Andy Carroll has not had a happy career since his big money move from Newcastle United to Liverpool more than three years ago. A flop at Anfield, he looked briefly useful on loan to West Ham, which convinced the Hammer to acquire him on a permanent deal in 2013. Since then, he's been mostly injured. Now he's injured again.
Carroll made 16 appearances last season, and if Sam Allardyce was hoping for more from the striker in 2014/15, he'll be very disappointed by the most recent mishap: the 25-year-old tore ankle ligaments during West Ham's pre-season tour of New Zealand and will miss the next four months after surgery. That puts him in line to reappear in late November with more than a third of the season already gone.
At this point, the Hammers would do well to assume that Carroll will be injured for the rest of his career and take anything he does manage to give them as a happy bonus.