The career of Andy Carroll is in the sort of gentle downwards spiral that looks comfortingly similar to so many we have seen before.

Kieron Dyer, Micah Richards and Joe Cole have all seen injuries ruin their careers but Carroll has yet to even get close to the heights that those three achieved, albeit briefly. Injuries have been Carroll’s downfall until now, but they can easily be used as an excuse for a player who has been a case of transfer misjudgement twice. Both Dalglish and Allardyce were lured into the idea of an ‘old fashioned English centre forward,’ but there is a reason that this type of player is seen as old fashioned and fortunately the English game has moved on for the better.

Carroll may see his future at West Ham, but Bilic, if he is to be as good as expected, must look to move on the ex-Newcastle man. The current West Ham squad has had a revamp worthy of a Sarah Beeny programme in the last couple of summers and Andy Carroll no longer fits the profile of a squad that should be looking at challenging for European football.

Yes, of course, squads need different options, but Carroll is an expensive plan C and his own development will be dramatically stunted if he is to spend another season or two on the fringes.

Diafra Sakho, Enner Valencia and Dimitri Payet are the faces of a new West Ham side, who have a new image of pace, guile and flair that isn’t exactly associated with Andy Carroll’s clumsy ‘target man’ play. The system to be favoured at West Ham is nothing set in stone as of yet, but we can be sure that the style of play will not be an Allardyce-esque long ball towards a big centre forward and will instead focus on playing through the quality of their midfield. Bilic might want to keep Carroll as a second option, but the Geordie needs to do the best for his own career and at 26 it is time for Carroll to play a full season.

Carroll is a throwback for many and West Ham are not looking to build around their big money signing anymore. Persisting injuries meant he has never really made a name for himself at West Ham and it is hard to imagine many other players with such unjustified reputations like Carroll. The difference from Carroll to other back-to-goal stars is his simple technique. Capable of winning the ball aerially, he has no subtlety to his heading direction and does not seem to have the ability to control and bring others into play. Peter Crouch, for example, is an infinitely better footballer than the ex-Liverpool star and has rightly enjoyed a better career in the top flight to date.

The obscene amounts of money thrown at Carroll by both Liverpool and West Ham will make any future move difficult. West Ham are unlikely to get anywhere near the amount they paid out and other clubs are not going to stump up a considerable amount of money for someone who seems to always be blaming his fitness for indifferent form. Injuries are a curse, but Carroll, unlike many, has never looked a player capable of living up to his hype regardless of fitness.

Pressure is piled onto English players and they deserve a bit of sympathy for such scrutiny. Carroll, however, has actually faced a ludicrous amount of praise for his performances. Both Rickie Lambert and Charlie Austin have risen through the leagues to demonstrate their own games that are so largely more mature, complex and talent-filled than Carroll's.

Carroll needs a fresh start (again) for his own sake and West Ham need to move ‘Big Andy’ on to create space for a player far more adept at playing for a side aiming at the top half.

Is Andy Carroll the worst signing (for both West Ham and Liverpool) of the Premier League era? And, has any club ever pulled off a better sale than Newcastle?