BACK in January 2010, Liverpool sold Fernando Torres to Chelsea for a record-breaking fee of £50 million. At the time, Liverpool’s fan-base was beside themselves with anger and grief, not to mention that we’d shelled out a good percentage of that fee for Andy Carroll.
Since then, Torres has gone from most feared striker in the world to shadow of his former devastating self, whilst Liverpool have found a new, more deadly idol in one Luis Suarez.
It all worked out in the end, as they say.
Unlike Suarez, Carroll has struggled badly since his massive move from North-East. Most Reds can see that he has some potential, but for the fee he was bought for we expected a lot more. A decent end to the previous season, and a relatively impressive cameo at the Euros for England saw Carroll’s stock rise significantly and many of us were looking forward to an in-form striker returning to the side for the new season. Then, Brendan Rodgers happened…
Shortly after Rodgers began his first foray – as Liverpool manager – into the transfer market, it became clear that Andy Carroll’s days were numbered. First, the new man tried to foist the big front man off on his former club and then, when that failed, pretty much anybody else that was interested.
The reaction from a lot of fans was of confusion. Surely after coming into some kind of form, Andy Carroll had a future at the club?
As time went on, it became clear that nobody was going to pay even half of what we did for him, so the only option became to loan him out to anybody that was interested. As the saga dragged on, many fans reaction was slightly over the top. Sure, he’d had a decent game or two toward the end of the season, and scored a great goal for England in the summer but was he really worth all this fuss?
Either way, many fans were not impressed with the attempts of the new manager to move the striker out before he’d even seen him play. The biggest – and most laboured point – being: without him, we will not have a ‘plan B’.
By the end of the window though, ‘Big Andy’ was gone, so all arguments were moot but when Liverpool struggled for goals at the start of the season, and then Borini’s untimely injury left us with only one senior striker, it started to look like a mistake.
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However, as we approach the mid-way point of the January window, things are beginning to look up. We’ve brought in another England international with a more promising track-record (and proven EPL experience), have an Italian striker nearing full-fitness and a world-class Uruguayan hitting his stride and leading scoring charts left and right.
Meanwhile, down at West Ham, Andy Carroll isn’t doing too much to impress. Having been injured almost straight away, Carroll missed a month earlier in the 2012-13 season and was ruled out for 2 months in December. In that sense, we really dodged a bullet, as we’d still be paying his wages while he was sitting at home, twiddling his thumbs for weeks.
But his injury problems aside, Carroll has – despite the best efforts of the London-based press to convince us that Allardyce got the better end of that deal – largely failed at the Boleyn Ground. A single, solitary strike in 10 games has meant that West Ham are now looking to cut the deal short.
I have questioned a great deal of the manager’s decisions since he joined the club, and I was a little concerned about his decision in August of last year to get rid of Andy Carroll, but with his loan deal looking sketchy and the player likely to be out until the end of the month, it appears that Rodgers made the right call.
In his absence we’ve seen the emergence of youngsters such as Suso and Sterling, and have now added Daniel Sturridge to the forward-line to accompany Suarez and Fabio Borini, so we’re now looking pretty healthy in terms of attacking options. If the big striker does return to Liverpool sooner rather than later, then he may well find himself spending a lot of time on the bench, before being shipped out in the summer.
Hindsight is indeed a wonderful thing, but the manager must have seen this one in his tea-leaves, so I’ll give you this one, Brendan, it looks like got it right.
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Brenda got it wrong in my opinion. Both Manc clubs challenged for the title last season with FOUR strikers in their respective squads, for us to go into this campaign with just one proven striker (Suarez) was incredibly poor decision making. You need options AND competition for places surely. We should have kept Carroll as another option and signed someone better than the ordinary looking Borini AND i dont see how FSG suddenly have 12m to spend on Sturridge when they wouldnt pay 6m for Dempsey in the summer. Poor decision making all round. Another campaign wasted. 23 years without the title and counting…. Heart breaking.
Does BR, have some sort of crystal ball? Then how would he know tha AC would be injured after loaning to West Ham?
BR got it all wrong and the author should know this.
BR shell out 10.5 mill for the Italian misfit and now he is just back from injury. He played most of our league games before his injury and got 0 goals. Did BR got this right then?
Not only has BR got it wrong, THE MAN HIMSELF IS WRONG for LFC. Another one of FSG’s epic blunder.
Yeah it hurts Snake, 23 years and counting. Prepared for another couple more years with BR in charge.
The fact remains Carroll was wrong for LFC, and should never have been signed. You…and many others including ‘chan’ were probably calling Kenny last season for playing him, yet now you call Rodgers for getting rid. The lad was never, and never will be LFC quality. Whether Rodgers’ signings prove to be the case is another question, but if they aren’t it doesn’t mean that Carroll was
Souey, lets get this straight. We were calling for KD last season because :
1) First he overpaid for AC @ 35 mill.
2) AC was off form and yet KD choose to play him week in week out despite on form players like Kuyt and Maxi available. This cost us points, just so KD can cover his own ego.
You are right, AC would never be LFC quality, but when we were so short of strikers back in Aug what did BR do? You mean he can’t even play back uo? And you said KD is your hero as well.
Right or wrong it doesnt matter, coaches make decisions that they feel will benefit the team. the fact that Carroll has gone to West Ham and spent most of the time injured probably says it all.
I can see what Rodgers is trying to create but its going to be a hard long journey to get where we want to be with this type of football.
I dont think Rodgers has made any good calls since his arrival . A disaster from start to finish
dalglish signed him , 2 england managers picked him , redknapp wanted to sign him and every pundit at the time said liverpool have signed a great great player
there is obviously an excellent player in there somewhere , not someone to be just discarded . shame on rodgers for not even trying to get the best out of carroll
I wonder if you were so vocal in your support of Carroll last season, prior to his decent-ish last few games…
I totally agree with Bob
i feel for the usa owners , they’re putting 100’s of millions into our club , they’re sorting anfield out making it bigger , they have faith in what they’re trying to do by putting up the money , and all we get are whingers , moaners , cryers , shame , come on LFC , when you walk through a storm !!!!!!
Ur talkin crap , yanks are puttin feck all cash in ,they are doing feck all with anfield . Wake up u dope
So spending $120m on players last season shows they spend feck all? Ur talkin crap. Wake up u dope.
They didnt spend anywhere near 120 , try NET cos thats what matters. check your facts u ignorant fool .
You are a yank ? yes ?
There is a storm right now . The cause are those wnkers FSG and their pet clown Rodgers . You dont embrace and cheer the storm – you try and get out of it
Spot on Tommy. Wesker (or whinger!), ok forget the net spent business, they still put money in…not to mention paying off the entire debt those last idiot cowboys put against the club. Are you forgetting that? Or was that just monopoly money they used.
You and all the other criers, led by lead moaner chan, sound like spoilt kids: ‘boohoo we don’t have billionaire sheik owners who can throw money ate the club!’
Get over it, this is modern football, and without those kinds of owners, we have to try and do things a little different. But to say FSG are putting f all in is very misguided. We’re no longer living beyond our means
its no use crying over a lack of depth in the squad when the manager allowed players to leave on loan or transfer before he had suitable replacements.no one to blame but his fault
Spot on Tommy.Brendan was never going to wave a magic wand and put everything right overnight.Give the manager and owners a chance.LFC have always been famous for their loyalty to managers so please leave the wingeing to other clubs and get behind Brendan.
Look where that loyalty got us . We were patient with Souness , Evans , Houillier and Kenny . None of them worked wasting years of our time
Agood manager can make an immediate impact like Rafa , it doesnt take years . Rodgers is obviously out of his depth at a big club and is making us worse than last year .
Were fools like you calling for patience with Hodgson too ? Did you want Hodgson given years ?
Supporting a bad manager is pointless and stupid . The only people who want him to stay are Mancs and Evertonians
Well said . Supporting Rodgers is like heracy , true fans want whats best for LFC not some no mark championship manager
How long did the Swans(BR’s ex club) have to wait for Laudrup to make an impact?
How long we have to wait before Rafa made an impact?
Larry is right, where we all you hyprocrites with your call for patince when RH is in charge who is the current England manager by the way.
We all know a bad manager when we sees one and BR certainly belongs to this category. Fact is FSG wanted a compliant manager and BR has a very good PR team that managed to fool those Yanks who are thousands of miles away and tries to run our club via remote. Nothing about good football management.
And I’m sure you were saying the same thing about Rafa, at this stage of his first season: languishing outside Champ lge spots in the league and knocked out by Burnley in the FA Cup? Of course Rafa had also taken over a squad that had qualified for Champs Lge as well, not one that had finished 8th. Hindsight is a wonderful thing tho eh?
HE WON THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE YOU MUG !
he had NO fit strikers some of the season and only 1 striker most of it , he was also bedding in a lot of foreigners not used to english league , and he himself was new to english league
A decent manager doesnt need lots of time . ANY half decent manager might have beaten anyone good after 7 months ?
Rodgers is a disgrace . A dark blot on our history
Well said Gaz.
No Souey, i did not have a chance to actually do that because if you noticed, Rafa won the CL in his first season, at one stage with Neil Mellor as his only fit striker.
Oh and BR did said himself “judge me after 10 games”. So where were we after 10 games?
So going by your logic, you must have really wish for RH to come back huh?
Carroll needs chances , he was startin to cum good at end last season . Sack BR and hire manager who will use Carroll
Carroll needed to score goals consistently and didn’t which is why we cut our losses and move on.
What planet does RED7 live on?
By totally dis regarding Carroll from the off , Rodgers knocked his value way down . Then he spends 15 million on Joe Allen .
Is Rodgers a Manc in disguise ?
I would have Carroll instead of any of Rodgers summer signings . In fact id rather Carroll than Allen , Borini, Assadi and Sahin put together
So , smart move ? No smegging way
Yes compared Carroll with Borini, give me Carroll anytime.
Assaidi, he has yet to start a game.
Sahin, we got rid of him after 6 months.
All 3 signed by BR.
Chan agenda strikes again. Don’t come across all know it all, when last season you were saying Carroll was the biggest flop in our history. So now that’s borini, after a dozen or so games? You are the ficklest of fickle…but anything to twist and make a negative point eh chan?
Ps…no mention of Sturridge as a BR signing? No, of course not…that doesn’t suit your point does it…
Its too early to rate sturridge . People like u should support Everton – your obviously happy with lower standards and owners who wont compete with the top boys . Keep dreaming Rodgers is going to turn into a decent manager but someday u will have to wake up and join the real world
Please note that Terry is right and top managers such as Rafa, RDM, AVB and RM had all overlooked DS. DS has a lot to prove.
All these managers by the way had won something. What did BR have to his name exactly except his 180 page dossier?
But AC was about to come good and you are an advocate of giving chances to flops. What happened?
Dont think Carroll was ever Liverpool class , but we could have used him to great effect coming on as a sub . Wasted really
Its prob the ONLY correct decision Rodgers has made letting Carroll go ,but it was unbelievably stupid letting him go on loan . after this seasons injury problems we wont get damn all for him
If we couldn’t get a decent fee for him, maybe that was the only choice. No point in keeping him to languish
Stupid to go on loan. We received a fee of $2M and WHU paid his entire salary whilst on loan. How is that stupid? Our won/draw % increased when he wasn’t on the team. We sold him for $15.5M + 2M loan fee + $2M in add ons and we no longer pay his ridiculous salary for a $35M substitute. Dude, WHU practically bought us Alberto, Aspas and Mignolet. Carroll’s salary practically pays 80% of their salary. Get on the right side of the fence on Carroll. The %’s and numbers do not LIE.
If we end up getting the reported $18m from West Ham then absolutely he’s made the right decision.
Carroll is the greatest flop in Premiership history.
People argueing that he plays for England… He plays for England when there’s nobody else available. Rooney, Walcott, even Sturridge is a better option than him. And England has as much depth as a puddle with regard to strikers.
Redknap tried to sign him…. But didn’t because he realised that the price tag was rediculous.
Get real people. Sturridge has scored more goals in 100 minutes of football than Carroll has for the entire season at the Hammers.
Over priced flop who had to go. Thanks again Kenny.
Another mind numbing braindead comment from someone with no clue about football
Carroll has scored 1 goal in ten outings for west ham. He didn’t fire a bullet for us. We paid overs by about 25 – 28m. If u can’t see that then there’s not much hope for u.
To get 10m for this reject would be a massive win although I doubt it will happen as he’s simply not good.
Another routine nonsense comment by a flog supporter.
Yes do not forget we are in this mess thanks to Kenny.
Spot on, apart from it was Comolli who paid the Carroll price, not Kenny
THANK YOU!!!!!
Rodgers made huge mistake letting AC go . Yes he had slow start with injuries etc but was excellent at back end of last season
Shearer Hansen Souness in fact all the experts know he is capable of being great , and Rodgers has thrown away and devalued a potentially huge asset
More bad decisions from Rodgers , the guy is a walking disaster
Your right. His ten outings for the hammers has shown What a top draw player he is.
Brenda wil never make the right decision,iv lost faith in him.bad buys (=Allen & borini) den has d audacity to keep playing them,now he wants to buy vegard another centre back.it’s bad enough that seb is jus been left to rot when he wil be as good as dagger an skerts if he plays More.rRodgers is out of his depth
Terrible decision from Rodgers . How we could have done with Carroll _ this season when we are in trouble late in games , who has he brought on to save us ? Cole or Henderson – ridiculous
But for our short-sighted idiotic manager , we could have hsd Carroll coming on , putting real fear into the defences
We should sack Rodgers quick , and maybe our next manager might use Carroll
Carroll was flop from the start and most of you wanted him gone, now you all reckon he would’ve been a savior for our season, hes been injured most of the season as he was last season, he’s scored one goal in 10 games for WH. Now your using the whole Carroll saga as a cheap shot against BR. It’s funny how your calling Borini a flop when he’s pretty much been through the same situation as Carroll this season but your calling Carroll a ‘legend’ almost but I do agree Borini before he got injured has been poor.
didnt see anyone call him a legend
Sheer idiocy letting Carroll leave . Carroll way better than Rodgers signings , and hopefully will continue his LFC career next season under a new manager
Hahaha the pure hypocracy of some so called ‘fans’ here. So now Carroll was the best thing since sliced bread, simply to prove the point that you don’t like Rodgers? Get a grip nearly EVERYBODY thought Carroll was useless, save a few games. And trying to sell him whilst his stock was arguably at its peak was a sensible choice to make. I don’t mind that he was loaned either (with an option to buy high) as he is injury prone, as proven yet again, and was useless for us on the whole. Don’t prevent he could’ve been our saviour, when you all wanted him gone last season.
Not true as usual . Most fans wanted him fit and playing last season