Sam Allardyce lifted the lid on various talking points ahead of the Hammers’ trip to Newcastle United on Saturday.
With the club looking to build on their opening day Premier League win over Cardiff City last weekend, there have been a lot of questions regarding the acquisition of another striker, especially with club-record signing Andy Carroll still nursing a heel injury.
Here’s what Big Sam had to say regarding his transfer policy, Andy Carroll and the Hammers’ chances at St. James’ Park on Saturday…
On Andy Carroll…
“Andy’s had an injection to finally finish off the last bit of pain he’s suffering in his heel. It’s not anything other than to shift a little bit of inflammation, the repair is complete, the specialist tells us.
“He just hasn’t been able to get rid of this little bit on inflammation, which has been causing him some pain.
“Within the next few days we’ll expect him to step up his training and then take it one day at a time from there in terms of his progression.”
Andy Carroll’s possible return date…
“It could be pretty quick but it could be something that takes a little bit longer.
We just go day by day based on how Andy feels and if he’s feeling good from the previous day, we step the training up and we do that each day. As long he’s feeling any pain we continue to step it up until he joins in with the lads.”
On the possibility of new arrivals before the transfer window closes…
“I’ve got the squad I’ve got and that’s it. If there is a new player to come in, we’ll need to sell first.
“But I don’t envisage that happening, I’m not looking at doing it, because I’m happy with the squad I’ve got at the moment.
“There’s a new set of regulations that says you’ve got a limit on your wages, set by these new rules. I’ve hit my limit and that’s it, we move on. I’ve got no panic going on, I’m not anxious about any transfers, like a lot of managers will get in the next few weeks. Because we did all of our business as quick as we possibly could and that’s it. We’ve got a very good squad.
“It’s unlikely that there will be any ins and outs. You never say never, but we’re not actively looking at any players to bring in, nor are we actively looking at selling any players either.”
On Saturday’s clash with Newcastle…
“I’ll just remind the lads over the next couple of days that we had a great start last season and then went to Swansea City and got beaten 3-0, and that could have been four or five.
“The Premier League is obviously a very difficult place to play your football and without 100 per cent commitment and focus on every single game, you won’t get the result that you’re looking for.
“You cannot ease off, every time you do that in this league you get punished. We have to be 100 per cent focused and we have to improve our away form from last season, starting with Saturday’s game at Newcastle.”
On any injury news ahead of the weekend…
“There’s only George McCartney [still injured] but he’s moving into training with us and we do have a game on Tuesday in the Capital One Cup, which he’ll probably figure in.
“It’ll be nice to have him back in the squad. Everybody else at this moment in time, apart from Andy [Carroll], is fit, which is a wonderful piece of news for me this morning.
“So we’ve completed the whole of pre-season and the first game with a squad that has been fit all summer, so it should be raring to go, whichever team I select!”
