West Ham agree fee in region of £15m with Liverpool for Andy Carroll

[CaliMag]

Carroll has been consistant in his story that he was bullied/coaxed into signing for Liverpool and I can see the pressure coming from everyone for him to do so. This time I can see Carroll being much more forceful about what happens regarding going to WHam or here or somewhere else. He obviously thinks it was a mistake to leave (and everyone else thinks so) and now he is probably trying to not make another mistake.

 

As an aside, I would rather he signed for WHam myself and think he would do well there.

[ElDiablo]

He'd be stupid to go there permanently, I don't think he'll agree to it.

 

Not been able to decide whether I want him back up to now, but as long as the deal for him doesn't jeopardise deals for other positions (Douglas, Anita) I'd take him back. Would give us a much needed threat from set pieces and a fit and motivated Carroll is a different beast to anything we've got.

[TaylorJ_01]

West Ham are so blatantly anti-football.

[Ketsbaia]

He'll not join them, so West Ham can bid whatever they want. I just hope we dont get him either!

[Cronky]

For the fees being talked about, I'd rather see us bring in a player who is less trouble and offers more versatility.

 

Ba and Cisse both like to play down the middle. Carroll does give added height in both penalty boxes and a more physical outlet up front, but given the choice I'd rather a forward with pace who likes to work the channels while Cisse or Ba stay more central. Someone more in Bellamy's mould. With Carroll, if 4-3-3 suits the team better then you're looking at Ba out of position and Carroll sat on the bench, whereas a more versatile forward can challenge the wide players as well. It suits our needs more and when you look at the run we had with 4-3-3 last season, it makes better sense to have a player who is adaptable.

 

I'd agree, and that sounds to me like the common-sense view of the difficulty of playing two number 9's together. I think that Carroll may have been lined up as a replacement if Ba decided to leave, which now looks unlikely.

 

I'm still a bit puzzled that, after all our experience in the second half of last season and the warm-up games now, Pardew may still be looking at Ba-Cisse as his first choice. It makes more sense to me to alternate the two. It sounds like he's given Ba some reassurances about his role as a way of encouraging him to stay, which strikes me as a) unwise and possibly b) naughty. If Ba subsequently gets the feeling that he's been conned / charmed into staying, we'll have an unhappy player on our hands.

[geordiemonster]

He'll not join them, so West Ham can bid whatever they want. I just hope we dont get him either!

 

If I were a west ham fan I'd be concerned that they they were wanting to spend so much money on someone who blatantly doesn't want to be there.

[Guest thenorthumbrian]

We vary our game and can play a more passing game when required but there is no doubt we do revert to long ball tactics when Ba & Ameobi are playing .

Carroll would fit in as a squad player, whether that is good enough for him who knows.

Still a clubs wanting to challange at the top end of the table need 4 quality forwards.

[geordiemonster]

We vary our game and can play a more passing game when required but there is no doubt we do revert to long ball tactics when Ba & Ameobi are playing .

Carroll would fit in as a squad player, whether that is good enough for him who knows.

Still a clubs wanting to challange at the top end of the table need 4 quality forwards.

 

£17m for a squad player though?

[ohmelads]

 

Aye.

 

My worry is that it'll be Carroll or no striker.

 

Me too. So I can't say I'll be disappointed if we can keep all of our key players and add Carroll to the squad!

 

At these prices though you can't help but think where else that money could be spent, and how the club will try to balance the books afterwards. Ashley has made it clear he is all about profit, so adding Carroll at huge expense would represent a strange shift in transfer policy. You wonder who he might then sell to balance the books, be it this window or in January when it's a seller's market.

[Guest BooBoo]

Thread title needs updating surely?

[Wallace]

I hope he doesn't go to West Ham.  He is a good player but I can't see Allardyce developing him into a better player whereas a good manager would do so.  I also think he could do enough to keep them up and I want them to go straight back down playing the Allardyce way whilst almost every other club has tried to improve their playing style.

 

If it is true and obviously the latest reports are saying not, then Liverpool have already gone back on what Rodgers said a few days ago that they would definitely not let him leave on loan .

 

 

[Guest Howaythetoon]

He'll not go there, he'll either join us or stay at Liverpool. I hope he does go there though, silly money for a really poor player.

My worry is that we are willing to sit this one out in the hope LFC crack, while we could be putting our efforts into signing some other forward, which we badly need now that Best has left. Mind it isn't a priority position as I feel Sammy and even Vukic could be a threat up top if called upon in dire times. Ba, Cisse, Shola and those two are a good 5 especially as we have quite an attacking set of players behind them in midfield with Cabaye, Jonas, Ben Arfa, Marveux etc.

[lovejoy]

Mirror reporter reckons he is Only interested in leaving if it's to join us.

[STM]

I love the way a few people have turned "not worth the money" into "he's a really poor player".

 

He's not a poor player, nor is he worth that mount of money but let's not be silly.

 

We wouldn't be weakening our squad if we signed Carroll but there would be a fair arguement to say we could have strengthened more with that amount of money.

[Fenham Mag]

Guess who is having his say on twitter :

 

 

 

[BlueStar]

To be honest, I don't feel too strongly either way on this one.  I'm not confident in my own ability to predict accurately how it'll pan out if we do or don't sign him, but I don't think either getting him back or missing out is a huge risk. If we sign him we've got three strong players to play up front and the possibility he'll regain his form when he's more settled at home.  We've also made a load of money for nowt.  If we don't, we avoid the media circus and we can sign an up-and-comer type who'll be more happy playing second fiddle to Ba and Cisse and try and establish himself from the bench or during injury/international commitments.

 

Of course what I don't want to happen is that we miss out on Carroll and don't get anyone else instead or (heaven forbid) lose Ba as well.

[Ronaldo]

Hopefully Carroll remembers how useless a boss Allardyce is.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

I love the way a few people have turned "not worth the money" into "he's a really poor player".

 

He's not a poor player, nor is he worth that mount of money but let's not be silly.

 

We wouldn't be weakening our squad if we signed Carroll but there would be a fair arguement to say we could have strengthened more with that amount of money.

 

Just going off his Liverpool performances, he ranks as a poor player. If his name was Neil Mellor product of Liverpool's academy putting in the performances Carroll has for them and not £35m England striker, any links to him would be met with incredulity. We saw a purple patch here with Carroll, but even them some of his general performances we poor to average.

[Guest BooBoo]

Hopefully Carroll remembers how useless a boss Allardyce is.

 

That open day video when Allardyce was explaining his tactics on a megaphone to a devastatingly bored squad and fans .

[Crumpy Gunt]

Not going to happen.

[Guest thenorthumbrian]

I love the way a few people have turned "not worth the money" into "he's a really poor player".

 

He's not a poor player, nor is he worth that mount of money but let's not be silly.

 

We wouldn't be weakening our squad if we signed Carroll but there would be a fair arguement to say we could have strengthened more with that amount of money.

 

Just going off his Liverpool performances, he ranks as a poor player. If his name was Neil Mellor product of Liverpool's academy putting in the performances Carroll has for them and not £35m England striker, any links to him would be met with incredulity. We saw a purple patch here with Carroll, but even them some of his general performances we poor to average.

 

I really think Carroll could turn out to be a good target man, but it does require a manager who has the ability to get the best out of him, something Dalglish was totally incapable of doing, in contrast to Pardew.

[Guest bimpy474]

There are some totally deranged memories in here like.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

I love the way a few people have turned "not worth the money" into "he's a really poor player".

 

He's not a poor player, nor is he worth that mount of money but let's not be silly.

 

We wouldn't be weakening our squad if we signed Carroll but there would be a fair arguement to say we could have strengthened more with that amount of money.

 

Just going off his Liverpool performances, he ranks as a poor player. If his name was Neil Mellor product of Liverpool's academy putting in the performances Carroll has for them and not £35m England striker, any links to him would be met with incredulity. We saw a purple patch here with Carroll, but even them some of his general performances we poor to average.

 

I really think Carroll could turn out to be a good target man, but it does require a manager who has the ability to get the best out of him, something Dalglish was totally incapable of doing, in contrast to Pardew.

 

The target man type forward is more useful to a mid-table lower half PL side but to a footballing side or one competing at the top level which we hope to do, such a player is only ever useful from the bench or in isolation. Carroll lacks the pace, intelligenge and critical technical abilities to be anything other than a battering ram lone man up top type of forward. In ways he would be ideal for West Ham under Big Sam and would easily excell.

[gbandit]

Carroll will go on to a really good player and has already been that in the past. He could even be great, I just don't want him and certainly not for that sort of money. I don't think West Ham is a good career move for him, if Everton had the money, he'd be a good fit there

[Dave]

Telegraph Sport has been told Newcastle are weighing up whether to match West Ham's bid, although previously senior sources have insisted they would not get involved in a bidding war for their former No 9.

 

Although Newcastle would love to bring Carroll back to Tyneside, where he would form a potentially potent strike force alongside Senegal pair Demba Ba and Papiss Demba Cisse, they have always believed Carroll will dictate if and when he quits Liverpool and are likely to decide to wait for the player to make the next move.

 

As things stand, although Newcastle have also made a bid to take the striker on loan for a season with a permanent switch at the end of it, they have only offered to pay £13 million at the end of it and have not agreed to pay a loan fee.