Antonio named in England squad- No Carroll

Michail Antonio is the solitary West Ham representative announced in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for their upcoming games against Germany and Lithuania. Southgate was also thinking of calling up Andy Carroll, but has instead opted for the experience of veteran Jermain Defoe, with the ex Hammers and Spurs forward now set to battle for a spot upfront along with Rashford and Vardy in the absence of Kane, Sturridge and Rooney [Read more…]

Could Defoe Return To West Ham?

The future of ex West Ham and current Tottenham forward Jermain Defoe is back in the limelight, as Tottenham have signed Valencia/Spanish international Roberto Soldado.

It now appears evident that Defoe’s second stint in North London is over, with a list of potential suitors waiting to pounce; could a deal with former club West Ham United be struck? [Read more…]

Carlton Cole Took Pay Cut To Ensure Hammers Promotion

After all the chit chat about Blackpool’s sour grapes especially from Baptiste of all people, Carlton Cole comes to the rescue with some true Hammers spirit.

Did you know that our boy Cole took a 50% cut in wages to play for the irons, the club he loves, to help get us back to the Premier League where the claret and blues belong? Cole is a gentleman and a scholar in my book and deserves a round of applause!

I mean, there he was on 28 grand a week before the irons dropped off the radar and into the Championship last season and he slashes his wages to 14 grand a week because he loves his team and wanted to get back to the Prem. The guy’s a legend!

Ok, a lot of us would say “Mmmm, 14 grand a week’s not bad either” and rubbished the generosity of the player. But guys and gals, don’t forget that these players have different living standards, higher taxes, businesses to run etc etc and all I can think of is that he’s a great guy.

I wonder if some of the Manchester city stars would take a 50% pay cut “to help out”? i don’t think so, especially with the likes of Nasri et al who have left decent clubs that have made them the players that they are today for some easy cash up the road which has fallen off the back of a camel 🙂 Maybe Jermain Defoe should take a look at himself and make a self examination. You remember, he was that guy that jumped ship and handed in a transfer request the day the Hammers got demoted in 2003 – nice fella.

Don’t forget that Cole was offered a lifeline by Stoke City to stay in the Premier League, too. He turned it down though to help the lads get back up.Such loyalty is rarely seen today especially when you have the likes of City splashing their cash and changing the face of football in the process. Anyway, so much for splashing the cash, they only won the league on goal difference at the death of it.

Carlton Cole had this to say about his pay cut:

“I’ve kept my mouth shut for quite a while but I did take a wage cut to stay in the Championship. Half of my wages just went.

“But I thought ‘You know what? I want to help this club get back where we belong.’

“I didn’t want to leave the ship, I am that sort of guy. I would not have been able to live with myself.

“It is just such a reward today to get to the Premier League again with West Ham at the first time of asking. This was D-Day for all of us”.

Cole believed in Sam Allardyce and his team and that was a big factor that led the player to hang around at West ham and not jump ship. The player doesn’t intend on taking another hit in the wages department and plans to fire the Hammers into the big time and stay there.