What to do about Cole?

foreverwestham wrote:For a man of his size and power, Cole shouldn't; but has been; bullied out of games throughout this campaign which is so frustrating to watch. The former England international is still yet to hit ten league goals this season, which is not good enough considering he believes he is Premier League striker. Compare that to the Hammers promotion rivals Southampton, who have three players in double figures already this season including their very own Carlton Cole, Rickie Lambert who is now on 25 goals.

I am not sure if West Ham fans are being fooled by the occasion run towards the ball by the unenergetic striker, but he is often found sulking on the half way line after losing yet another aerial challenge or overrunning a simple dribble forward. Fair enough, he is clearly not that good in the air for his height, but we continue to lump it towards him, something that would change if Maynard was up there? Maynard has scored the same amount of goals this season as Cole, but yet he has played the majority of the season in a team that create very little and lost week in week out at the start of the season.

Mr Allardyce was happy to let Cole go in the summer after the club accepted a ludicrous £7million+ bid from Stoke City, but Cole decided he didn't want a move to the Premier League as City refused to match his wage demands. A lack of ambition or is it dedication to the cause at Upton Park? Either way it has been bad news for West Ham. Think of what Mr Gold and Sullivan could have done with that money? A certain Jordan Rhodes has scored 32 goals this season? But we can’t sit and think about what ifs?

One thing that really does frustrate me about the Cole situation is the amount of stick Freddie Piquionne has got from the Hammers fans. Does Cole put much more effort in than Piq? Is he any better in the air? Both questions have the same answer for me and I hope Big Sam sees that other options are better options for us as we travel to an expensive Leeds next week in what has become a must win game.

foreverwestham wrote:Why does this Hammer divide opinion so much?
Posted on Monday, 19th March 2012 by Etwal Teja


Carlton Cole is one of the longest serving players at the club, but the West Ham fans have mixed feelings for the powerful striker. There are a section of fans that admire what he does in a claret and blue shirt and there are others that dislike his qualities as a player.


Cole’s former manager at Chelsea Claudio Ranieri once described the striker as “the best young player he has ever coached” and believed Cole had a big future at the club. Nearly a decade on, Chelsea have moved on to become a major force in English Football, whilst Cole is struggling to score goals against below average teams in the Championship for West Ham. During his time at West Ham, Cole has failed to score goals consistently since his move in 2006 and at times has faced criticisms from the fans.


Cole’s West Ham career started off well when he scored on his debut against his former club Charlton Athletic. Many thought Cole would be given the chance to shine at West Ham after first team opportunities were limited at free spending Chelsea. However, he only managed to make twenty odd appearances in a turmoil season at West Ham, largely due to Bobby Zamora being in good form and the signing of Carlos Tévez. The following season Cole made over thirty appearances but only managed to score six goals alongside strike partner Dean Ashton.


Cole finally come of age when his former team mate Gianfranco Zola became manager of West Ham. For the first team in his career Cole managed to score over ten goals a season. He was West Ham’s main striker after Ashton suffered a long-term injury and strikers Craig Bellamy and Zamora departed from the club. Zola managed to bring out the best in Cole. He was fitting right in with Zola’s style of passing the ball along the ground and not using him as a target man. During this time Cole showed excellent pace and strength to beat the opposition defenders. Zola showed confidence in Cole’s abilities and he thrived from the encouragement provided by his former Chelsea team mate. He won over the fans by scoring goals consistently and he started to reach his potential. His displays earned him his first England cap and he was in contention to go the 2010 World Cup.


When Zola was sacked Cole lost his confidence and his performances started to decline once again. The first season after Zola departed Cole only managed to score five league goals.


West Ham were relegated and he decided to stay with the club. He has always shown love towards West Ham even though the fans have given him a tough time. For example, he recently posted a picture of himself on Twitter holding up two Hammers and saying “I Effin Love West Ham!! Even though some fans hate me, I’ll Always Love ya”. Fans appreciate his love towards the club, but some just wish that he could score more goals. The main difference between Cole and Frédéric Piquionne is that Cole does actually put in an effort when he is playing. Piquionne looks disinterested at the best of the times. Cole on the other hand will run the channels and is not afraid of putting in a challenge. Actions like these please the Upton Park crowd.


What is not helping Cole’s scoring ability is Big Sam’s tactics. As we all know Big Sam likes to play a style of football that is known as ‘Long Ball’. Kicking the ball long to Cole is not bringing the best out of him. Under Big Sam Cole is not enabled to use his pace to beat defenders, instead he has to face aerial challenges. However, for his size and strength, Cole is easily beaten in the air by defenders that are smaller than him. He is then left frustrated and his performances start to dip. The fans then get on his back demanding more and get annoyed with his performances. The main difference between West Ham and Southampton is that they have a striker that is scoring goals regularly.


For majority of his time at West Ham, Cole has experienced love and hate reactions from the fans. His efforts and affection for the club has been recognised by the fans but they just wish their number 9 could score more goals. In nearly two hundred appearances for the club he has only scored fifty-one goals. On average that is a goal every four games. Cole’s inability to score goals is the reason why many fans have a divided opinion on him. Some fans appreciate his loyalty when he declared his intentions to get west Ham promoted back to the Premier League and some fans just wish he could score more goals.