Is Carroll set for a return to the promised land after a year in the wilderness?

Posted on January 11th, 2012 | 58 Comments |

Andy Carroll rumoured to have been offered back to Newcastle United.
Back in black and white?
Newcastle United appear to be interested in a couple of strikers if press reports are to be believed, one of which could be Andy Carroll.

The big news to hit the press today is the rumours that Newcastle may be trying to strike a deal to bring Andy Carroll back from Liverpool.

Our friend the Daily Mail says that a top agent rang Newcastle to offer them Carroll for just £20m, which we refused, and then the agent came back and offered him for £15m plus add-ons (whatever they may be), which again was refused by Newcastle. The Mail goes on to suggest that Newcastle are prepared to offer £10m for the player – substantially more than Derek Llambias’s previous estimate that he’s worth “eff all” – as long as Carroll takes a substantial cut in his £90k/week salary.

Carroll has only managed 6 goals in his 31 appearances for Liverpool since his £35m move a year ago in contrast to the 11 he scored for us in 20 games in the half season before we sold him. He has had to content himself with coming on as a substitute for Liverpool more often than getting a place in the starting XI.

As far as I can tell there’s nothing beyond newspaper gossip on this yet – no quotes or anything – but it is pretty clear that Andy Carroll hasn’t really had the best of times at Liverpool and may be somewhat unsettled there. So, whilst I always urge caution about speculative press stories, it does actually make a certain amount of sense.

Apparently we have also revived our interest in PSG’s Mevlüt Erdinç who, the newspapers suggest, could be available for as little as £5m.

Given that PSG are now Richie Largeportions thanks to their Qatari backers, they certainly don’t need to sell Erdinç for financial reasons, but he is said to be ‘unsettled’ in Paris and may be considered surplus to requirements alongside the likes of Gameiro and Hoarau.

All this is, of course, on the back of reports that suggest we’re not actually interested in a striker this January. Perhaps it’s the same situation as when my wife goes shopping: she may go out to buy a mop and a bucket but you can bet that if she sees a dress and some shoes ‘on sale’ they’ll be bought too, even though she had no particular aim to buy them before going out shopping. That happens with shoes in particular – with the amount of pairs she has, I’m worried they’ll collapse under their own gravity and create a small black hole in the understairs cupboard.

I would suggest that we do need a striker, although whether Carroll and Erdinç are the ideal candidates remains to be seen.

But what sort of reception would Andy Carroll get if he returned to Newcastle? Some fans believe he was forced out in the first place anyway, whereas others see it as largely being his decision to move and have cast him as a ‘Judas’ as a result.

What do you think?

NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10). Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.

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58 Responses

  1. I would welcome him back. We all make mistakes. I would insist that in his contract he has to lose weight, quit drinking and get a hair cut!

    I would love for him to come good for us and liverpool want to buy him again lol!

    Yes Ed women and shoes a true enigma! A bit like NUFC!

  2. I’d have him back, Ba and Ameobi where ace against Manure the other week, imagine if we had a really good, tall striker instead of ameobi (although fair play to him he did play well that night)? Carroll n Ba would be immense. we play football through the middle and get crosses in from the wing so it suits both of them! Sign him up! oh and the erdinc thing is getting boring now, either say you’re interested or f**k off and warm the PSG bench

  3. I think we should take him back. But i wonder will he still be the same player witout nolan and barton considering they set up nearly all of his goals.

  4. Na, no way!

    We certainly shouldn’t go backwards & that’s what it would be.

    Why would you pay £10m+ for a flop?

    liverpool deserve him, maybe they should change their name to livercastle?
    :)
    ac, bellemy, enrique, clarke, dogleash, have i missed anyone?

  5. Defo take him back i think soon as he pulls on black and white top ya will get the extra 15 per cent effort liverpool cant get out of him

  6. Be interesting to know AC’s thoughts on the return possibilty. Would he be happy with a substantial cut in wages, can’t see it myself!

    Be bl**dy good business though and if he had the same performance level as when he left it would be a good deal for us.

    Still expecting our own Hogwarts graduates to pull some unexpected signings from the magical “Transfer Hat of Obscurity”

    Rumour has it that a central African pygmy who does the nutmeg in his own inimitable (?) style might be signing with his Watusi striking partner. A sort of African little and large duo.

  7. Pub quiz question – who is the only player to have played 1st team football for Manu & Mancity and Liverpool & Everton?
    clue (if you need it) – he is not only an ex-NUFC player – he is on our coaching staff!

  8. I think you’ll that this is all bollox, ac will be happy with his wages, liverpool won’t want to lose loads on him & i doubt we would want him anyway.
    We’re doing better without him so far.

    The press will be selling us barton & nolan back soon.
    :)

  9. Agree with Clint, we have moved on and for the better.

    Carroll should either shape up at Liverpool or ship out to somewhere other than Newcastle.

    He must be the only footballer who doesn’t want to live the dream and play for his home team the one he supported as a boy and be idolised by the people of his neighbourhood and region.

  10. steve wraith @stevewraith
    Andy Carroll Says its bullshit in his text so god knows…i’m only telling you what he has said folks.

    Andy texted him earlier.

  11. Phew!

    He did well playing for his home toon team with everyone behind him & the football geared to him. But he’s flopped in a big money move away, as it stands!

  12. Kamar, if we are talking about players in their prime there is a fairly long list of such players who were happy to leave us and play elsewhere.

    Anyone care to start naming them?

  13. AC fits the profile exactly – young, available, proven PL player, English, current international (good WC squad contender) and cheap enough to show a profit in a few years.
    So what exactly is the problem again?

  14. ac proven?

    Didn’t liverpool just make that mistake?

    He’s been dropped from the international set up.
    & anyway it’s england he would play for, so that’s not a glowing CV, is it?
    :)

  15. We have shipped out a host of damn good players in the last dozen years to rivals Liverpool & Spurs.
    But I can’t think of any decent ones we got from them.
    OK, we made a hansome profit, but they have been more successful – and where has our money gone?

  16. Grumpy says – Rumour has it that a central African pygmy who does the nutmeg in his own inimitable (?) style might be signing with his Watusi striking partner.

    scouted by Carr’s team of head-hunters presumably?

  17. I was taking in a bit of palace v cardiff last night, checking that wilfred zaha, he looks a bit ungainly like, he does have some skill but he’s nowhere near ready & not worth anything close to the £10m palace have talked about.

  18. even the 5under1and Echo is getting excited about a £15m AC return – hold on, why? cancelling everthing!

  19. CLiNT, I tend to agree re. Zaha, but teams seem more than willing to pay out megabucks for unproven players. Nathan Redmond for one. I was going to mention another but it just slipped out the backdoor of my mind.

    Palace did have a young RB playing who looked like a good solid defender, might be worth getting.

  20. Grumpy,

    it was said that we were interested in Cline, i think he’s called, another palace player, he didn’t play last night though.

  21. CLiNT – £10/15m for ac or £10/15k for Prior? well, get AC on the condition that he buys Prior out of his first week’s wages ! Can’t go wrong.

  22. I would happily take Andy back! I think that the lad will get great again no doubt but I dont see that happenin outside of Newcastle, he thrived on the ‘Local hero’ status. Im sure he would be a grand signing if we get him for 10mil… Think of it this way, Liverpool paid us what would be a net of 20+ mil to loan our lad for a season:-D

  23. worky,

    that ain’t nasty mate, you wouldn’t like nasty, if you think that’s nasty.
    :)

    I think it’s funny really.

    But i don’t have any love for kling kenneth after what he did to our great team of yore.
    They/he rushed in to prize ac away, the lad saw dollar signs took what was offered, we couldn’t refuse that kinda money for a ‘barely’ proven striker. He shoulda waited ’til summer, got a better contract & stayed put. He couldn’t wait though. liverpool were silly & them’s the breaks.

  24. Once bitten, twice shy with me.

    Only totally mitigating circumstances get a second shot.
    ;)

  25. Also,

    i don’t hate ac, not at all, & he’s more to be pitied than blamed. He was obviously badly advised at the time.
    I can’t say i hate anyone, it’s way too strong an emotion for someone/thing that you don’t like.

    First sign of love, you know.

  26. It was the Sun who did this story originally BTW, because Liverpool are playing Man U this evening they had to make up a juicy story for the build up to the game. That’s their modus operandi.

  27. CLiNT FLiCK says:
    January 11, 2012 at 5:34 pm

    “liverpool v manc mate, not ‘u’.”

    Aye, and Sameobi may only be out for days rather than months too.

  28. CLiNT FLiCK says:
    January 11, 2012 at 6:01 pm

    “worky,

    they were saying months like, has it changed to days now?”

    “Donachie said: “At the moment, we just think it is a kick on the knee.

    “We hope he will be OK after a few days if that is all it is.”

    That was from a report around lunchtime today though. It’s all I’ve seen from someone actually at the club at this stage but I haven’t really been checking closely as I’ve been too busy burning sausages.

  29. CLiNT FLiCK says:
    January 11, 2012 at 6:52 pm

    “sauages!
    Funny word!”

    Clint, do you remember “Prince”, the little dog who said “saus-a-ges”? His owner looked just like a young Alan Shearer with a quiff.

  30. Have Andy back tommorow could do a good job until Demba comes back or legs it to PSG in the summer.Love to see both leading the front line with the Toon though with Ben Arfa playing off them both now theres a happy thought just in time for the derby.

  31. I don’t see how he can end up back up here after all the claims and counter claims that were made about who’s decision it was for him to leave.

    We still have the same owners and further comments have been made since he left including the “he’s worth eff all” comment that’s mentioned in the article.

    If we could get him back here for £10 million I think we should snap him up but I don’t believe Liverpool would let him go for that price anyway. Then there’s also the problem of his Liverpool wages…. I don’t know how much he gets paid but I bet it’s more than we’d be willing to pay and few players ever accept a pay cut.