Dean Ashton Set To Retire ?

Het-Field

The Four year association between Dean Ashton and West Ham United is reputed to be on the cusp of ending, as Ashton is set to retire due to injury.

A rising star of English football, Ashton secured a 7.5 Million move to Upton Park in January 2006. After some stirling performances, Ashton suffered an injury prior to a needless England Friendly in August 2006. It was well known and acknowledged that it was Shaun Wright Phillips' fault. As a result Ashton missed the whole of 2006/2007. Having recovered slightly, he returned for a decent 2007/2008 campaign, only to break down in September 2008 against WBA.

He has not been seen since then, and has there has been little or no positive news.

In a comparibly useful source, The Daily Telegraph has articulated the likely end of Ashton's career, and lamentably his Hammers association.

ts a needless end brought on by the useless practice of August Freindly matches.

http://www.kumb.com/story.php?id=124499

Sir Gallagher

That's pretty poxy, feel sorry for any pros that have to go through things like this.

CHD

He had the makings of a top striker. Feel bad for him.

Mitch Connor

Het-Field wrote: »

The Four year association between Dean Ashton and West Ham United is reputed to be on the cusp of ending, as Ashton is set to retire due to injury.

A rising star of English football, Ashton secured a 7.5 Million move to Upton Park in January 2006. After some stirling performances, Ashton suffered an injury prior to a needless England Friendly in August 2006. It was well known and acknowledged that it was Shaun Wright Phillips' fault. As a result Ashton missed the whole of 2006/2007. Having recovered slightly, he returned for a decent 2007/2008 campaign, only to break down in September 2008 against WBA.

He has not been seen since then, and has there has been little or no positive news.

In a comparibly useful source, The Daily Telegraph has articulated the likely end of Ashton's career, and lamentably his Hammers association.

ts a needless end brought on by the useless practice of August Freindly matches.

http://www.kumb.com/story.php?id=124499

First off - terribly sorry for Ashton, always a big fan of him. If he had not been injured so much I think he could have got to a top team. The game he put in against Liverpool in the Cup final a particular highlight for me.

However, I do take issue with the comment regarding useless practice of August Friendly matches.

There is no real reason to believe he would not have suffered a similar incident if he had been with west ham. It is not as if he only picked up injuries playing for England.

The Muppet

Thats bad luck on the guy, he was a good player.

leninbenjamin

Christ he's still only 25! Makes you think of the player he could have been.

93 career goals, almost 80 of which came before the age of 22 (if wiki is correct). Really unlucky guy.

Dozen Wicked Words

With a small bit more pace I think he could have gone on to be as good/better than Drogba. From interviews and press he seems like a decent bloke as well, a real shame.

PHB

Really so unlucky. I always thought he might end up at United. Let's hope he can hold out and get it back together.

Gillington

Shame,he is a good player and west Ham could do with him now aswell.

It was well known and acknowledged that it was Shaun Wright Phillips' fault.

Whats that about? First I've heard of it.

leninbenjamin

Gillington wrote: »

Shame,he is a good player and west Ham could do with him now aswell.

It was well known and acknowledged that it was Shaun Wright Phillips' fault.

Whats that about? First I've heard of it.

Not entirely sure, but it's in all the papers today. Some are even claiming that Ashton is considering suing Wright-Phillips for lost earnings. Sounds like it must have been a nasty challenge.

Gillington

leninbenjamin wrote: »

Not entirely sure, but it's in all the papers today. Some are even claiming that Ashton is considering suing Wright-Phillips for lost earnings. Sounds like it must have been a nasty challenge.

yeah thats what I was thinking,but it happened playing for England? Unless it happened in training.Intersting to see if SWP has anything to say on the matter.

deisedude

Terrible if its true but i seem to remember this story cropping up a few months back only to be later told it was all BS

carlop

He always impressed me a lot whenever I saw him play and I'd hoped he'd make a full recovery. A real shame if its true.

nullzero

Thats an awful thing to hear.
He looked like a natural goal scorer anytime I saw him playing on form and there's not a whole lot of them around at the moment.
The only consolation is that with modern day footballers wages he should be reasonably comfortable financially, even if he was a way off the Ronaldo's of this world in terms of mega bucks wage packets.
All the best to him.

thomond2006

He was a very good player and it will be a terrible loss to West Ham.

iregk

Thats a shame. Really liked him, classy player and I think had the makings to be a really top class talent.

Rob113

Shame for such a promising career to end like this. He looked like he had the makings of an awesome player there a few years back.

Diabhal Beag

Sad end to a promising career. Hope he made enough to live off comfortably though.

cournioni

Too bad for the guy, I always thought he had the makings of a great player. He always gave United problems any time we've came up against him. Scored a great over head kick at Old Trafford that got deserved applause from the United fans. Hopefully he'll be back on his feet and make an earning through coaching or something along those lines.

3hn2givr7mx1sc

I'd always hoped he'd sign for United one day, not gonna happen now.:(

nkay1985

PHB wrote: »

Really so unlucky. I always thought he might end up at United. Let's hope he can hold out and get it back together.

baz2009 wrote: »

I'd always hoped he'd sign for United one day, not gonna happen now.:(

Glad to see I wasn't the only one. I thoguht if he had two solid (injury-free) seasons with West Ham, he'd be on his way to one of the big clubs. And I think he could have easily turned out to be one of England's top strikers. Has a great all-round game and is really strong. Also seemed to have a good attitude on him.

It's a real pity if he's forced to retire.

blackbetty69

he would be a big presence up front for west ham.. shame that he has to retire

CantGetNoSleep

He'd be the solution to England's big striker problem for the WC if he was fit without a doubt

Hammer Archer

It's been confirmed now.
I'm gutted but not surprised. It's a massive loss for both West Ham and England. Could have become a world class striker.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/8407584.stm

godtabh

And only 26!

West Ham have a £7m insurance policy for him. Talkin of suing the FA. Would Aston get that money?

That_Guy

Pity about his injuries. He had a lot of potential. Must be horrible.

eagle eye

Some people will think I'm going overboard here but for me Ashton had it all, vision, great passing, good in the air, good finisher, intelligence. A very level headed lad as well.

I'll never forget the FA Cup final in 2006, one of the best finals in many years. He was the best player on the pitch and was only declared fit before the game.

I honestly believe that he was the most talented English forward since Alan Shearer, sadly he never got to fulfill that promise with injuries. I'm delighted that he at least got to play once for his country.

Leave you with this.

mayordenis

Don't think you're going overboard at all Eagle Eye know plenty of Liverpool and Utd fans who would of been delighted to have him at there respective clubs.
Sickened for him.

therokerroar

If he'd been able to keep fit, Heskey wouldn't have won as many caps as he did for England.

Very unfortunate for the lad as he was a decent talent.

ooPabsoo

Such a good player when he was on form,pity he had to go like this

Y2J_MUFC

Good player, robbed of his best years, gutted for him..

He scored that great goal at Old Trafford and got applause from the Stretford End. Hopefully he becomes a top manager now instead.

d22ontour

As a good a player he was, i hope the potential lawsuits are not a result of falling out of love with his profession ... He didn't seem to have a problem trying to get back from injury until a certain point in time ...

marbar

terrible shame alright. i relaly like him

did that testimonial ever happen for richard saddlier? milwall said they'd do it for him under similar circumstances

Soby

What he was capable of...Lol nani after the goal:pac:

Hammer Archer

d22ontour wrote: »

As a good a player he was, i hope the potential lawsuits are not a result of falling out of love with his profession ... He didn't seem to have a problem trying to get back from injury until a certain point in time ...

Eh what?
The guy is going to have a fifth operation on his ankle next week. He has been told he may never be able to run again and if he tried to keep on playing he might not be able to walk again??
I'm confused as to what you're implying.

joe123

Great great player. Wanted Liverpool to sign him. In his current state hed be better than Voronin no doubt. Such a shame.