Liverpool FC Forum

[Ciggy]

Im suprised it hasnt already been posted but here''s a little taster.

Jamie Carragher exclusive: I want to be Liverpool's manager.. I just hope Fergie's still around to be knocked off his perchBy Brian Reade 2/09/2008

The Liverpool skipper reveals why he has unfinished business at Anfield


There is one ambition more than any other which drives Jamie Carragher on: "To knock Sir Alex Ferguson off his f****** perch".

To consign Manchester United to a title wilderness, just as Fergie did to Liverpool.

And if he achieves it he doesn't want to be wearing a red shirt with 23 on his back, but a suit and tie.

Because although Carragher is confident he will win the Premier League as a Liverpool player, his real desire is to win it as a manager. And set up a new Anfield dynasty.

"It would be more of an achievement as manager because it would come about through my decisions," says the 30-year-old, talking in his restaurant Cafe Sports England ahead of the launch of his book: Carra My Autobiography.

"It's like the ultimate football man's dream to be better than Ferguson because he is the master.

"I just hope he hangs around long enough to wait for me."

If Carragher's desire to finish his coaching badges and set about the enemy as Liverpool manager comes as a pleasant surprise to Kopites, his motives may not.

The ambition to emulate Anfield's biggest bogeyman is not down to hatred - but respect.

"I've got more respect for Ferguson than anyone else in the game. He's like a Scouser, really.

"He's funny, doesn't mind telling people to f*** off, and he even votes Labour. I love him."

As the most high-profile convert on Merseyside, Carragher is well used to looking clinically at both sides of a tribal divide and telling it like it is.

That is why Evertonians will be shocked to learn how the one-time self-confessed 'Biggest Blue in Bootle' now wants to beat Everton more than any other side.

"Losing the derby is worse than losing any other game. My passion has gone full circle. I was made up on the first day of the season when Blackburn scored that late winner at Goodison. We were getting ready to play Sunderland and it gave me a big lift."

This from the 11-year-old who, when Michael Thomas scored the last-gasp winner at Anfield in 1989 to deny Liverpool the title, celebrated in delirious fashion, applauding lads who scrawled "Thank You Arsenal" on the wall of a Bootle pub.

"I was a total Everton fanatic right through my childhood and teens," says the defender who went on to play over 500 games for Liverpool.

"Everton controlled my life and dominated my thoughts 24/7. I went to the away games, followed them across Europe and in the mid-80s went to Wembley so often it began to feel like Alton Towers.

"When I talk about that Everton team I still say 'we'. Even when I was playing for Liverpool reserves I'd want Everton's first team to win the derby every time."

His change from fanatical Blue to passionate Red was gradual. The more he established himself at Anfield the more he found himself defending Liverpool against Evertonian jibes. But one incident signified the death of his Everton love affair.

In January 1999 after Liverpool had thrown away a lead at Old Trafford and were knocked out of the FA Cup by two late goals, he walked into his local Bootle pub The Chaucer, expecting banter but also sympathy. What he got was laughter and derision. "I was drained and demoralised that day and good mates didn't think twice about treating me like any other 'dirty Kopite'.

"And that did it for me. I couldn't take it any more. People who I thought loved me, were getting off on my misery. The penny dropped. I turned around and walked out.

"They hadn't done anything wrong. They were just being themselves and they're still my mates. But it was over. When I walked out of that pub I turned my back on Everton for good."

Any doubts he may have had about making the wrong decision vanished in the increasingly ugly atmosphere of the Merseyside derbies when mates like Steven Gerrard and Robbie Fowler were subjected to loud personal abuse.

"I hate what they sing about Steven and his family.

"It's disgusting and goes way beyond the kind of banter that's acceptable in life, not just football.

Robbie suffered the same type of scandalous taunts which really hurt him and his family. I'm not saying Liverpool fans are blameless because they're not. They dish out abuse during games with our rivals too. But it ends when the game ends.

"Evertonians spread the lies around the streets of Liverpool and chant them whether they're playing us, Reading or Portsmouth.

"I even hear it on the telly when they're playing away in Europe and I think that could be my family they're singing about."

Carragher has more reason than most players to demand respect for the family. When his mother Paula was pregnant with him, she was told he had spina bifida and given the option of an abortion.

The staunch Catholic woman refused, and the love she showed still moves Jamie deeply today.

"She was willing to bring up a disabled child. She was prepared to sacrifice her life for me. I owe everything I've ever done in the past 30 years to that decision."




It turned out he did not have spina bifida but a condition called gastroschisis, and was born with his bowels outside his stomach (it's why he has a big scar there and no belly button) and spent his first six weeks battling for survival in hospital.

And he has never stopped battling since. As a kid his hatred of giving in and his all-out desire to succeed became a problem. He was a better player than everyone around him and he would let them know.

"I couldn't understand or accept that others weren't as good and I couldn't get off their backs. I was always getting dragged aside by managers and told to treat my team-mates better. It still happens today. Rafa often pulls me up about being too harsh on other players.

"I've had to send a text message to Pepe Reina apologising for what I'd said during a game. I say things to players and afterwards think 'what have I done?' And sometimes after I've had a stand-up row I think 'Oh God, do they hate me?' "But I can't let people around me switch off. Having said that, if someone tells me what to do on the pitch there's a good chance they'll get told to f*** off. That's my job," he says, laughing.

It may surprise those familiar with Carragher's career statistics to learn that as a teenager he was a prolific striker who played up front for England schoolboys and started there for the reserves at Anfield.

During the run towards FA Youth Cup glory in 1996 he dropped into midfield then centre-back, his natural position. "Compared to John Terry, Rio Ferdinand or Ledley King, I'm not that big, quick or strong. It's my reading of the game that'smy biggest strength. I love to pull the strings, drive everyone on." If Gerrard is the heart of Liverpool, Carragher is its soul.

He epitomises the Scouse spirit in a team packed with foreigners. And although he believes the foreign invasion has benefited English club football, he feels it has gone too far.

"There's definitely too many foreigners in the game. What's the point of spending all this money on the academies if we're not pushing local kids through? Liverpool FC is our club. It's a big part of our city and you've got to give young Scousers with aspirations the chance to succeed.

"It's not just football. I've got two brothers who find it hard to work in Liverpool in this Capital of Culture year. One of the reasons is we've made it too easy for foreigners to come here and take the jobs."

His passion for his city and his people is immense. "If I was given the choice between winning the World Cup with England or doing what we did in Istanbul, I'd take Istanbul simply because I know how much it meant to Liverpool.

"People have told me that we gave them the greatest night of their lives and if they died next week they'd die happy. That's some thought."

He married Nicola, his Bootle childhood sweetheart, three years ago and they have two kids James, 5, and Mia, 4. Nicola, three years younger than Jamie, was his first and only girlfriend, and he finally plucked up the courage to ask her out when he was 18.

His reasoning: "Why chase the rest when you can wait for the best?"

Loyalty is a big word in Carragher's vocabulary. During the frenzy over Gerrard's possible move to Chelsea in 2005, he was asked if he would ever leave for a club bigger than Liverpool.

His response was immediate: "Where's bigger than Liverpool?"

But he is under no illusion about the warped spin many modern fans place on loyalty. The lowest point in his career came in the second season under Gerard Houllier after the French manager brought in centre-backs Sami Hyypia and Stephane Henchoz.

"I'd just been voted Player of the Year but didn't start the season very well and fans were calling for Henchoz to play in my position.

"I thought 'hang on, a few games ago I was your best player'. I was only 21 back then and I struggled to get my head round it.

"It angered me and it took a while to get myself together after that.

"When the fans eventually started singing about dreaming of a team of Carraghers I thought 'you weren't singing that six years ago'.

"I'm under no illusion. No matter what I've done over the years as soon as someone better comes along it'll be 'f*** Carra off'. But that's football.

"People go on about how loyal I am to Liverpool. But it's not a question of loyalty. It's a question of 'where am I going to go from Liverpool?' "We're one of the best teams in the world and I'm playing every week.

"I'm not saying I want to leave Liverpool, but if Liverpool weren't that good and a great team like Real Madrid or Barcelona came in for me I might go, because I've always driven myself to play at the best level I can."

So what does the future hold for Jamie Carragher? "I've got three years left on my contract and I want to be playing 50 games a season.

"There's competition for my place and I'm prepared to fight for that because I've been fighting all my life.

"There will always be technically better players around than me, but no-one will be able to match my passion or drive. I'll be fighting for another contract after this one and I'll be happy then to accept 25 games a season."

And if, after that, Fergie is still sitting on his perch, he had better watch out.

[Ciggy]

Jamie Carragher exclusive: I'd just missed a penalty in the World Cup quarters but thought .. I'd rather miss for England than Liverpool FC 
3/09/2008

Part One of the Liverpool legend's controversial and explosive new book

Sitting on the England coach as it prepared to drive us away from the World Cup in Germany, I received a text message.

"F*** it! It's only England". I'd just missed a penalty in the quarter-final shoot-out against Portugal. Around me were the tear-stained faces of under-performing superstars.

England's so-called golden generation had failed. Again.

An eerie depression escorted us on the short trip back to the hotel, but as I stared at my phone and considered the implications of the comforting note, I didn't feel the same emptiness I sensed in others.

There's no such concept as 'only England' to most footballers, including many of my best friends.

Representing your country is the ultimate honour, especially in the World Cup.

Not to me. Did I care we'd gone out of the tournament? Of course I did. Passionately.

Did I feel upset about my part in the defeat? Yes. I was devastated to miss a penalty of such importance. Had I really given my all for my country? Without question.

I've never given less than 100 per cent in any game.

Despite this, whenever I returned home from disappointing England experiences one unshakeable, overriding thought pushed itself to the forefront of my mind, no matter how much the rest of the nation mourned. "At least it wasn't Liverpool," I'd repeat to myself, over and over.

The text messages of consolation I received on the coach included one from Kenny Dalglish. "I would rather miss for England than LFC," I wrote back.

I confess: defeats wearing an England shirt never hurt me in the same way as losing with my club. I wasn't uncaring or indifferent, I simply didn't put England's fortunes at the top of my priority list. Losing felt like a disappointment rather than a calamity.

The Liver Bird mauled the Three Lions in the fight for my loyalties. I'm not saying that's right or wrong, it's just how it is. You can't make yourself feel more passionate if the feelings aren't there. That doesn't make me feel guilty.

If people want to condemn me and say I'm unpatriotic, so be it.

Playing for Liverpool has been a full-time commitment. What followed with England was an extra honour, but not the be-all and end all of my purpose in the game.

We all hear about the importance of 1966 to the country, but for my family the most important event at Wembley that year was Everton winning the FA Cup. Liverpudlians feel the same way about the season as Bill Shankly won his second league title at Anfield.

Our nation is divided, not only in terms of prosperity, but by different regional outlooks. For some of us, civic pride overpowers nationality.

When Diego Maradona knocked England out of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, 10 minutes later I was outside playing with my mates copying the handball goal.

If it had been Everton losing an FA Cup quarter-final, I wouldn't have wanted to speak to anyone for the rest of the day.

Wembley might have been the stadium we went to for cup finals, but it still seemed a distant, foreign place, inhabited by a different type of supporter. I discovered this to be correct when I started playing for England.

There's always a slightly sinister edge and you know the mood can shift from euphoric to vicious in the space of a few minutes.

England internationals are a magnet for fans who are a bit inexperienced, dare I say clueless, when it comes to top class football.

The Liverpool crowd has been credited with dragging us across the winning line.

I've never heard the same said of England fans at Wembley, who are more likely to help the opposition by turning on their own.

A superiority complex has also developed. It's presumed England should go close to winning every World Cup and European Championship. Failure to live up to this inevitably generates more criticism. But there's no historical justification for this and our overall record places England in the third tier of world football.

I was never in love with playing for England in the first place. By the time I stopped, I felt a huge weight lifting.

I took criticism for my decision, but when I look over my international record, I believe I was more sinned against than sinner. I never ducked out of a call-up and never pulled out with a slight twinge. For a while, I held the record for Under-21 caps.

Despite being continually seen as a deputy for others, I never complained.

Whenever Sven Goran Eriksson or Steve McClaren asked me to play, I stepped up with no fuss.

I was never sure if Eriksson was an international manager or international playboy. I know what he was best at. The longer he spent in the job, the worse his status became as a football coach and the better he became a Casanova.

Before one of his early World Cup qualifiers, a story broke about girls finding their way into the team hotel to provide some of the players with pre-match 'entertainment'.

Eriksson summoned us for what we expected to be a stern warning. Instead we received some fatherly advice.

"There's no need to have girls in the team hotel," Sven told us. "If you see someone you like, just get her phone number and arrange to go to her house after the game. Then we will have no problems."

Eriksson took the blame when we lost to Portugal in the World Cup, but for a while the investigation even focused on me. Eriksson's assistant Tord Grip highlighted my penalty miss as a chief factor in our demise.

When asked why I was one of those involved in the shootout, he explained that I took one really well in the Champions League Final.

I've watched our penalty shoot-out win in Istanbul a thousand times since 2005 and I still can't recall taking a penalty.It's frightening to think England's assistant manager could be so ill-informed.

[Ciggy]

How Rafa gave me his blessing to take a swipe at players who didn't try
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport....0723395


JAMIE CARRAGHER EXCLUSIVE Part Two of Carra's great new book

Rafa Benitez introduced himself, apologised for his English, shook hands and invited the observations of the three most senior players at Anfield.

If he was hoping for the first vote of confidence of his reign, he was disappointed.

"I'm not sure you appreciate how bad we are," was the blunt response. Welcome to Liverpool, Rafa.

I'd like to say it was me who fearlessly looked the new Liverpool manager in the eye and delivered this frank warning during our opening exchanges. It was Steven Gerrard who hit him with the home truth as if he was launching into one of his most ferocious ball-winning tackles.

I felt I got closer than most of the players to Benitez (below) when he first joined. I was able to get on with him instantly because he shared a distinctive feature with Gerard Houllier - his devotion to the game.

Houllier had always been keen on using videos to make me watch and learn from mistakes. Benitez took this further. He handed me DVDs of Arrigo Sacchi's legendary AC Milan side of the 1980s and was especially eager for me to analyse Franco Baresi's movements and organisation of the defence. He made it instantly obvious how much he liked my aggressive style on the pitch, although he misinterpreted how far I was prepared to extend my fighting spirit off it.

Rafa told me early on to inject some of my toughness into my team-mates. After a defeat at Birmingham, the manager pulled me in after training and told me a story from his Valencia days.

"When members of the squad didn't show the right attitude in the match, the Argentinian players would start a fight in the showers with the team-mates who weren't doing their job," he said. I looked at the manager to make sure it wasn't a joke and could see a glint in his eye. 'He's dropping me a hint here' I thought.

"I don't think that's me," I said politely, informing Rafa that verbal rather than physical tormenting of underperforming colleagues was more my scene.

But it was comforting to know he trusted me enough to give me his blessing to take a swing at some of the players he didn't like.
Benitez's defensive wisdom impressed me most. It was a step up from what I'd enjoyed before. Houllier guided me towards becoming a top-class Premier League player, but Benitez has been the greatest overall influence on Jamie Carragher the defender.

He's brought the best out of me, transformed me into a centre-half of European pedigree. I've played the finest football of my career under Rafa. Every training session has included advice on how I can improve my game.

Despite his reputation for being cold towards his squad, I was also reading plenty of praise about my performances.
It's never bothered me whether a manager publicly applauds me. A pat on the back is secondary to the name on the teamsheet.

Unlike Houllier, Benitez quickly developed a reputation for rarely handing out congratulations in the Press. So when he did speak glowingly about you, it tended to mean more.
I picked up the Echo one night and saw a headline in which Benitez compared me to Roberto Ayala, the great Argentine defender he'd managed at Valencia.

I knew I wasn't in Ayala's class. More to the point, I knew Benitez didn't think I was as good as Ayala. But to know he'd said it certainly boosted my confidence.

Benitez repeated the trick in a press conference before a league game with Chelsea, but this time there was a sting in the tail.
"I've just told the media you're a better player than John Terry," Rafa told me. Then he started laughing as he madea tell-tale sign, putting his hand to his nose and pulling it out to imitate Pinocchio.

Before our Champions League semi-final with Chelsea I got him back when I was handed the press conference duties. "What did they ask you?" Rafa quizzed me. "I told them you're a better manager than Mourinho," I said, and then repeated his Pinocchio mime.

The question of rotation has been a recurring issue as Benitez would happily change five or six players from one game to the next.
The question that will remain unanswered until we win the league is this - how much do the early-season changes impact on our chances of winning the title?

What I will say is I've never liked it and I don't believe there's a footballer, English or foreign, who ever will.

The key problem is it undermines the team ethic. Selfishness creeps into the ranks because you become aware of how vulnerable you are to being left out no matter how well you play. I can imagine there are players who come off after a defeat pleased with their own performance because it might be enough to keep them in.

You don't get that with a steady line-up, where the result comes before any individual.

You need a structure within the squad so the best 11 earn their places on merit and know they've got to keep their standards high.
Such are the demands at a club like ours, where you can play over 50 games a season. I'd say you need a spine of at least eight players who start week-in week-out, with the rest fighting for a shirt. That's how Manchester United and Chelsea have operated. If anyone dips, they're out.

[112-1077774096]

The question of rotation has been a recurring issue as Benitez would happily change five or six players from one game to the next.
The question that will remain unanswered until we win the league is this - how much do the early-season changes impact on our chances of winning the title?

What I will say is I've never liked it and I don't believe there's a footballer, English or foreign, who ever will.

The key problem is it undermines the team ethic. Selfishness creeps into the ranks because you become aware of how vulnerable you are to being left out no matter how well you play. I can imagine there are players who come off after a defeat pleased with their own performance because it might be enough to keep them in.

You don't get that with a steady line-up, where the result comes before any individual.

You need a structure within the squad so the best 11 earn their places on merit and know they've got to keep their standards high.
Such are the demands at a club like ours, where you can play over 50 games a season. I'd say you need a spine of at least eight players who start week-in week-out, with the rest fighting for a shirt. That's how Manchester United and Chelsea have operated. If anyone dips, they're out.

[tubby]

Im gonna order this book now.

[tubby]

Speaking of biogs, anyone read Rush's?

[Sabre]

Benitez repeated the trick in a press conference before a league game with Chelsea, but this time there was a sting in the tail.
"I've just told the media you're a better player than John Terry," Rafa told me. Then he started laughing as he madea tell-tale sign, putting his hand to his nose and pulling it out to imitate Pinocchio.

Before our Champions League semi-final with Chelsea I got him back when I was handed the press conference duties. "What did they ask you?" Rafa quizzed me. "I told them you're a better manager than Mourinho," I said, and then repeated his Pinocchio mime.

Very good read.

[Ciggy]

HA HA no wonder England are sh!te when a manager tells the players they can sh@g a girl in her house no problem

I was never sure if Eriksson was an international manager or international playboy. I know what he was best at. The longer he spent in the job, the worse his status became as a football coach and the better he became a Casanova.

Before one of his early World Cup qualifiers, a story broke about girls finding their way into the team hotel to provide some of the players with pre-match 'entertainment'.

Eriksson summoned us for what we expected to be a stern warning. Instead we received some fatherly advice.

"There's no need to have girls in the team hotel," Sven told us. "If you see someone you like, just get her phone number and arrange to go to her house after the game. Then we will have no problems."

[Number 9]

Deffo have to get this book it sounds great!

Been talking about it on the radio all week.Ian Wright has been doing my head in going on about Carra not caring for England like a broken record...cant stand that idiot!

[bigmick]

Well given the fact that as one of Rafa's favourite players Carra would be considered very much a loyalist, his views on rotation and the methodology surrounding it are very revealing. In my experience, when someone says "what I will say is...." this means they are about to tell you the bit they are prepared to reveal but there is more which they can't or won't divulge. If this is the bit that Carra WILL say (and he's hardly a "pro" by the sound of it), it would be interesting to hear what he isn't prepared to say at this stage. 

It's a tragedy really. Although there were extremely worrying signs against Villa that we are about to revisit aspects of the rank silliness of the past, so far we've seen a drastic reduction in rotation form the early stages of last season. God only knows what we could have achieved over the last couple of years if we'd just given ourselves a chance.

Anyway thanks for the clips Lynds, we don't get the Mirror over here obviously and the book looks like an absolute must read.

[Number 9]

Well given the fact that as one of Rafa's favourite players Carra would be considered very much a loyalist, his views on rotation and the methodology surrounding it are very revealing. In my experience, when someone says "what I will say is...." this means they are about to tell you the bit they are prepared to reveal but there is more which they can't or won't divulge. If this is the bit that Carra WILL say (and he's hardly a "pro" by the sound of it), it would be interesting to hear what he isn't prepared to say at this stage. 

It's a tragedy really. Although there were extremely worrying signs against Villa that we are about to revisit aspects of the rank silliness of the past, so far we've seen a drastic reduction in rotation form the early stages of last season. God only knows what we could have achieved over the last couple of years if we'd just given ourselves a chance.

Anyway thanks for the clips Lynds, we don't get the Mirror over here obviously and the book looks like an absolute must read.

Bet that made your day Mick!
Carra sh'itting on rotation!

[Sabre]

He also stresses no English player ever will, which, if we try to read further in it, might indicate there are disagreements on this in the squad.

My position about rotation is well known, but I think that if a core of players is unhappy with something, you have to oblige and reduce rotation. It's a greater risk to have players unhappy than the actual injuries or muscular fatigue you avoid by rotating. So if I was Rafa and my important players are unhappy about it, I wouldn't rotate. If then players are unhappy about not playing, I'd tell the captain to sort it out.

It's also noticeable the praises about how Rafa made him a great defender. This is a bit against Stu's philosophy, if I understand my mate correctly, he defends that Carra always have been good, but the player himself admits a coach or experience can actually make you a better player.

[babu]

He also stresses no English player ever will, which, if we try to read further in it, might indicate there are disagreements on this in the squad.

you read too much into that. He cannot speak on behalf of any other league and or other than english players.

[stmichael]

"When my leg was broken in an horrific tackle by Lucas Neill in September 2003, my mates were ready to hunt him down if I gave the go-ahead.

A few weeks later I received a phone call. "You won't believe this, Jay. We're in the Trafford Centre and Lucas Neill is walking straight towards us. What do you reckon?"
Did I really want Neill to take a crack? "There's only one problem," added the voice. "Little Davey Thommo is with him."

That was that. I could hardly let one of my best mates, David Thompson, now a Blackburn player, become a witness to an assault. Besides he'd have recognised the attackers. The impromptu mission was aborted and I sent a text to Thommo telling him Neill should give him a hug of thanks.

As word got back to Blackburn about the near miss, or should that be hit, their coach Terry Darracott, a Scouser, appealed to one of my friends to call the boys off. I agreed."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport....0723400

[112-1077774096]

"When my leg was broken in an horrific tackle by Lucas Neill in September 2003, my mates were ready to hunt him down if I gave the go-ahead.

A few weeks later I received a phone call. "You won't believe this, Jay. We're in the Trafford Centre and Lucas Neill is walking straight towards us. What do you reckon?"
Did I really want Neill to take a crack? "There's only one problem," added the voice. "Little Davey Thommo is with him."

That was that. I could hardly let one of my best mates, David Thompson, now a Blackburn player, become a witness to an assault. Besides he'd have recognised the attackers. The impromptu mission was aborted and I sent a text to Thommo telling him Neill should give him a hug of thanks.

As word got back to Blackburn about the near miss, or should that be hit, their coach Terry Darracott, a Scouser, appealed to one of my friends to call the boys off. I agreed."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport....0723400