£35m for Andy Carroll | On loan @ WHU (the big, long, useless streak of pi**...)

Ixion

He'd have to go on to be a fucking good player to justify 35 million, Berbatov is having an amazing season and I still think most would say 31 million was too much. I think £20 million might have been more along the right lines.

Marching

It has to be remembered that liverpool are buying into his potential....he's a cracking player and can only get better. He's going to score goals and probably lots of them.

Whether he's worth £35m remains be seen but a large part the fee is down to Torres jumping ship and liverpool being backed into a corner.

I'm looking forward to going to anfield in April to see him play against NUFC.

amolbhatia100

Is he?

From what I've seen he just seems to be a big lump with a strong shot on him. I don't understand the hype.

mariachi-19

See the problem for you is that Liverpool aren't that much better then Newcastle, and their whole squad doesn't require a revamp.

Sam.G

We're much better than Newcastle.

RedRover

I think he's got the ability to be a very good player. He's physically strong with a good touch, good shot and good movement, he's good in the air, works his socks off and brings other players around him into play. Kevin Nolan is no better than he ever was but was socring a lot more goals than he ever had before playing alongise him. His hat trick at Villa earlier in the season showed he's got decent composure and he's notched a decent variety of goals this year.

His style might not look pretty but he's bullied some top defences this season, hence some unexpected wins over some good sides.

Whether he fulfills his potential remains to be seen I suppose.

I'm always right

Nolan played centre mid before and still scored goals. A silly example really.

The Black Pearl

gaffs

There is one winner in this transfer.

Kevin Nolan's missus.

I best she is delighted to get the big gypo out of her house.

The Hairdryer

I remember when we signed Roy Keane for a then British record fee. I was one of many fans who thought it was ridiculous. Keane was of course a much more established player, but he wasn't at the time regarded by most united supporters as anything other than decent midfielder. It was money spent on mostly potential.

Does Carroll have similiar potential worth justifying that fee? Does dalgleish still have that eye for talent that made him bring a young alan shearer to blackburn from southhampton? Who knows, I'm guessing probably not, but I've been proven wrong before.

Boss

we'll just have to wait and see how he does, it;s ahrd to predict these things with younger players but he's not established in the Prem making the transfer fee really crazy

RedRonaldo

Can't understand this at all.

Marching

Big Lump? Seriously? I suspect you're letting your anti lfc feelings take over...and if you're not, I suggest Specsavers.

Good post from...

I'm always right

It's not really a good post though Marching. He cites Kevin Nolan as his example, however Nolan plays in a different position now, whereas before he was a CM. Even at CM with Bolton he scored goals.

CnutOfAllCnuts

have you seen the league table?

misterredmist

Liverpool had the money and needed a striker rapid....... I think he's a talented
player and has potential to improve no doubt......

The mickey's will find out in the next 2 seasons whether the £35m was worth it, or whether AC is back on his bike back to the Toon for £12m in 2013......

Marching

Carroll creates chances for anyone that gets in the area and Nolan has benefitted from that. The other points he makes about Carroll are spot on.

I'm disappointed I won't see him play at NUFC and did think he had a great future at the club and become another famous black and white number 9.

I'm always right

The other points I won't argue with but the Nolan point isn't valid at all.

CnutOfAllCnuts

Marching, Carroll worth £35m?

Or £15m?

sincher

I don't know him well enough. Maybe he's better than I think.

On the surface of things though, and despite his age and so on... seems completely mad. Mind you £50m on Torres is pretty mental too, and Suarez might actually be a bargain, especially if played in position up front.

dmode

Kraftwerker

We could field an entire side that cost less than Andy Carroll (with change to spare), and it would probably beat Liverpool more often than not.

Name Changed

It's ridiculous.

They did not have to buy him now. They have nothing to play for this season, and could have got him in the summer for a lot less had they of waited.

Plus, he is injured now and they are not 100% sure how bad it is. He could be out for 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 9 weeks. Originally Newcastle thought he was only going to be out for a couple of games but his injury is worse than they expected and they can't tell when it's going to heal.

So Liverpool bought this lad who could be out for a couple of months. They spent an extraordinary amount of money on a player that they could have got for a lot less. The 7th most expensive player ever? FFS. Have they not learned after Aqualani anyway that you should not spend massive amounts of money on injured players?

Personally, I don't even think he is that good. I'd expect that Darren Bent would have scored them more goals.

Lynott

I think anybody questioning Carroll's ability must have been asleep for the first half of the season.

I think he is going to be a great player.

I think the fee is irrelevant. Liverpool had the money and needed a player. Newcastle did not want to get rid of a player who many believed that the future of the club would be built on. The result is a huge fee but so was the fee for Torres.

Effectively Liverpool passed the Torres fee onto Newcastle and Ajax and got two players for it.

mufcwarm92

Couldn't agree more. People went stir crazy about the fee shelled out for Darren Bent, but he's a much more consistent, reliable and proven Premier League goalscorer, and one that would probably do more for a team in Liverpool's position than Carroll would.

I do rate Carroll, I think he's one of the best English strikers out there, but the fee is nothing short of obscene. He'll have the weight of that pricetag hanging over him, but it's important that he is judged in terms of performances, not just constant comparison to his pricetag. Carroll is a decent finisher, an aerial monster and a much less one-dimensional striker than the general concensus seems to point to. The Carrol-Suarez forward exit could either be a really good, complementary partnership that will push Liverpool into a top 4 challenge, or the most expensive gamble in Premiership history.

I'm always right

Nonsense. Kevin Phillips was brilliant for one season.

Cina

Two players who will never be at his level.

Lynott

That makes no sense to what I stated and you even quoted my line????

AttackingFlair

Like that means anything!

I'm always right

What? it's makes every sense.

Any player can have a great 6 months, Michael Ricketts anyone?

Now your line could've been applied to Ricketts after 6 months, and yet those who questioned his ability (especially when he made the England squad) were not asleep.... they were very much awake and DEAD RIGHT!

mufcwarm92

Well obviously other than Rooney, no-one is really close to world class, but there are 5 or 6 English strikers that are proven Premiership quality and Carroll is one of those.

CnutOfAllCnuts

I am not questioning his ability, I am questioning the fee he was bought for.

He is a good player. A good player who should cost about £15m.

Instead he's become one of the most expensive players in the world. Up there among players he can't be compared with, and never will be able to be compared with.

Effectively, Liverpool sold one of the best strikers in the world, and replaced him with two players nowhere near as good as him.

Lynott

What are you talking about? These are the ramblings of a madman.

Carroll is having a fantastic season. If you want to compare him to Phillips or Rickets (which is fucking bizarre) then you have to wait until he has played in the league for 10 years and you can criticise him then.

He is currently quality.

Lynott

There hands were tied and in Carroll they have gone for someone they think will become a great forward. No doubt it is a gamble for the money invloved but there is no point comparing any of them to Torres. It was never going to be like for like.

RedRover

Not as many as he's scoring at Newcastle, especially over the last couple of seasons so I don't see how its a silly example given that he's not suddenly become a much better player at Newcastle.

40 goals in 296 appearences over 10 years at Bolton.
27 in 75 for Newcastle so far.

even if you take into account the yeat in the Championship there is still a distinct difference and he's worked well with Carroll with him leading the line.

I'm always right

You are a madman....

I haven't criticised Carroll

You should take your own advise and wait until he has played in the league for a while before you big him up so much. Many a player has looked equally as promising as Carroll and become absolute dogturd.

I'm always right

Because he now plays off the front man, NOT in Central Midfield like at Bolton. How hard is that to understand?

CnutOfAllCnuts

Their hands weren't tied. They were arsefucked by Newcastle.

Liverpool could have waited until the summer and probably gotten Carroll for at least £15m less.

RedRover

Exactly right. Unless and until his form crashes then you cant criticise him, the same as with any other player.

You could argue the same for any player making his way but its all irrelevant if they keep playing well and actually improve.

Clubs always take a gamble with a player, but if they didn't then they'd never buy any one decent at all.

Plechazunga

Imagine being taken for a ride by Newcastle United

It's like getting mugged by a bloke with Down syndrome