KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum Andy Carroll

very true Stanley... but at least by believing whilst waiting, one has hopes and can dream. Those things in themselves are very therapeutic. I would also add that I'm sure AC is trying.

In any case, what difference does it make if we believe in vain? As long as one believes 'till the end one has something to look forward to... and before one realises it aint gonna happen, one will either be 6 feet under or the belief will have been replaced by another one.

I dream of an AC hat-trick tomorrow.

Let's be honest, we would have been better off buying Shola Ameobi for £35 million than this clown.

To those who are trying to justify his price by saying "Oh, well he was tied to the Torres deal, so we were always going to pay £15 million less for him." That argument doesn't hold up. This wasn't some sort of magical three-way deal. Chelsea bought our striker, and we needed a replacement at the last minute. Andy Carroll's transfer was completely separate from Torres'. Newcastle were about to part with their prized asset and had us by the balls. We got taken to the cleaner's, simple as. United got £80 million for Ronaldo - you didn't see them blow £65 million on Obertan. I'm sick of people deluding themselves into thinking this was good business. It wasn't. Admit it, and move on.

To those who are trying to justify his complete inability to play football by saying "Oh, well Lucas took some time to develop too, and look where he's at now." That argument doesn't work either. Lucas, from the very beginning, had a hunger and a motivation to succeed. Even though he looked hopeless at times, you could see that he was highly determined and his hard work was paying off, as he was improving every game (albeit very, very slowly).

Andy Carroll plays every game like he's been on the p*ss. He looks completely disinterested, whether we're playing Chelsea or Cheltenham. His work rate would make Ryan Babel blush. The few times he puts himself in a decent position he ends up being pushed over by people that are half his size. His first touch - well, what else can you say other than, he hasn't got one.

I'm completely serious when I say that he's the worst player I've ever seen in a red shirt. We need to cut our losses and get rid before he starts infecting the rest of the team with his nonchalant attitude and abysmal work ethic.

Some of the older generation (not me) have been waiting twenty years and look how that turned out.

Don't agree with the comments on Lucas I thought he had something even when he was getting stick in the early days so did my mate. Carroll I am at complete loss its almost as if I live in a parallel universe. He is a championship player at best.

The other thing I would say is our American owners probably did not understand the game much when we bought Andy Carroll but I bet they do now. They will be asking some very serious questions you can bet.

When he first signed, I laughed at the report and slagged them off to a friend asking why they need to make up such ridiculous rumours. Unfortunately it was true and as usual I convinced myself it was worth it. Let's face it, if we get the best out of him, we'll have 12 years of a top english striker and he'll seem like good business sense.... IF.

The problem is, how long do we wait and how many chances does he get. He hasn't had it easy and if he's cost his real value (lets say 10-15m), we wouldn't be having this conversation but if we do fail to get 4th, which is looking more likely, he'll get most of the blame unfortunately & unfairly.
Ultimately, we can't keep saying 'we're not playing to his strengths' if his touch is awful and his desire's lacking.

I'm not down on him still, I think he's capable of becoming a great player but we can't let the fact that he cost 35m mean we base our play around him alone. It was the same with Crouch and Heskey, playing long balls up to them because they're big and it doesn't work. £35m players should slot into the team.

I'm still backing him and hope he comes good but he was obviously a panic buy, which is ridiculous considering Daglish had been in the job 5 minutes. IF he wasn't daglish's signing, he's being forced to play a different style to suit a player he didn't want.

Give him playing time until the summer and take 15m for him if he doesn't show anything more. If he doesn't suit the style Kenny wants to develop, we'll never see the best of him and both parties will suffer.

Nice post. I have and will never understand the panic buy itself. We were never going to make the Champs League and weren't that interested in the EL. So why take that gamble?

Why not give Daglish 5 months to look at the squad and make plans for the summer with a much bigger transfer budget? Players who fit into exactly how he sees the team playing (of course, I'm not going to mention several other signings).

I expect the owners wanted to appease the fans quickly and boost players morale incase players like reina decided torres was the last straw. Unfortunately they gambled on the wrong player, it seems...

We bought Lucas for £8m on the back of him being crowned the Brazilian footballer of the year. Him becoming a star was a matter of when, not if. And even if it didn't work out, our losses would be minimal so the gamble (if you can call it that) was justifiable.

Carroll on the other hand had won nothing and looked like a typically limited mid-table battering ram destined for the 'heights' that a club like newcastle could offer. Furthermore, he had more front page headlines than backpage, and professionally wasn't 'all there'. We smashed the british transfer record on a panic buy which was only ever going to result in disappointment and huge financial loss.

The signings of Lucas and Carroll couldn't be more different.

How long was Carrol impressive for before we signed him?

I don't actually know his stats, just wondering how he became such an expensive, potentially great player?

We should have spent the money on Tony Yeboah or Neil Shipperley.

We've got to solve this problem in a way which recovers some credibility and puts a stop to the humiliation.

ideal scenario - he comes good and we're happy to keep him for a few years at least.

otherwise, we need another striker who's knocking the goals in; AC plays the odd game in which he hopefully does ok; and as soon as some club enquires about him on the basis that someone else is keeping him out of the team we let him go.