Monday 21 May 2012

Was Cole really only on £14k per week this season?

That's what The Sun is claiming, albeit I don't think Cole mentions that figure at all - although he does say he took a 50% pay cut to stay at the club following relegation.

The intriguing thing is that this suggests Cole was earning just £28,000 a week, or a misery £1,456,000 a year when in the Prem. That doesn't tally with the £40,000 per week that the spreadsheet that was leaked suggested. Of course, the club claimed that the figures on that sheet were bogus, but Upson's and Parker's salaries were confirmed, suggesting that if the figures were made up, somebody was guessing well.

The Sun rightly commends Cole's loyalty, contrasting him with Judas Defoe, but Defoe might respond that, unlike Carlton, he is on the plane to the Euros - and heading for another season in the Europa League too!

Who knows what the true figures are? The point is, Cole stayed and he played in crucial role on Saturday, scoring and assisting both the West Ham and Blackpool goals. He still gets unfair stick from the "fans", many of whom can't get over the fact that he is black I suspect, but he just gets on with the job regardless and genuinely seems to hold the club dear to his heart.

The trouble is, that generous big hearted honesty is the reason why he has failed to fulfil his true potential. If he could become a mean selfish bastard over the summer, given the dearth of English strikers, he might yet have an international future; but we all know he won't. The guy is just too damn nice!

13 comments:

Stani said...

Fair enough, HF

Anonymous said...

'He still gets unfair stick from the "fans", many of whom can't get over the fact that he is black I suspect'

That is a pig ignorant comment to make about West ham fans and one that I would expect from a casual attendee like yourself. West Ham have fielded many black players and were amongst the first clubs to introduce black players into english football.

Fans give him stick because is simply is not a good forward. He cannot jump and regularly loses the ball instead of laying it off. Everyone is in love with him at the moment as he has played well in the last few games. I'm not saying get rid of him - backup striker at best.

Anonymous said...

As a player of Football Manager, I remember his salary on last season's version of the game being £30000 a week. And the game's developers are usually very, very accurate. But anyway, fair play to him I gave him some real stick on twitter ll season but he turned up when he mattered I guess. Oh well PREM!

Hammersfan said...

Pig ignorant? I was on the terraces when the HOME fans threw bananas at Clyde Best and when gags were made about him tripping over his spear. I've also heard "You lazy black bastard" and "You useless black cnut" aimed at Carlton often enough by our racially blind fans. Probably the same fans who hiss to simulate the gas chambers when we play Spurs eh?

BoleynBob said...

Really surprised by your comments. Whilst he has improved in the run in dramatically he has in the past been very frustrating to watch. So full of promise without the cutting edge to score enough goals. Nothing to do with his colour. I hope you plan to report anyone shouting racist abuse and at the very least tell then to shut it.

Hammersfan said...

To what end Bob? It would be easy to identify the hissers but does the club do anything about it? What about the shoe bomber taunts at Mido? Just banter apparently, and we all know Arabs find it funny to be classified as murdering terrorists because they are Muslims don't we?

Hammersfan said...

And how about the running round Tottenham song? Ever been in the Boleyn and witnessed the skin head Junior school kids joining in the racist songs as their proud fathers drape their tatooed arms around them?

Anonymous said...

Anony-mouse says,

When he came to us I didn't rate him at all. I thought he was lazy and didn't care. I was wrong. It's just that Carlton, Like Collison is a confidence player. I wasn't a Zola fan but the best thing he did for us was to put an arm around CC and encourage him. It worked to the point hat he broke into the England team. Sure there were not too many great English CF's around at the time but just two years earlier it would have ben unthinkable.

Maybe if he was selfish he'd have had a more glamourous career than he has, but our system needs an un-selfish CF who will chip in with goals, but acts more as a handful for defences and enabler for others. He is perfect in that role.

We need cover for him due to injuries etc, but the guy is a hero to me for is genuine love of a club that he patently feels at home at. I completely believe he halved his wages this year- he's that sort of bloke. As the brilliant banner said - 'sex and drugs and Carlton Cole'.

BoleynBob said...

The club has promised to kick out those who are racist. If we stay silent then its never going to change. The mido slur had nothing to do with his colour and was taken out of context in the media. They look very much alike http://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=isch&source=mog&gl=uk&tab=wi&q=shoe%20bomber%20mido%20look%20i%20like&sa=N&biw=360&bih=592#i=5. I agree with you about the spurs song which needs to be kicked out too.

Hammersfan said...

With the very greatest of respect, I do not look like Richard Reid because I am white. There would also be no link because I am not a Muslim. To say it has nothing to do with ethnicity / colour is therefore ridiculous.

Hammersfan said...

And Bob, identifying the racists is very easy. All seats are numbered and most are sold in advance via credit cards. There are stewards all around the ground. If the club was serious about kicking out racism it could do so in five minutes flat. Provide steards with small video cams. Pay for extra police for the exercise. Identify, name, shame, ban for life. Easy.

As I have explained on here before, I have formally complained about overt and aggressive racism twice in football grounds. Once at Wembley in an England v Scotland game when two National Front thugs gave Nazi salutes to the National Anthem and racially abused an Asian Dad and his two young sons in the crowd near them. Nothing was done and the poor guy left early in fear of his life. I wrote to complain to Wembley afterwards and got no response. The second time was at Chelsea, for a game against Man City, when one disgusting yob racially repeatedly used antisemitic abuse towards an ex Spurs player and monkey noises towards Wright-Phillips. He was a season ticket holder, there were banners proclaiming "Kick Racism Out of Football" all around the stadium, and again nothing happened.

BoleynBob said...

Hammersfan with that logic any banter about any footballer looking like someone else must be racism? At least admit they do look alike i.e. shape of face and haircut. Your experiences of ignorant idiots at matches is sad and one of the reasons I didn't enjoy watching England. I haven't in the past 6 years experienced any people being racist at West Ham however wouldn't be shocked if it did happen but in general our fans are not like that. CC has got stick for losing the ball a lot and not taking his chances.

Hammersfan said...

We wont agree Bob. The East End has more than its fair share of racists (as the BNP vote shows) and that inevitably is reflected in our supporters - especially given the less intelligent you are, the more likely you are to be racist, and the less intelligent you are, the more likely you are to attend football matches on a regular basis. Do the Venn Diagrams for "East End White", "West Ham Fans" "BNP Supporters" and "Less than five GCSEs" and you will find almost as big an overlap as for "Stinking rich", "Members of the Tory Party", "Members of Lords", "Educated at Eton" and "Racist"!