Thursday 25 November 2010

What is Carlton's game?

Carlton's broadside is fascinating. He rages against the machine with a vengeance, dumping his frustration in no uncertain terms with one of the least guarded statements I have seen since the advent of media and image consultants. A contributor has posted Cole's comments elsewhere, but they are so powerful that I think they stand repetition here. I therefore carry his comments in full below.

The question is, what does Cole hope to achieve. It may be a case simply of venting frustration of course, and engaging the stable door on his brain only after the words had bolted. He may have read his comments back and thought, "Shite!". We have all done that at times in our lives!

On the other hand, Cole may be the nominated spokesman for a disaffected bunch of players, the John Terry style mouthpiece, willing to go where the angels fear to tread. If so, I hope the players now back him and don't behave like the cowards in the England dressing room, stabbing their team  mate in the back and forming a quick queue to voice support for the "gaffer". After the shambolic performance at Liverpool, we need a "Spartacus" approach if there is discontent in the dressing room, not a series of Shaggy style denials. 

Let's face it, this is a gutless bunch of players. Where was the criticism of Zola last season? And where was the criticism of Zola's dismissal if they rated the guy? Boa broke cover after the final game of the season, daring to criticise Sullivan, but a new contract bought his silence in double quick time. Less "I'm Spartacus" and more "I'm Spartacu..lary happy with the way this club is being run!"

Alternatively, Cole may simply be laying the foundations of an exit strategy. If Grant is going nowhere then Cole may have to be offloaded somewhere following his open criticism of the manager. Cole looked exasperated when withdrawn at Anfield but I saw no difference between the way he was isolated in Saturday's game from the way he looked isolated for most of last season under Zola. He seems to have forgotten that 4-3-3 was not the invention of Avram! No doubt Cole feels the loss of Zola most keenly because Gianfranco was the Red Pollard to Carlton's Sea Biscuit! As a result, like the posters who still defend Zola, and indeed like Pollard himself, Cole has some major blind spots (let's face it, he can't even see the back of the net from 12 yards out!).

Maybe Carlton wants out. Who could blame him? The fans are unfair to him and with a manager who seems unsure of his abilities, it would surely suit Cole to move to pastures new. Even Stoke might seem a reasonable alternative after what Carlton has endured so far this season.

Then there's the third possibility, that Cole was green lighted to speak up by Sullivan. Let's face it, the utterances of the players are very tightly controlled these days, so the Cole comments are all the more shocking. Maybe, just maybe, the sacking of Petrovic and the comments of Cole are a calculated strategy to undermine Grant and prepare the ground for another constructive dismissal.

Any which way, Cole's comments point to deep divisions in the dressing room and, on the eve of the crucial Wigan game, are less than helpful.

Here's what he said:

"The game plan was for me to stay as the longest person away from everybody and try to hit me on the diagonal or something, but we weren't even doing that, so that went out of the window and we didn't have a Plan B"

"In the first ten minutes we had lost the game, psychologically anyway. That was diabolical. We didn't even turn up for this game. The first ten minutes we dropped so deep. I can only remember one time when the ball came up to me and I kind of miscontrolled it, but we still retained possession, then I looked to my left and there was no one attacking - there was nobody there at all.

"I think I had just one cross, apart from that I had nothing and as a striker, that's starvation, that's famine - what am I supposed to work on? When we changed to 4-4-2 in the second half, I felt more comfortable because someone was up there with me and I felt that we were starting to get on the ball a little more.

"But then I got taken off and I was like, okay, that's not what they want me to do. They would rather I stood up there on my own, trying to make nothing happen. So what was the game plan? Was it to sit back and hit Liverpool on the counter-attack? Apparently not."

"I'm deflated," Cole said. "I'm not happy and I hope something can happen as soon as possible because we need to change this ASAP. Everyone is deflated."

20 comments:

Hammersfan said...

Apologies to Rotherhithe on the Org, I've just seen that you have mooted the Sullivan conspiracy theory too.

Jonathon said...

How come my comment hasn't shown up? Have I pressed the wrong button or something??

Clez said...

HF - totally disagree that Carlton's comments are unhelpful on the eve of the match. He will be fired up (if selected!) and it might just put the rocket up the backside of the players who saunter through games. Sadly our manager sadly seems unable to do that - and it would probably take Saturn 5 to make Ilunga look interested.
More to the point - why is it Carlton having to do this - what of our feckless captain? If the team is an image of the captain, then it's no suprise our team looks like a cowpat. Upson, show some desire, show some fight - take a leaf out of Carlton's book.

Hammersfan said...

If you have something to say about what Carlton has said, Jonathon, then post your comment. But it has to be something about Cole or West Ham. People are bored by your childish sniping.

Hammersfan said...

Clez, I can't see how exposing divisions in the dressing room are going to help. I agree with what you have said about Upson, however. Why did Zola keep him as captain throughout last season and why has Grant left him with the armband? I guess it shows that there isn't a captain amongst them which is why there is no leadership out on the pitch when things start to go wrong.

Hammersfan said...

Frustrating aint it "Jonathan"? I kept warning you of the consequences of "hiding" behind false identities and the anonymous tag. I can spot you by the way you write, and your last attempted post completely contradicted your previous claim to be new to the site. Idiotic aint ya?

You are not banned. I welcome your opinions on the issues - if you have any. Your childish and repetitive sniping will not see the light of day, however. So, engage in the issues, or go away. I am happy either way. And either way, you lose The Game. Life's a bitch aint it?

T.I.S said...

This team is doomed. I turned on Zola last season and this season I turn on the team. I had us down as favourites to go down last season, but I couldn't be surer of it this time around. Every other team has an auto-pilot button, where their defences look settled bar one or two times during a game, and have a balanced attack, giving the likes of Manchester United a tough game on their own patch. But we don't have auto-pilot and our pilot is drunk. The only was is down!

Hammersfan said...

Cheer up mate, we might appoint Jesus to replace Avram!

H4MM3R said...

Coles comment just shows the frustration about his own game. He tried hard but didn't get any help from the midfield against Liverpool. He wants to fight and he wants to show the supporters and his critics that he is a good striker and deserves his England call. Unfortunately he couldn't show anything against Pool but I wouldn't blame him. Coley is an honest man and he just told what he thinks and what most of the West Ham fans think...after 10 minutes watching the Liverpool game, did you really expect to get a result ?
We need a change and Carlton's statement came at the right time. We are rock bottom and the things didn't work out so far so something has to be done.

Anonymous said...

Can anyone remember the last time we beat Wigan? Can't even remember doing them over in the Championship let alone the prem. Hopefully the tables are turned this week, by heck we need the 3 points!

Hammersfan said...

We beat them 3-2 last season mate the game after we lost 3-0 at Anfield. Keep taking those pills!

Anonymous said...

"He seems to have forgotten that 4-3-3 was not the invention of Avram!"

And Avram's not allowed to change it? Still have your head up his backside hammersfan?

hammalot said...

Glad Carlton vented his frustration. I do not understand the harsh criticism of him by us fans. The lad is a target man centre forward. Its not his job to hustle, its his job to occupy the centrehalfs and he would do that IF WE EVER GOT THE BALL OUT OF OUR &^#@*&^$ HALF!

good on ya Coley, Ill miss you when you leave to score 15 lg goals next term.

IronsFan said...

It's obvious Carlton (nicknamed "Can't Score Goals" last season) is well frustrated, hence his outburst. I don't go with all these conspiracy theories. But I agree that Upson isn't leading. Can anyone explain why Scott Parker isn't captain? He's the true leader on the pitch.

Anonymous said...

Agree 100% hammalot.

Theyve probably just read ray winstones ignorant comments and agreed with him just because hes a celeb.

No link between midfield and up-front, no wing play, balls hoofed up to him....what the hell is Cole supposed to do all on his own?

3 players saved us last year: parker, diamanti and cole. grant has sold diamanti for nothing and has dropped cole causing him to lose all the confidence and hard work zola had put in to him.

Hammersfan said...

What cobblers. Cole has been given his chance by Grant but he has looked crap. Just as he looked crap at the fag end of last season under your beloved Zola. Cole scored ONCE in 13 games at the end of last season! That was some miracle Zola worked on him! When did he lose his confidence? Under Zola!

As for Diamanti, from the beginning of January, he was only given 10 Premiership starts by Zola, and he was withdrawn in SIX of those games! So he only managed the full 90 minutes four times as we battled against the drop! In the crucial run in, from January onwards, he only scored two goals in the Prem, and one of those was in a 2-1 defeat. He also missed that penalty against 10 man Arsenal. Had he netted that equaliser, we might well have got a result at the Emirates. Some saviour! In fact, ignoring penalties, Diamanti only scored three goals last season and 2 of those 3 were scored in games we lost! Brilliant! How many goals did he cost us by losing possession in his own half and by not tackling back meanwhile? I can cite the Bolton game at Upton Park for one!

As for Parker, he scored 2 goals all season under Zola. This season, he has already bagged 5 under Grant.

Facts, they are a bitch aren't they?

hammalot said...

Im not going to argue against Diamanti as he is still my favorite Hammer of the past 3 years really.

And yes Cole did miss that penalty but please when he starts missing 3-5 chances a game itll be time to get your axe out. Most of our attacks seem to end with Obinna skying it and thats not Carlton's fault is it?

You really want him out of the club HF? Youve seen that Kanoute, Zamora, Harewood, Etherington etc. have contributed admirably to the sides theyve gone to.

Anonymous said...

"Facts, they are a bitch aren't they?"

Yep, you should know!

California Boy said...

Facts are a bitch, but anyone that's watched a game has noticed our drop back leaving Cole up at top all alone. He isn't Messi, he isn't Ranoldo, he is the type of player that excels by crossing and forward play. I don't care what Grant "says" he plays, truth of the matter is that Cole is playing out of position. I hope we don't lose him, and if we did I would love to see him go to a team like Stoke where he would thrive from Pulis' crossing scheme. I only wish that so Hammer fans would stop being such divas and pointing the blame on the players willing to show commitment to the team. Can anyone explain why our "so-called" captain won't resign and is going to leave in January (hopefully). WHY IS HE STILL CAPTAIN... YOU IDIOT GRANT!!!

Hammersfan said...

I am a fan of Cole and have been for a long time. However, the hard truth is that, since his injury, he has looked poor. One goal in 13 appearances under Zola at the end of last season says it all. I suspect he was rushed back too early and struggled because he wasn't fully fit. He then lost confidence, which manifested itself in poor control and woeful finishing. The crowd then turned on him and it became a downward spiral. He has scored this season, but that goal doesn't seem to have done him any good whatsoever. He is playing like a shadow of the player that earnt a place in the England squad - and that started under Zola, not under Grant.

California Boy, I have seen no difference in the way Cole is being used by Grant to the way he was being used by Zola. Time and again, last season, I complained about how isolated Cole appeared, how the ball was knocked up to him and there was nobody to support him. And time and again I complained about lack of natural width in our midfield and the failure to cross the ball into the box, due to ZOLA's insistence on using right footers on the left and left footers on the right.

Here, Grant is to blame. We should set up 4-4-2, with Faubert wide right and Barerra (or Dyer) wide left. I accept that still leaves us with no natural left footer wide left, but they haven't replaced Etherington have they? Who Zola sold!

Without the injuries, my team would read:

Green: Jacobsen, Da Costa, Upson, Gabbidon (because Ilunga is hopeless!); Dyer, Noble, Parker, Barerra; Cole, Piquionne.

With the injuries that becomes:

Green: Jacobsen, Tomkins, Upson, Gabbidon: Faubert, Behrami, Parker, Barerra; Cole, Piquionne.

I agree with Hammalot and would drop Obinna, personally. He can't tackle, he can't track back, he can't cross, he can't shoot - so what can he do? If played, it must be as a striker alongside Piquionne or Cole.