The striker situation has left everyone frustrated, but the biggest error has been time wasted targeting unlikely signings
So let’s recap. The transfer budget
is blown on record £15m signing Andy Carroll, a player who is injured, who was
injured for much of the previous season and who will be injured at the start of
the next. Back-up striker Carlton Cole is released and no new striker is signed.
Three games into the season, just two goals have been scored, neither of them
by our only fit striker Modibo Maïga who, in a David Kelly-esqe performance
against Stoke, misses a sitter which would probably have turned zero points
into three. Andy Carroll returns to training and within half an hour is
injured again. Worryingly, the injury seems so obscure, the club cannot say
how long he will be out for.
Doesn’t sound good, does it? That
because it’s not. But it’s probably not as bad as it seems. The situation adds
fuel to the fire of those fans who believe that Sam Allardyce is on a mission
to sabotage the club but – call me a brainwashed Big Sam apologist if you want –
he probably isn’t. If we put paranoia to one side, the question that
really needs answering is – what, if anything, should have been done
differently? Hindsight makes us all experts, but what were the decisions that
at the time we really questioned?
"Had he kept himself fit over the summer, Carlton Cole would have presented an option – but not one that would have delivered many goals"
Some fans, but not many, were
unhappy with the permanent signing of Carroll. £15m was too much of a gamble on
a player plagued by injuries, they claimed. Only certain individuals within the
club know the minutiae of Carroll’s injuries and the likelihood of a
recurrence. It seems doubtful that anyone would have played down the severity
of Carroll’s condition. Who would have benefited from that? If something to
the contrary emerges, then that would indeed be a scandal. But until that
transpires, let’s assume no skulduggery occurred.
Then there is the question of
Carlton Cole and whether he should have been allowed to leave. Let’s be honest,
those upset by Cole’s departure were so, not because we were losing a player who had consistently delivered for us (certainly not over the last three years), but out of sentimentality. Obviously having him on the books at this moment in time feels
desirable, because we are so bereft of attacking options. Had he kept himself
fit over the summer, Cole would have presented an option – but not one that
would have delivered many goals.
If we are to question the
lacklustre nature of our hunt for another striker, we must clarify our view of
£4.5m-signing Maïga. Having chipped in with a few goals last season from
minimal appearances, fans had reason to believe that he had something to
contribute. On the other hand, Allardyce’s reluctance to give him a chance made
us sceptical. That scepticism turned to outright disdain during the Stoke
match. Allardyce knows him better than the rest of us, and his comments this
week suggest he still believes he can do a job for us. Given that new signing
Mladen Petric will not be match fit for another three weeks, we are likely to find out.
"At West Ham, Allardyce has never given the impression of having faith – Carroll notwithstanding – in any of his attacking signings"
If we are to take the cynical view
that Allardyce’s backing of Maïga comes not from conviction but from necessity,
the big question remains: how did we manage to go through the whole summer
without acquiring an understudy for Carroll? One theory is that targets such as
Demba Ba, Salomon Kalou and Romelu Lakaku were not interested because they
expected play second fiddle to Carroll. A pretty sound explanation, I’m sure
you’ll agree. But to then argue on that basis that we shouldn’t have signed Carroll seems
nonsensical. Either you want a quality striker or you don’t. Surely the
question is, why did we not target a striker who would be interested in
joining, who would be patient enough to wait for their opportunity? When did we
suddenly get so big-headed that only Chelsea players are deemed good enough for us?
I continue to be a big fan of Allardyce but his biggest flaw remains his inability to spot a good striker. At Bolton
he got it right with Kevin Davies, but given how prolific he became in that
role, Allardyce rarely needed to go back into the transfer market. Nicolas
Anelka was clearly a good signing but not one that required a great deal of
imagination. At West Ham, Allardyce has never given the impression of having
faith – Carroll notwithstanding – in any of his attacking signings: John Carew,
Sam Baldock, Nicky Maynard, Brian Montenegro, Maïga.
The transfer window is shut and
until Carroll returns to fitness, we must live within our means. Call me an
optimist, but in this seemingly dire situation is there not an opportunity to
be had? Surely one of Maïga, Petric, Ravel Morrison or Elliot Lee has the
ability to make a notable contribution. Those are Allardyce's options, ones that exist from his own making. It's up to him to make something out of them.
