ok first off the confession...i am a west ham fan.... but...

west ham have signed dean ashton for something like 7million... which for us is a hell of a lot of money. Originally i heard we may get him but norwich beat us to it and i was not that bothered coz i didnt know anything about him...then i saw him play a few times for norwich and score some crackers and look pretty nifty..so im chuffed at the signing but havent really seen enough to judge.

mind you..
marlon harewood - brilliant striker in championship..not sure bout if he has the stuff for premiership
bobby zamora - not very good
teddy sheringham - class, but too old.. and too much burdon on him.

is it a good buy?... is he a good player, a great player, a waste of money....etc

I think he's a good player and said when Norwich were relegated what a shame for Ashton as he had seemed to do it at Premiership level and was now going backwards. I think I'd prefer Ashton at that price than Cisse for £14m and that squad player Saha, £13m, value indeed!
I share your comments about Harewood and Zamora, you don't know what they are going to do next. Maybe they don't! Ashton will be delighted to be away from one of the worst internationals of all time, Gary Doherty.

I personally think they are paying to much for a striker who is not not a proven premiership striker. I think they would have been better to shop abroad, however Ashton is still young, and potentially could be well worth the money in the future!

I saw Ashton as an 18 year old for Crewe at Rotherham in a cup tie about 4 years ago - he scored a couple of cracking goals. I commented at the time that he was the best player I've seen at that age since Trevor Francis (this was obviously before Rooney came along).

His record in the prem in a struggling Norwich side was very good - he's still young and is likely to improve. In my opinion the lad ought to be good for well over 100 per goals in his career in the right team.

the lad has gone for 7 million plus, but i believe he is going to be the new shearer, he is pure class. bt again is a confidence player. i would love him in the united side