back too soon trying to chase a world cup place.
I'm a big fan of Carlton and would love to keep him but when he came back in to the team last season he was either still injured, unfit or just not trying hard enough (I think still injured).
Whatever it was, his performances were no where near good enough and contributed to us nearly being relegated.
Your logic falls down when you look at our results when Cole was in the team as opposed to when he was out of the team. I haven't checked, but I think I am right in saying that we only won one game when Cole was out of the side - at home to bottom of the table Pompey!
I agree Cole looked scratchy after his return but so did the rest of the team! By that stage, the wheels had come off the wagon! He was rushed back, Zola admitted he was still "feeling" his knee, and Carlton did not look fully mobile. He reminded me of Ashton when he came back!
The difference is that Sulllivan denied we were selling Parker whilst he ignored all the rumours regarding Cole. Why? How do you explain that? The other difference is that Parker may well want to leave, whereas Cole appears 100% committed to the West Ham cause!
Does Ben Haim have a video on youtube?
Type Mr Bean into search!
Not sure about Cole but that beer looks inviting. Is it sold in England or is it American?
It's Australian mate, brewed by Fosters group. No idea if you can get it in UK. Anybody know? Anybody drank it?
I can vouch for it but you should have used a picture of Carlton Black for Cole.
So what makes you think Parker will leave Hammerfan 10:07?
What part of "under no circumstances" "for no amount of money" and "WF fans have been lied to by previous owners but we will keep our word" leads you to be so insightful that Parker will leave?
Do you ever have anything positive to say about West Ham? If so I've not read it yet.
Does anything about West Ham make you happy? I believe you'd find fault in a 7-0 victory over Man Ure.
Do you actually like football?
On the evidence of the blogs I'm reading, I would have to say 'No' as it appears to have made you ultra-cynical and uber-miserable. I can imagine you behave like the old-gits from Harry Enfield's show.
'Neeeee, geet outav it'
....I've drank it....
11:03
Gold made assurances about Zola too mate. Then there's the Beckham thing. They have previous for bullshi**ing.
I've been wondering about Remy the last few days, and I hope G&S told Nice to shove it up their arse and the 13 million in officially off the table. I believe we met every demand they had for the player, and yet they still treat us like their last resort.
HF, while I read your comments about Parker kicking his last ball in anger for us and initially agreed, I'm starting to wonder if the strategy is more shrewd. Simply put, summer is a good time to buy while January is a better time to sell. I wonder if won't sell anybody this summer. When January rolls around, and clubs are desperate for a multitude of reasons, we will squeeze top notch fees for whomever Grant sees fit to go.
Hmmmmmmmmmm.
The OS has have confirmed the loan signing of Ben Haim until January with another international player to also sign soon.
They've made a point of reiterating that both Green and Parker are staying. No mention of Upson or Cole though...
HF - Do you honestly still think Parker will go this summer? The club are digging a very deep hole to get out of if they're intending to sell him and this is all an elaborate PR ruse.
Klose is coming to West Ham!
My money is Clerc being the mysterious international we are due to sign.
The quote on the OS says...
"The potential recruit is a young international, who represented his country with distinction at the 2010 FIFA World Cup"
Not sure that Klose fits in to the 'young' category anymore, he's 32!
Thought it might Sulejmani but he wasn't at the world cup. Could be Kevin Prince Boateng, at 23 he's young(ish) and had a pretty good world cup with Ghana...
I don't think Clerc is that young either or was at the world cup.
Maybe Asamoah Gyan?
hahahaha - some good stuff about this place on WHTID
Well after this thread I'm pleased to see a lot of familiar names still and I'm glad they're not the ones involved as I enjoy all their posts.
I'm sure when the deflectors are left with a site like The Games Gone Crazy they'll be back with their tails between their legs, so I hope Iain has a way of blocking them for good.
Iain you've never met or exchanged words with the majority of your followers from this site but I hope the response here shows how much backing and appreciation you have for your hard work, not forgetting SJ and more recently Reece. COYWHTID!!!!!!!!!!!
Apologies I didn't read the statement myself so missed the point that the player is young and played in the world cup. I now have no idea who it could be. Hope it is KPB though.
So what is not positive about West Ham in this post? Is Carlton not a West Ham player?
1323, interesting that YOU come here to talk about what is happening on WHTID! I see Iain has thrown another hissy fit! It's a blog for pity's sake! "Boo hoo personal attacks, sob sob I've had tto take down a thread, sniff sniff, why don't they all love me?" It is truly pathetic to read! The guy needs to get some backbone! Member of the Tory Right? He's wetter than Jim Prior and Francis Pym sharing a bath! "I'm free!" interjects Dale!
The logic above about Cole's contribution to the team holds up completely. The team performed just as bad with or without him in it last season...
Cole's first stint: P14, W3, D5
During Cole's injury: P13, W3, D4
Cole's second stint: P11, W2, D2
The only difference is that Cole scored most of his league goals BEFORE his injury and hardly any after his return in Feb.
Also, how do you come to the following conclusion...
"The other difference is that Parker may well want to leave, whereas Cole appears 100% committed to the West Ham cause!"
Neither has said a word about transfers? What has Parker done to make you think he might want to leave?
Oh sorry you've misunderstood my post which I'm sure you didn't mean to - what I was referring to was the following quote
"I'm sure when the deflectors are left with a site like The Games Gone Crazy they'll be back with their tails between their legs"
bit derogatory wouldn't you say? and no they are not Iain's words
hahahaha - we've already seen elsewhere that WHTID is ranked No. 308,204 in the world and No. 12,089 in the UK - which is pretty impressive and not bad for a guy who needs to get some backbone and is prone to hissy fits - can you imagine how well he'd do if he was a little more like you HF?
1412, they are entitled to their opinions, as indeed you are, ON HERE! You see, that's the difference. I don't throw a hissy fit and ban people when they say things I don't like.
Still, I'm sure Iain liked the tail between the legs bit!
Statto, is that right? I'll check when I have time and come back to you. Instinct tells me you are wrong!
oh yh Klose isn't young is he lol. Although he could be considered young from the players we've signed in the past. Think you may have hit the nail on the head with KPB. Hope so!
I've had a think and my money is now on the Algerian keeper. I believe we had him on trial.
1417 did if you mate!
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/westhamtillidie.com#
As I though “Statto”, you are WRONG. We only won 8 Prem games all season and Cole was in the side for 8 of those victories! In order, our victories were as follows:
Won against Wolves, Cole played.
Won against Villa, Cole played.
Won against Burnley, Cole played.
Won against Pompey, Cole didn’t play.
Won against Birmingham, Cole played.
Won against Hull, Cole played.
Won against Sunderland, Cole played.
Won against Wigan, Cole played.
So, we won 7 games with Cole in the team, and only one when he was absent, as I said. The win ratio with Cole starting was 27%. The win ratio when Cole didn’t start was 8%! Had we maintained a win ratio of 27% over the full season we would have collected 33 points without drawing any games. Had we won just 8% of our games we would have collected just 9 points from winning games over the season.
Think that suggests that Cole is an important member of the team, don’t you?
And the reason for this hissy fit, someone left the below comment on his blog. Quite frankly HF gets more stick than this daily! Keep up the good work HF and keep flying the flag for freedom of speach.
For your entertainment here it is:
"Hijack this site???? Are you deluded??? yes you are!
I tried to save your sack of shit site! The reason people like Headmaster, Roshi, Me, HammerRay are leaving is because of you and your ignorance and arrogance! You are a bitter pathetic human being.
If you have something to say about me, I will happily meet you in Tunbridge Wells and you can say it to my face! If not, stop being a power hungry little boy and start worrying about losing more members!
You’ll be happy to know that a number of members from this site have met in person and yes, your name popped up and the overwhelming response was that you are a complete and utter waste of space! You have nothing good to say about anything or anyone! People don’t like you Iain and surely you must see why??? You treat people like shit!
You had a lot of good members here, notably Roshi, Headmaster and HammerRay amongst others and you alienated them to the point the word hate came up when talking about you!
You have let that tiny piece of power you gained on crap radio like LBC go to your head and now you have lost the plot!
So as far as hijacking this site, you can stick the site and your dumb remarks where the sun doesn’t shine and delete my name from your member list as I, like many other poeple want NOTHING to do with you or your blog!”
Oo er Misses! Chase me! Shut that door! My friend Everard says...
Absurd! Poor Iain!
I always thought you were odd HF in a very gay kind of way - thanks for confirming it....
Only in your dreams 1652. What's wrong, is Iain too fat for you?
Cole is damn important for the hammers. As already mentioned, most games he took part we've won. When West Ham were in trainings camp I had the possibility to talk to nearly each player - including Coley. He told me he hasn't reached full fitness up to now and It'll take about 2 month till he is at his best again. The whole healing process may take even longer.
He also added that the hammers have various good strikers who can replace him if he is not able to play - but I replied that there is just one Carlton Cole in the team ;)
See my follow up post mate. It's a relief that we have alternatives if Carlton is still feeling that injury!
jep, sure we have alternatives but in my opinion Cole is still our best striker. In addition to that I just wanted to motivate Coley
I run a sport injury recovery centre and use revolutionary equipment and offered our services to West Ham Free of Charge and even though we had phone calls and meetings they never got it together to even send a youth player down to see what it was all about.
What would you recommend for me? I ruptured the tendon that connects to the base of the foot back in January (part of Achiles sytem). Since then, I've suffered acute pain in the ankle, foot and heel when playing football and walking any distances. Now the pain has started in the other ankle!
Bloody hell HF, that sounds serious! From experience, some injuries never completely go; especially ligament, tendon and major muscle ones. It's funny that the ones that look the worst (bone injuries), probably heal the best.
Yeah I know, unless you are Ashton! And I'm not getting any younger so the body doesn't heal so easily anyway. The hospital didn't treat me properly in the first place. So now I'm on pain killers, a physio regime (trying to pick up pens with my toes, walking on my toes etcetera) and have to have heel and ankle support. It's a bitch!
I think Ashton's issue was a 'soft tissue' one too. My understanding is that his bone was fine, just the cartilage in between was finished. No cartilage and it's just bone on bone I'm afraid. That's why he had to get his ankle fused i.e. to do away with the joint so there is no bone moving against bone. So sad.
You should be careful too. They haven't given you insoles to use have they? The fact that you're getting pain in the other ankle too may well be because of the over compensatory effect from the supports on your injured ankle. Left one is it? You're gonna have to be careful with the footwear you use now too. No low-profile flat stuff....although I can't really picture you bowling around in some Pumas.
When I did my ankles (ligaments), I found that massaging them everyday worked absolute wonders. I still get the odd ache on a cold day but that will always be there. I went to the hospital about a week after injury and they weren't even going to x-ray mine until I showed the nurse the photos I had taken on the day and the day after :) She was shocked and quickly ordered x-rays.
But yeh, your just gonna have to take care from now on I'm afraid. Lots of massages, lots of raising your feet. No oxygen chambers or calves' blood and comb of cockerels for us. That's what all these footballers get from that world renown German Dr Muller-Wohlfahrt. If you got the dough HF, pay him a visit! Read up about him, he is nuts.
Well actually I have been wearing flats and that is stopping. I've been recommended to get insoles and I've buying some expensive trainers with ankle support. They did x-ray me but were looking for a bone break in the foot even though there had been no impact, the bloody thing went in exactly the same was as Beckham's did - there wasn't a player within 10 yards of me, I was just doing an Upson lump and it was like a bolt coming out of the ground into the heel of my standing foot. Agony.
Got yourself in a floatation tank - zero gravity takes the pressure off the injury, Epsom salts have a profound healing effect and the deep physical and mental relaxation promotes a release of beta endorphins which is the body's natural pain killer.
Really on the Epsom salts?
Usually when a ligament or tendon detaches it takes a bit of bone with it and bone can chip off and cause problems around the ankle area. It' probably why they were x-raying you. But x-rays are useless for ligament and tendons. Didn't you have a MRI? They operated no?
Endorphins are also released during intercourse HF!
(Sorry Mrs HF)
We've sold a few tanks to premiership clubs - all hush hush non disclosure agreements and all that - as a hammers fan I offered it for free but they weren't interested - go figure!
I told them that about the X Ray! Three hours wait in A&E to hear the doctor say, "The X Ray shows no break"! Bloody idiots! No, I wasn't offered an MRI scan. As you say, my name isn't Beckham.
So they put you in plaster and told you to rest?
What bloody hospital was this?
No plaster mate. I even had to ask for crutches!
Are you serious? What did they diagnose then? From what you've told me, it seems a classic case of the achilles tendon snapping. Now that's scan, operation, plaster, crutches and 6-8 months out. Some guy did his and he actually did an online diary of it that I came across ages ago. If I find the link I'll post it.
I reckon it was a tear or rupture rather than a snap but I don't know. It has never been diagnosed as such!
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