The Andy Carroll Question

Posted on December 30th, 2011 | 35 Comments |

Andy Carroll: Forced out and lied about?
Andy Carroll: Forced out and lied about?
Love him or loathe him, there is still a question which has not been answered about Andy Carroll, a question which continues to split opinion amongst United fans to this day. Ahead of the imminent game against Liverpool at Anfield, it might be timely to examine this question one more time.

The question – when he was transferred, did he jump or was he pushed? This has never really been fully clarified for us, and opinion is divided. Let’s look at some of the facts and statements made by people close to the transfer deal.

In the January 2011 transfer window, Alan Pardew made numerous statements to anyone who would listen, to the effect that “Andy Carroll is going nowhere”. As we all know, Andy Carroll was sold to Liverpool for £35M at the end of the transfer window, with no time to sign a replacement, and the whole saga left Pardew looking a bit foolish. Did Andy Carroll want to leave or did our owner take one look at the money on offer and shove him out of the door?

Since the transfer, statements have been made by some of the people who were close to the deal. Perhaps the most revealing comments were attributed to Managing Director Derek Llambias, who is alleged to have opened up to some United fans in a local hostelry.

Llambias on Andy Carroll:

“Is he worth £35m? No – he’s worth f*** all.

“It is about control. We had the control. We knew the Torres deal was there. We drew that f****** deal, perhaps the ultimate. So £30m? F*** off! Don’t waste my time and I slammed the phone down.

“£35m? Everybody including Pardew all agreed. But the £35m they wanted to pay over four years. It was rubbish. Mike said – and he is a brave boy Mike I promise you – get all the £35m up front. We got it all up front and then they never paid us on time and we charged them 12 grand f****** interest.”

Nothing there about Andy Carroll wanting to leave, the only consideration seems to have been the money on offer and whether they could get it all as cash up front.

The player himself was quoted at the time in the Evening Chronicle:

“Derek [Llambias, Newcastle’s managing director] asked me to hand in a transfer request, so I was pushed into a corner and had no choice,” Carroll said.

“I wasn’t wanted by them and they made it clear they wanted the money.

“Then I flew down in [owner Mike Ashley’s] helicopter. I didn’t want to leave. I’m gutted that I wasn’t wanted at my home team after everything I have done and the progress I have made.

“I didn’t want to leave at all. Make sure they know I didn’t want to leave. The players, staff and fans were fantastic.”

In the past few days, recent Alan Pardew comments have been quoted in the Newcastle Journal which seem to confirm the theory that Andy Carroll had no say in the matter, and was pushed out of the door.

Pardew said:

“You never want to lose great players and we never wanted to lose him. I would take him back if I had the chance. If the fee was not as high as it was, then he would still be here.

“It was a decision, as a football manager, which was a very difficult one for me.

“I was 60-40 for keeping him, but for the finances of the club there was a strong opinion upstairs.

“They are my employers. We all looked each other in the eye and said it was going to have to happen.”

The fact that Carroll hasn’t exactly pulled up any trees at Liverpool is used by some fans to somehow point to the sale being a kind of master stroke by business genius Mike Ashley. But the facts seem to suggest that he was sold over his head, and his own statements that he did not want to leave appear to have some truth.

I’ve heard some scathing condemnation of Andy Carroll and his abilities as a footballer recently – from both United and Liverpool fans. In my view, it’s still early days for Carroll at Liverpool, and he’s now been handed a golden opportunity with the lengthy suspension of first-choice striker Luis Suarez.

Certainly, any suggestions of Carroll being a “donkey” should be whispered very quietly by United fans ahead of Friday’s visit to Anfield – especially the way our defence has been playing recently.

NUFCBlog Author: UTD111 UTD111 has written 59 articles on this blog.

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35 Responses

  1. Good or bad I don’t know but he’s not here anymore. Wish the best for him in the future but not tonight. HWTL !

  2. Why are at still talking about the Carroll saga? Was this not put to bed when lamearse ripped through the entire geordie history whilst pissed in shark club? It’s clear to see. But the argument is more good or bad idea.£35 million says it all. Enough said bed time for Carroll me thinks.

  3. Does it matter?

    It was a year ago and whether he walked or was pushed is irrelevant as its done now. He’s moved and mist NUFC fans have moved on. Emphasis on the ‘most’ part here…..

    I see none of the guff with Nolan ferrying Carroll about, appearing on Liverpool TV etc etc has been mentioned.

    A half story being told again I see.

  4. regardless

    good look to the lad, he is a local lad, who is trying to make the best out of a situation he was forced into,
    lame-ass words

    “It is about control. We had the control. We knew the Torres deal was there. We drew that f****** deal, perhaps the ultimate. So £30m? F*** off! Don’t waste my time and I slammed the phone down.

    i hope he bellamy or jose dont have a good game against us, all 3 have the quality to hurt us

  5. Lads – I thought the Carroll thing was relevant even after a year because, if circumstances regarding ownership of our club had been different, he might still have been playing for United and scaring the life out of the Liverpool defence today instead of the other way round.
    I also thought it was relevant as it all happened in the last January transfer window and serves to remind us of what this lot are capable of when cash is flashed by the so-called “big clubs”

  6. Both parties, Andy Carroll & the Club, had an option to prevent the transfer from happening & neither need.

  7. i think he was pushed but looking at it now it was the right call to do so. the board have been very fortunate and ended up with a free scoring, all round better striker in demba ba and 35million in the bank. fair play to them…

  8. this is a non-issue. 35 million in the bank and Demba Ba scoring. Why are we still talking about this?

  9. darlomag & malfurious – yes, I think that’s the best way to look at it – we got one of the best deals ever, Ba plus £35m for AC.
    But, putting the sleaze of Lambias/Nolan/MA/wherehasthemoneygone aside (there nowt we can do about it) – he has not been a great success at Liverpool (3rd choice?) & he’s obviously not enjoying his football, so if they want to get rid of him, who would have him?
    Quite frankly I’d love to see him playing with Ba – we could have a Cole/Beardsley or Toshack/Keegan type force there! Between them they would fill every aspect of a deadly twin strike goal machine – enough hight, strength, speed & skill to terrify any defence.
    It could be the signing that transforms us into a top 6 match winning team.
    Liverpool would have to accept a big loss in any deal – but I’d sacrifice Tiote plus £10m like a shot!

    HWTL

  10. Andy jose and bellamy its nailed on one of them will score tonight just hope andy doesnt get too much stick.Will take a 2-2 draw.A usual the hype about Andy not fitting in struggling etc if he plays the script is written.Be interesting to see how colo and williamson do against him.

  11. darlomag says:
    December 30, 2011 at 10:47 am

    “i think he was pushed but looking at it now it was the right call to do so. ”

    Was it right for Pardew and Llambias to lie to the fans about it and ruin Carroll’s reputation though darlomag? And why is it that some fans just don’t care whether they are lied to and made fools of any more, whether it is about Carroll or other issues?

  12. Worky you cannot KNOW that Pardew lied regarding Carroll. That is just an unfounded opinion of yours.

    Of course fans mind being lied to.

  13. Munich Mag says:
    December 30, 2011 at 1:41 pm

    “Worky you cannot KNOW that Pardew lied regarding Carroll.”

    Munich, both Llambias and Pardew made statements on Carroll which are contradictory, and all of them can’t be true.

  14. Worky, but you cannot say Pardew LIED, because you don’t know. “Contradictory statements” is something completely different.

  15. We all know you don’t like Pardew. I feel we should give the bloke a chance.
    On the other hand, I’d hate to be mentioned in the same breath as Lambias though… :shock: :shock:

  16. Munich,

    Pardew when Carroll was sold:

    “Personally, I’m disappointed. He’s a lovely lad, and I really like him, but it was his decision, and you can’t change that.

    Pardew now:

    “If the fee was not as high as it was, then he would still be here.”

    So if what Pardew is saying is true now, than they could have changed things after all and what he said at the time about the move being completely forced by Carroll wasn’t, and that’s just a part of it.

  17. Overheard recently in the Liverpool boardroom about Andy Carroll:

    “Is he worth £35m? No – he’s worth f*** all!”

  18. At first sight tonight’s match is for 6th place
    – but if we win 0-5 we will go 5th !
    Just a thought.
    HWTL

  19. I suggested (not particularly seriously) earlier that I’d take Tiote plus £10m for Carroll. I was assuming that Gurthrie would amply take his place.
    Now I see that Spurs still want shot of Bassong.
    so that would be Tiote for Carroll + Bassong + £3m
    looks good to me!

    0-5

    HWTL

  20. Sorry but I am getting the same reaction to Carroll being mentioned as when we used to talk about Owen, it just makes me want t ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

  21. Grumpy – now you’re talking! Believe it or not Owen would fit into this team much better than he did before – Owen & Ba up front with HBA tucked in behind them.

  22. i really carnt understand any one of us fans saying it was good business because we got 35 mill for him, we might as well have got 5 million for him, the money has not been used and will not be used,,

    we are a selling club, we could make 100 million from selling players and we would still be looking for free/young/cheap players,

    right now i think we have 6 very sellable assets, krul,colo, saylor, cabaye, tiote, ba, and it would be very hard to replace any one of these on the cheap,

    the sad thing is we are only a few players away from being a very good team, a team that could make europe year after year

  23. Supermac says “Grumpy – now you’re talking! Believe it or not Owen would fit into this team much better than he did before – Owen & Ba up front with HBA tucked in behind them.”

    For a game and a half until he got injured…

  24. Spriggsy-you’re the only one going on about unimportant tripe. To claim that Nolan played an important role in getting the deal done is not only sensational, it’s also untrue. Jog on.

    Yeah, Ba + 35M into some account that will never be used to better the squad. Great deal for us. Especially when Ba’s gone for six weeks or-great spirit forbid-injured. Great foresight, guys.

  25. tunyc says:
    December 30, 2011 at 4:53 pm

    “Spriggsy-you’re the only one going on about unimportant tripe.”

    tunyc, the only comments “spriggsy” has ever made on this blog have been to cast aspersions on Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan over Carroll’s move. The last ones were when I wrote a story about when Llambias made an arse of himself in that gastro bar, and his lies about Carroll at the time were unravelled. It’s obviously quite important to him for some reason. ;-)

  26. tunyc, “Spriggsy” does make other comments too, but he uses a different identity for those.

    “A half story being told again I see” indeed! :-)

  27. Wow ! some strange shit going on to-day !
    Look, it should be an established fact by now that both Ashley, Llambias and Pardew are people in who’s dictionary the words ethics or truth have been omitted.
    Michael Owen is gone, thank god !
    Andy is gone, good luck to him !
    Bellamy is gone, ditto.
    Do the majority of fans want Carroll back, who knows ?
    would he fit, not with our present wingers, they could’nt hit a barn door from twenty feet never mind a striker parked in the box and do we really want to revert to that style of play ?
    As for the window, young Tomkins is a decent “young” CB, who could partner Saylor, as Colo is getting close to his sell by date.
    Either he, or the Belgian guy Vortinghen, Bassong even!
    That plus a couple of decent full backs and a couple of wingers.
    Simpson and Santon, backing Sissohko and Onuoha, dump Perch and Raylor
    Saylor, Colo, Vortinghen and Tomkins, should provide the defense we need, dump Williamson.
    Couple of wingers who have some kind of finishing skills, other than running the length of the pitch into the crowd of defenders awaiting them and another guy up front who can put the ball in the net.
    Not a lot to ask for !

  28. Well it’s lunch and a few Amstels and watch the game at the local.
    In comparing squads, i would say Pool have the edge in both size and quality, however they are as of yet, hardly a team that has gelled.
    Of course every football fan is now aware of how we ripped pool off big time, with the Carroll deal.
    Although spending a shit load of dosh on players, they appear to be the same old not quite a top four side, not much different from the Benitez teams, which also cost an arm and a leg.
    Shows what a difference a good manager makes, like Arry at Spurs, who managed to fill his squad with talented players and still balance the budget.
    Well with Ba and Tiote heading away and Saylor out leaves openings in what is considered the spine of the side.
    I hope we can pick up a decent pair of defenders,a CB and perhaps Sissohko who can also play the midfield (Tiote) role.

  29. blah blah blah……..worse bull than the chronicle….cheap headline picture blah blah…….happy newyear all!!!!!

  30. final thought – I’d rather Shearer had given him a pair of pants than a shirt (especially that one).