Andy Carroll’s well known liking for beer has been back in the headlines for days for one reason – social media in general and Twitter in particular.
That footballers lubricate their lives with alcohol is hardly a shock although I can recall being stunned when I learned that Mooro, Jimmy Greaves, Brian Dear in Clyde Best were discovered to have been in Blackpool’s 007 Bar the night before the Hammers were crushed 4-0 in the FA Cup match of 1971.
Mooro, Greavsie and others loved a beer. Read the book by Matt Dickinson ‘Bobby Moore – TheMan in Full’ – and you will find out just how much of a role it played in the great man’s life but beyond Blackpool he always kept it quiet and stayed well out of the way when deciding to have a session.
The difference was that Mooro played over 500 games in 16 years for us and was invariably at the top of his game.
Greavsie played 38 in the season and scored 13 in the twilight of his career. AC has manged 24 0n loan and 57 since he joined us four years ago on monster wages.
Drinking allegations have dogged Carroll throughout his career and the aim of this piece is not to make a judgement on that.
However, the fact remains that he has been pictured drinking and a club investigation is ongoing into the events following the players night out. As somebody once said” Timing is everything.” Maybe AC’s hasn’t been the best.
Given his injury record – and this is a scientific fact – it is not good news that he is continuing to drink as we know that alcohol inhibits recovery .
He is now 27 years old and happily settled domestically. So surely it’s fair to expect that when the club has invested so much into the guy he can go dry for a bit whilst getting back to full ftiness.
Some will call of this purtanical hogwash. Fair enough but here’s the truth as I see it:
Andy Carroll owes this club two or three years (he is now 27 ) of his very best, he needs to stay bang out of the limelight and if he wants a drink stay away from places where snappy happy Twitter freaks can do their thing.
Andy mate, I trust this isn’t too much to ask – do a Mooro…become more private for ALL our sakes!
Allardyce.last year..
“He treats life a little bit too casually. He also gets himself into situations off the pitch which a manager can do without – and so can he
“He needs to be more responsible and realise that a football career passes by in the blink of an eye”
Bilic..
“Is he going to maintain and progress and look after himself, or is he going to go the other way? He has history in that and I’m not his dad, I can’t demand things from him. But I’m expecting that to be fair.”
So both his last two managers have questioned him but you still have fans who say ‘so what,he can do what he wants’..if there wasnt an issue his last two managers wouldn’t have mentioned it.But no some fans know better than his managers 😛
My old man had a pub in chingford Essex during the 70s and greavsy , mooro and all used to drink there “heavily” it was just accepted then .now it’s a different world and carol came with a name for drinking so nothing’s changed but I believe the standard is going to be raised at the club and Slav s not going to put up with it ,this down turn in the clubs form is going to make him even harder
Players loved a pint back in the day.
True story.I lived down Aldershot way years back,must have been the mid to late seventies so when we were away i took in The Shots games sometimes.Well there was a pub outside the ground, i have forgotten the name & the players used to have a few beers before the game & then go change into their kits hehe
I mean this wasnt a pub side they were in Div 3 at the time,now League One 😀
can’t understand why he wasn’t at Selhurst cheering on his team mates…
I’m a fan of the big man but I know someone who is close to Matt Jarvis (relative) and his comment about AC ? – ‘You wouldn’t believe what he gets away with…’
Carroll has deeper problems his love & perhaps desperation to be a celebrity, you don’t seem to get that with our other players, he makes mistakes off the field and not just once, he seems to never learn. This current injury (again) seems to have dragged on and on which does him no favour.
When you favour media attention you can expect that same media to come baco and bite you one day, so little pity. Who Advises him? or does he ignore them? Time must be getting close to seriously looking at his future. One Mire serious injury this season, questions have to be asked! ?
Before reading your piece, i was firmly in the belief that again he was being targeted and there was no harm for him to be catching up with a pal over a beer.But you are right, he does owe us his best,and knowing how the media circus is,a little common sense would be a start.COYI
If smart phones had been around back then you can bet your life that Moore, Greaves, Best and co would have been snapped every time they walked into a pub.
The odd pint with a mate, I don’t give a toss, that is NOT going to put back his recovery.
Oh yeah because you are one of the smartasses who think they know everything & he is faultless right Nestacres.It seems to be your stance with your ‘so what?’ comment yesterday.
Blinkered,bloody blinkered.
Like JB says is it just coincidence his last two managers have popped at him.
Some of you need to open your eyes & stop treating him like some sort of faultless,poor put upon superb professional.
I don’t know if it’s my phone, but are posts disappearing (Eddie appears to be replying to a post that isn’t there)?!?
Yep, confused me too on an earlier post, censorship I reckon..
Yeah there was one from another guy,some sarcastic remark.Must have been removed boys.
Cheers Pop/Rick.
Shame though. Blogs are all about opinions, and they’d be pretty ****e if everyone agreed. Of course different story if there was abuse involved.
Its a guy who comes on & 9 out of 10 times his comment is just a dig at the article or some sarcy comment about it.
So no i wasnt talking to myself,for a change hehe
I’m one of Carroll’s biggest advocates. When he is fit he offers a unique skill-set which all sides find impossible to handle. And from this view point I’m delighted he is ours. However, his fitness record is so bad as to be untrue. When you consider his absence record, (he’d be sacked if he worked in most places with this record), he above all should understand the need to look after himself and do everything within his direct control to ensure he erns that 80k per week. And clearly he isn’t. Doesn’t matter what happened in the sixties without mobile cameras, they exist now and Carroll knows it. So, he understands the risks to his fitness and how his actions might be seen by us fans and irrespective of that he goes out for a pint. That’s not bright in anyone’s book.
There should be no ‘booze debate’ at all, the days of players going out for ten pints after the game are long gone – these guys are Professional athletes and the minimum you should expect from them is to behave Professionally.
Carroll has had an horrendous injury record and has basically been taking his money under false pretences for most of his career. Bilic must be tearing his hair out everytime another Carroll and booze story crops up and Andy Carroll must be a few slices short of a loaf in putting himself repeatedly in the public eye next to a pint of lager.
‘Bilic must be tearing his hair out’
I hope not, his new barnet must’ve cost a few quid!’
I thought about that as I was writing the phrase but didn’t want to be so obvious as to draw attention to Slav’s barnet – particularly being more than a bit ‘follicly-challenged’ myself!
Im not follicly challenged,the race has been run,its over for me Lol
Too much money. He’s not going to stop boozing for football! Injury problems are linked to fitness.