Carroll’s rogue behaviour likely to put him in shop window

It’s hard to say for sure whether Andy Carroll sees any light at the end of the tunnel as far as his stay at West Ham goes.

He certainly wasn’t seeing any when he stormed down the tunnel at the London Stadium during a 4-1 defeat to Manchester City. Carroll couldn’t stomach not being one of Moyes triple substitutions and made a premature exit from the bench when it became clear he wasn’t to be involved in any part of the action against the champions.

There would be further fallout at West Ham’s training ground the following morning when Moyes and Carroll clashed over the matter. There was obviously a difference in opinion as to why Moyes chose not to use Carroll and it got to the point where the Scot sent the aggrieved striker home from training.


One could be forgiven for calling Carroll an opportunist with the season almost at its end and thoughts turning to the summer transfer window. The Gateshead-born forward could have jumped the gun as the defeat to City meant that West Ham were once again brought back into a relegation scrap, only being three points from the drop zone. The Hammers are now 14/1 in football betting to go down and even if there is only an outside chance they do, no one at the club will be feeling comfortable or positive.

Given the situation West Ham find themselves in, Carroll’s actions look petulant and not in the best interests of the team. As Moyes says, when you’re at the wrong end of the table at the business end of the season, you need everyone pulling in the right direction. Carroll does come across as a volatile individual and given that he’s almost 30, this type of behaviour becomes less tolerable.

There are always two sides to every story and to be fair to the lanky centre-forward, he made a terrific impact off the bench against Stoke with a finish that Aguero or Salah would have been happy with. Carroll’s strike against the Potters earned the Hammers a valuable point that could be enough to keep them up.


Predicting how many points Moyes’ men will pick up in the run-in is far from straightforward but with Everton travelling to the capital on the last day of the season, there will be a belief at West Ham that they can win at home and secure their top-flight status. That would give the Hammers 38 points and in reality that should be more than enough, but it looks increasingly likely that Carroll’s part to play in West Ham’s survival is over.

In actual fact, Carroll’s West Ham career may be over, especially if Moyes is tasked with taking the Hammers forward next season. Carroll has subsequently apologised but it looks like a relationship that is nearing its best before date. Run-ins and fallouts are part of football and don’t always mean the end of the road for a player, but the timing of Carroll’s protests suggest he is ready to bring the curtain down on his five-year stay at West Ham.

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