A lot of you know that I am a very passionate West Ham fan. Recently, I have been coming under fire from some of the more aggressive fans, due to my outspoken views on the direction that we, as a club, are heading under Big Sam.
It is no secret that I do not believe that Big Sam is the right man for us, long term. I disagree with his style of play, his transfer policy, youth policy, his relationship with Mark Curtis and his growing connection to our club... You name it, there's probably something I find quite negative about it. I will probably address these in a future blog, but for now, I want to address something a little more specific... The signing of Andy Carroll.
I want to give some of those more aggressive fans a stern telling off. This goes out to the fans who defended the £15m transfer fee and the £25m wages that we are now committed to paying Andy Carroll over the next six years. The same fans who told me that Andy Carroll is the man who will take our club to the next level. The very same fans who told me Big Sam is not trying to turn us into a long ball team...
... The same fans who now appear to be very worried about the prospect of us signing Rory Delap.
I don't know what people are more specifically worried about, whether it's Rory Delap's technical ability, or his connections to Stoke City. Ironically, I joked, sarcastically, about this very signing when I noticed that he had been released by Stoke City.
In my opinion, Andy Carroll epitomises the Stoke City way. Before you abuse me, I am not suggesting that we are, or should be, a long ball team. The stats show that we are very much a team of varied passing. That is why I have generally been against the permanent signing of Andy Carroll. To me, it appears to be a sign of things to come.
You all state that Andy Carroll is unplayable on his day. Why is that? He is big, strong, likes the "fightball" style of play and wins the aerial challenges and knock-downs consistently. What team does that remind you of? Stoke City. Yes, it's a good option for us to have within the squad. I don't dispute that. The main reason I'm against the Andy Carroll signing is because of the vastly inflated fee attached to him, that we, as a debt-ridden club who almost hit administration (according to David Gold), have agreed to pay. If he was half the price, I'd have no qualms whatsoever. I purely have doubt that he is worth that much money, which could have been used to strengthen the squad.
The issue here, is that you guys want to use him in "our" system to win things. We are not, predominantly, a long ball team. For the money spent on Carroll, I don't think he offers enough that will solve our problems. Our defence is still arguable, we could do with a bit more cover or alternative options in midfield and we need at least one more striker (maybe two, if Maiga isn't part of the plans) who will score goals.
Andy may be a benefit during defensive corners, but he certainly won't provide us the goals we require from our front line (something which you've all prioritised, being happy that we've released Carlton Cole). I can only really see Andy scoring around 10 a season. He isn't a proven goalscorer and his best record to date is scoring 19 in all domestic competitions in 2009/2010, with Newcastle United in the Championship. To put that into perspective, Ricardo Vaz Te scored 24 goals in the same league, 12 for us and 12 for Barnsley, who were so poor that they finished in the spot above relegation to League One. Heck, even the largely hated Carlton Cole scored 15 times in that same season.
West Ham's only option to make Carroll a long-term success, is to adopt Big Sam's negative, more direct style, which we have all moaned about this past season. We cannot get the best out of Andy Carroll by trying to fit him into our beloved system (which unfortunately, seems to be fading out of our memories since Zola departed). Liverpool tried to play "the right way" and they've taken a £20m hit on their account for it.
To me, signing Rory Delap would make sense. Big Sam has spent a large chunk of capital on a target man, so it's only natural that Sam would want to utilise him as much as possible. If that means signing someone who's only real talent is long, pacey, low arching, accurate throw-ins then so be it. Who knows, it might actually work. If Matt Jarvis can be encouraged to show off those skills we see in the warm-up during the game, to challenge the fullbacks a bit more, any little clearances out of touch will lead to a big throw to the big Geordie.
As for Delap's technical skills... Well, can he be much worse than Emanuel Pogatetz?
A lot of you have said that I'm just a negative moan-a-lot, so why is it that I now feel like I'm the only one who's embracing the style of play that best supports the striker that YOU all wanted?
I might moan, but I just want the best for OUR club. If that means signing Delap, purely to put our new number nine in the spotlight within that penalty area, then so be it.
Come on you Irons!
