The loss of Andy Carroll for the next four months with a serious ankle injury has really hit West Ham hard as the Premier League season edges over closer.
There had been rumblings from those in the know that something was up with the England international but rumours were confirmed on Thursday that the 25-year-old had damaged ankle ligaments in a training session on the club’s pre-season tour of New Zealand.
It has been a sad story for Carroll ever since he left his hometown club Newcastle United to make a big-money move to Liverpool.
Things never really worked for the physical frontman under the then manager Kenny Dalglish or under the Scot’s successor Brendan Rodgers.
Hence a move away from Merseyside to Upton Park, initially on a season-long loan deal, was completed on August 30th 2012.
Now a permanent signing of the Hammers, the shocking statistic is that West Ham fans have only seen Carroll make 16 appearances for the club in that length of time.
Injuries have plagued the forward, who was hailed as ‘the next Alan Shearer’ during his time at St James’ Park before deciding to move to the Reds.
It’s impossible to tell if things would have been different if he had remained with the Magpies; maybe Carroll would have remained fit and could have been one of the pieces of the puzzle England were missing at the World Cup in Brazil? We don’t know.
What is for certain is that it will be hard to back West Ham in the sports betting this season without one of their key figures in manager Sam Allardyce’s starting XI.
The former Bolton and Newcastle boss is well known for his direct style of football and Carroll fits perfectly into that system, with no defender in the Premier League really wanting to mark the forward when he is on his game.
Odds will have changed for West Ham’s chances of success on websites like gamblingland.com which review different bookmakers and their potential odds on the Hammers.
Whilst considering different outcomes for what the upcoming Premier League might hold in store for Allardyce’s men without Carroll, there are also chances to win at the best online casinos.
The odds are certainly being stacked against the Hammers, with it being unlikely that Carroll will be back to his best before the end of the year.
As its been proven with Carroll injuries in the past, something that should take two weeks to heal, inevitably takes three of four after a set-back or two.
Such is the bad luck this talented and passionate footballer has had to deal with and why he has only make a handful of appearances for West Ham in nearly two fruitless years in the capital.
Hammers fans will be hoping that this player, who cost in the region of £15million, does get back to full fitness and starts to play the football that made him such a hit in the North East before things went from bad to worse as he, and his career, went south.
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