It was a frustrating afternoon for Carroll. It is always odd playing against your former club, even more so when they are your boyhood team, and that made Saturday's encounter all the more difficult for the striker. Introduced with 30 minutes left, the 6ft 4in forward endeavoured to get himself about, willingly attempting to find the end of any long ball pumped forward. His effort was evident, but his touch and match fitness clearly need time. With the encounter drawing to a close, Carroll squandered a glorious opportunity to equalise when he fired over Stewart Downing's cross from inside the box. It was the sort of chance that a fully fit Carroll would have fired home. Eight months out is an exceedingly long period away from the game, so it is right to expect Carroll to take time finding his feet. The West Ham faithful showed their understanding of this themselves, encouraging the England international despite his glaring miss. The worry for the Hammers is that they cannot really afford to wait for Carroll to start firing. They are well and truly in a relegation scrap and when you are down at the bottom, you need goals. This explains Allardyce's eagerness to bring in another striker, with bids for Lacina Traore and Rickie Lambert reportedly lodged. Carroll needs time to find his feet, that is for certain, but it is also clear that West Ham do not really have time to wait for him.
Simon is an NCTJ qualified sports journalist. He has conducted interviews with Tony Adams and Peter Shilton, while also having work published in The Daily Telegraph and The Sun. Follow him on Twitter via @sr_collings.
