After a manic January deadline day the fallout has begun on Tyneside following Andy Carroll’s record breaking move to Liverpool.
Carroll sealed his shock transfer to Anfield late last night after ‘handing in’ a transfer request earlier in the day, which resulted in Newcastle ‘reluctantly’ accepting Liverpool’s crazy £35m bid.
Facts such as these seem somewhat normal in modern day transfers – a player expresses his desire to leave a club so the relevant parties negotiate a fee. However, less than 24 hours after Carroll’s move to the North West debate has sparked on Tyneside as to what really went on at Newcastle United Football Club yesterday.
After news broke yesterday of Carroll’s desire to leave words such as ‘Judas’ and ‘traitor’ were aimed at the former Newcastle number nine.
I’ll be the first to admit I was in this mindset, because at the time it seemed this was a case of player wanting away from his hometown club with the sole aim of extending his wealth. We all know the lack of loyalty in football but this would have been a bitter pill for the Geordie faithful to swallow.
It is now apparent though that the situation is far more complicated than first imagined.
Manager Alan Pardew held a press conference today ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Fulham, but there was only one man’s name on the lips of the pushy journalists – that of the newly crowned most expensive British footballer in history.
Pardew gave his views on the matter, but with Carroll’s opposing view published in the Chronicle today, it is obvious that either the club, or their former striker, are twisting the truth somewhere.
Carroll claims he was not wanted by owner Mike Ashley, whereas Pardew argues his leading goalscorer wasn’t forced out the St James’ exit door. Who to believe?!
We all know what Ashley is capable of, so getting Pardew to lie to the media wouldn’t be out of the question, giving his controversial time at the top of the Magpies hierarchy. After all, following Carroll’s comments on his departure, the club needed to cover its back ahead of an expected backlash from the fans at Saturday’s visit of Arsenal.
It’s obvious that we will never find out the extent of yesterday’s ongoings between Carroll, Pardew, Ashley and MD Derek Llambias but what does seem strange is that an agreement couldn’t be made to keep the striker – assuming that’s what all parties wanted.
Both Carroll and Pardew have stated that discussions were made about a new deal for the 11 goal striker, but where Carroll claims negotiations came to an unexpected halt Pardew says his former striker demanded a new deal otherwise he’d leave. Something doesn’t add up.
I spoke to Toon Talk fanzine editor Steve Wraith late last night and he told me he had been in constant contact with Carroll all day, claiming that the striker had sent him a text message saying he was being forced into joining Liverpool. Wraith has since published numerous text messages from Carroll on his fanzine’s website, alongside a message of good luck to the Kop’s new number nine.
Newcastle fans will be scratching their heads at which side of this saga to believe, but undoubtedly their questions will remain unanswered as it’s simply one man’s word against another.
With Ashley’s track record of seriously mishandling situations at St James’ Park I am of the opinion that Carroll has been pushed into this, however as a Newcastle fan I am disappointed he didn’t put up a stronger fight to stay. Like I said though, no one knows what took place yesterday.
Pardew today claimed he will have all of the transfer fee from the sale of Carroll to spend on his squad in the summer. The question is do I trust Ashley to re-invest £35m back into the team? The answer – absolutely not.
Newcastle must now go on as they have done so many times before following disappointment – starting with Fulham at Craven Cottage tomorrow night.
By Martin Lindsay
