West Ham: David Sullivan admits regrets over Andy Carroll West Ham co-owner David Sullivan would not have spent a club-record £15m on Andy Carroll had he known the striker would be out so long through injury. Carroll, 24, has not played for the Hammers since his move from Liverpool was made permanent in the summer. Continue reading the main story âI am deeply concerned. Anybody who looks at where we are in the table and is not concerned are kidding themselvesâ David Sullivan West Ham co-owner He remains at least three weeks away from fitness as he recovers from a double fracture in his right foot. "Had we known he would be out for this long, we would not have signed him," Sullivan told the BBC's Football Focus. "We are not a rich enough club to deal with that. You know any player can get injured, but we can't buy a player knowing he is going to be out for half the season. "When we signed him we were assured by the medical staff that the very, very latest he would be back was 1 September. That would have meant he would only miss two league games." Carroll has returned to training at the club's Chadwell Heath training ground in the past week, and Sullivan remains hopeful that the England international will come good. "If you ask me the same question at the end of the season, I hope I will be able give you a different answer and say 'Yes, it was the right decision to sign Andy Carroll'. "He is a fantastic player and on his day he is unplayable. We love him and that is why we signed him. He is desperate to come back; he is sweating blood in training." The forward has spent the majority of his rehabilitation receiving specialist treatment in Belgium and the Netherlands. Carroll has used a variety of techniques that ballet dancers exploit to build up the strength in his foot, but Sullivan told BBC Sport that he still remains unsure when the striker will return to the side. Andy Carroll career stats â¢Newcastle (2006-11): 91 games, 33 goals â¢Preston (loan Aug 2007-08): 12 games, 1 goal â¢Liverpool (2011-present): 57 games, 11 goals â¢West Ham (loan 2012-13): 24 games, 7 goals â¢England (2010-present): 9 games, 2 goals "He has been all over Europe for treatment and he has begged me to come home," said Sullivan. "He has rung me up and said 'It is doing my head in being here, I really want to get back as soon as possible, I really want to play'. "Even now we haven't got a date that he could be back. He could be back in three weeks, he could be back in six or eight weeks. I hope he might make a contribution in the next three or four weeks, that might be 20 minutes as a sub. "He is not going to be quite the player he was at the end of last season until he has played some games. "He is a fantastic player, don't get me wrong, but I only wouldn't have signed him because I can't have that amount of wages and that amount of transfer fee on a player who isn't going to play a minimum 20 or 30 games a season, hopefully 38 games a season." With Carroll sidelined, West Ham have slipped into a relegation battle and face Sunderland in a crucial match on Saturday. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25374672
What a sad bastard Sullivan is! He agreed the deal. He paid for the medical reports before the player was signed. If he did not know the risk that he ewas taking then it's his fault and nobody -else's.
Find it hard to feel sorry for Andy as his attitude was so bad. He's probably loving life at the moment with multiple nights out during the week down in Soho.
ha ha.... can i translate this spivs bull? i regret selling out this when any old donkey would have been better and gotten us to the new stadium where i sell up for massive profit...
We really got lucky getting that money for him. It's never going to totally make up for the money we paid but it does soften the blow.
Think I read he's only scored 50 goals since 2006, if true it makes Comoli's logic to recommend him to Kenny very dubious, he probably got a few Bob out of it from that fat cockney **** that owns the Geordie's
Kenny has always said all the signings were his decision to do or not at the end of the day though didnt he? This cant just be blamed on Comolli
Think Comoli recommended the players at the price the prospective seller wanted and Kenny had the final say, but Kenny as far as I know never had any dealings in the money part of it.
Well there's no arguement to be made that 50 mill was even twice too much You could see wht Kenny wanted to do with from his signings which was make the big man the focal point but it didnt come off
On a lighter note its funny that you know who thinks nobody knows he's you know who in a new different guise.
Don't know tbh but they'd need to pay a hitman to keep the lad away from the site. He's just introduced himself in their Gerrard thread.
Yeah saw that Wonder why he wss banned this time Bk ot, a special mention also to West Ham for taking Downing and twat head Joe Cole of us too
Yep, Mr Sullivan will be sick as a dog if he sees your post. And its looking like Fat Sam's gonna be getting his p45 soon. #icingonthecake
Never rated him, think there is a bit player there, but he is slow, has a heavy touch and not a LFC player, lucky we managed to sell him on
Hope he takes them down first They'll struggle to fill their olympic stadium then, is it next year they get that? never right a club is given a stadium is it
He had good moments but summed it up for me when he used to trip over his own feet when running into the box if he was travelling more than 2 mph
I think he is a fool for going public. I'm sure Andy is feeling very motivated now. Honestly what an idiot.
The fact remains that on his day Carroll is a very good player. When he was playing for Newcastle, it was his boyhood club, playing with friends in front of adoring supporters. Then once the Liverpool transfer came in everything changed for him. Injuries, pressure, moving away from his home, high expectations, huge transfer fee etc. No one here will have any idea what its like to be in that situation. It takes a very strong mindset to succeed at the top level and that's why some players do well even if they are not the best players (Beckham, Neville) while others who should be good are not (Denilson, Bedtner) He is a very good player on his day, he is much better than people think and I do hope he gets fit soon and does well. He is good for a solid 15 goals a season when fit and firing.
He is only being honest and surely AC will know this to be the case anyway AC should be motivated as he is being rewarded very handsomely and owes them when hes back
