Former West Ham Boss Reveals What He'd Do to Prevent Andy Carroll From Getting Injured

Former Crystal Palace and Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has revealed that if he was the manager at West Ham he would not let Andy Carroll train in order to minimise the striker's risk of injury.

In a major boost for Slaven Bilic, Carroll made his first appearance for the season in the Hammers 2-0 victory against Huddersfield on Monday after finally making his return from injury. However, West Ham have been unable to rely on the 28-year-old after a series of injuries which have limited his impact at the east London club.

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The striker made the move to West Ham from Liverpool in 2012, and despite scoring 30 goals in 111 games for the club, Carroll has been unable to remain injury-free since his transfer and Pardew has revealed his solution to the issue would be to limit the 28-year-old's training schedule. 

Speaking on Sky Sports' The Debate, Pardew claimed: “If I was West Ham manager, I wouldn't let him train.

“Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, I just wouldn't let him, and say he can do a little bit of work on Thursday, Friday he can play in a seven-a-side, and then play on Saturday.

“Once he's fit and he's playing, he doesn't need a lot of work. The way he plays, he's kind of in the game and out of the game, so he can rest for periods.

"Let him rest because when he's on the pitch, what he actually does physically is a lot of big, physical stuff, not running around, closing people down, so he doesn't need to have ten miles in him.

"That boy is a fantastic footballer, but Slaven does have to be very, very clever with him to try and work out his schedule so that he doesn't overcook him in training, because a lot of his injuries, he picks up in training,” he added.

Although another injury to Carroll this season seems like a foregone conclusion; his former manager could be onto something and following a slow start to the season Bilic could be willing to try it if it meant the powerful striker could play a more regular role for the Hammers this season.