Once again, former manager Harry Redknapp is after our players. No surprise there. This time the players in question are Carlton Cole and Joe Cole. These are two players that are quite popular figures at West Ham, with some people regarding Joe Cole as a legend. Redknapp is looking to reinforce his squad, to try and push his side’s promotion campaign further.
Let’s first look at Carlton Cole. Redknapp wants the striker to ease the burden on main striker Charlie Austin, who is their leading scorer. It makes sense as Carlton did score a handful of goals in our Championship season, and along with Nolan and Vaz Te helped to provide the goals to get us promoted. However I feel that Carlton is a player we should look to keep with his contract up this month. In our struggling side he looks to be the only player that looks like scoring, and he is also a good impact sub. With Carroll out injured he is my preferred striker, so I’m hoping we can sort out a deal with him soon to keep him at the club.
Joe Cole is a player I also like. He is a good squad player and offers more than the likes of Matt Taylor. While key players are out Joe can still do a job in midfield. Whilst watching a match a home the other day I felt that Joe Cole was one of the only players with his heart in the game, often chasing the ball down and getting back. Cole’s contract is up in the summer, and according to Twitter it is unlikely he will offered a new one.
I would be quite sad to see the back of these two players and it may be because I am thinking more with my heart than my head. I do expect that if we do not tie up Carlton with a new contract in this window, then ‘Arry with surely snap him up on a free. If the speculation about Joe’s contract is true then I think that Redknapp will wait until the end of the season and get him on a free in the summer.