Sunday 14 August 2016

Palace To Sign Billy the Fish!

The Rumours are just a cod

Reports over the 24 hours indicate that Crystal Palace are planning a £15 million raid to capture West Ham's Andy Carroll! Not surprisingly, the news has spread wildly despite the fact that there is virtually no evidence to support it!

Carroll has endured a stop-start career at West Ham over the past 4 years but genuinely looks set to deliver on his potential this season. Last week's brace against Juventus underlined his aerial abilities, where on his day he can be virtually un-markable. Add to that his defensive contributions at set pieces and the value of the Big Man to West Ham becomes apparent.

While the £15million that West Ham paid to take Carroll to Upton Park on a permanent basis was a club record at the time, it's a measure of the state of the market that even for an injury-prone player, it would take a considerably higher figure to raise West Ham's interest.

Having given up on their drawn out pursuit of Carlos Bacca, West Ham captured two strikers last week in Andre Ayew and Jonathan Calleri. However, they may still be short on attacking firepower as Diafra Sakho's apparent return to training seems more likely to be aimed at preparing him for sale rather than a return to the first team. Most observers  see little way back for him after his recent tantrums.

Similarly, Enner Valencia's likelihood of remaining at the club after this transfer window appear limited as he has been linked with a variety of clubs in Italy and Turkey. while West Ham may have an abundance of young talent coming through but these are mainly defenders and midfielders. As a consequence, Slaven Bilic is very unlikely to give the nod to the departure of any of his other striking talents.

All of which makes the Palace rumours difficult to understand. In truth, the small South London club look more likely to sign Billy the Fish than Andy C.

Then again, who would have predicted that they'd capture James Tomkins?



 

6 comments:

  1. Newcastle fans have frequently disparaged Crystal Palace (and similar sized clubs), saying over the years - why would Alan Pardew step down?; why would Yohan Cabaye step down; Oh, whoops, we just got relegated, never mind, why would Andros Townsend step down? We are such a big club, with such a big stadium, with such a big past history, why give any respect to lesser clubs? That sort of arrogant complacency has got Newcastle where it is today, so referring to Crystal Palace as the 'small South London club' and wondering why Andy Carroll would deign to consider joining it has a ring of familiarity. WHU fans - don't follow NUFC fans in their complacency, is my advice

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    1. It isn't right to refer to Milwall (South) as a small club but never the less It does seem one of lifes sillier rumours.

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    2. Just winding you up - actually the Eagles are a serious outfit these days and might be the surprise package of the season...Cabaye, Townsend, Tomkins etc etc.

      and Pards is a decent boss...

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  2. well said.

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  3. As long as Billy knows where the back of the net is, sign him up! I'd be thrilled if we can land him. Hopefully the lure of starting regularly is strong. He'll have us scaling the heights of the table in no time.

    Fish on!

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  4. Geoff Pike would approve.

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