English Premiership

Benni has a mountain to climb

2010-02-11 20:21
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Benni McCarthy (Gallo Images)

Johannesburg - Has troubled Benni McCarthy jumped from the frying pan into the fire by leaving English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers and joining West Ham in his bid to enhance Bafana Bafana selection for the World Cup?

One might not have thought so when the still somewhat portly McCarthy recently expounded the view that leaving Blackburn, where he had recently only enjoyed a minimal amount of first-team duty, was not disimilar to being released from a straight-jacket.

At the same time, the enigmatic, 32 year-old top South African goalscorer suggested that West Ham was the place that he should have started his career in English soccer in the first instance and going there now was something like going home.

But what a difference a week can make - this after McCarthy was hailed by West Ham's inimitable coach, Gianfranco Zola, as "a valuable capture" as the club from the east end of London battle to avoid relegation.

Since then McCarthy made less than an auspicious debut for West Ham in a 2-1 defeat against Burnley, suffered a first-half knee injury and exited from the match at the interval.

But even more significantly, three other strikers have dramatically furthered their stature and reputation at West Ham in the past week and, it would seem, an ailing, unfit McCarthy might now be in fourth position in the pecking order among strikers at the club.

English international Carlton Cole, now recovered from a troublesome, extended injury, confirmed his position as West Ham's premier striker while scoring a superb goal in the crucial 2-0 win over Birmingham City on Wednesday; Egyptian international Mido was almost equally as impressive and Brazilian Ilian has become an instant hero after joining the club at the same time as McCarthy.

With two strikers used at most simultaneously, McCarthy will first have to recover from his knee injury and then display both resolve and improved form to force his way back into the West Ham line-up - something he was not able to display at Blackburn this season.

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