Carragher - tells it how it is!

[Lee]

Just picked up an interview on liverpoolfc.tv. Carra's speaking about our League position and catching Chelsea, and then finishes with;

"In Rafa's first season I can remember us going into big games with Neil Mellor a lone striker," he said.

"I don't remember too many people making excuses for us".

A true point. Yet more proof of how biased Press & TV are against us. Haha, they're just jealous!

[Pedenj]

Wouldn't expect anything less from Carra to be honest.

The man is an absolute legend, and he has a point as well.

[Craig_H]

Yet more proof of how biased Press & TV are against us.

Do you really believe this?

It's embarrassing self-pity to think that it's true, IMO.

[enema of the state]

Do you really believe this?

It's embarrassing self-pity to think that it's true, IMO.

well, I dont believe it in an extreme sense, no, but heres something i know for a fact:

large numbers of ex-pro' footballers are now prominent in the football media. many of these played the best years of their career at a time when lfc was utterly dominant - beyond anything seen sice, just with a lower media profile (as had the game as a whole then).

Some of these seem to express a bitter negative prejudice against lfc intheir comments. Perhaps blaming lfc for limiting their own achievements or resenting their success. i would cite messrs gray, gayle, smith, crooks, wilkins etc as a few examples.

paradoxically - and i do not accept that it is my lfc-tinted specs at play here ecause non-red friends of mine agree - the ex-lfc players in the media are really rather balanced, and in-fact often hypercritical of lfc: hansen, lawrenson, redknapp, mcalister - even someone as passionate as pinochio isnt as way out as your ex-mancs like mqueen etc..

i think its entirely reasonable for an observer to conclude there is an anti lfc media bias - no need for embarrassment at all.

[Shaggy]

well, I dont believe it in an extreme sense, no, but heres something i know for a fact:

large numbers of ex-pro' footballers are now prominent in the football media. many of these played the best years of their career at a time when lfc was utterly dominant - beyond anything seen sice, just with a lower media profile (as had the game as a whole then).

Some of these seem to express a bitter negative prejudice against lfc intheir comments. Perhaps blaming lfc for limiting their own achievements or resenting their success. i would cite messrs gray, gayle, smith, crooks, wilkins etc as a few examples.

paradoxically - and i do not accept that it is my lfc-tinted specs at play here ecause non-red friends of mine agree - the ex-lfc players in the media are really rather balanced, and in-fact often hypercritical of lfc: hansen, lawrenson, redknapp, mcalister - even someone as passionate as pinochio isnt as way out as your ex-mancs like mqueen etc..

i think its entirely reasonable for an observer to conclude there is an anti lfc media bias - no need for embarrassment at all.

It's a perfectly valid point. Stuart Pearce, although not a pundit, obviously, said in the past he hated Liverpool cos if it hadn't have been for us, he may well have won **** loads of medals with that excellent Forest side. The ones we whooped 5-0.

The same applies to numerous pundits, too numerous to mention. Although I'll give special mention to that c*nt Charlie 'The C*nt' Nicholas, cos he's clearly a bitter c*nt over choosing Arsenal instead of us and watching us win almost everything sight. C*nt.

[Jin]

I think it proves, if anything that the press are fickle and know fk all and talk **** when writing about the "big 4". Ask fans of the other top clubs and they'll say the same thing, that the press persecute them. The reality is that that is partly true. Sections of the press take sides, and each clubs have their knockers who jump on them when the oppurtunity arises. We do seem to get it bad though, as we've always been a big club.

[Icon]

The same applies to numerous pundits, too numerous to mention. Although I'll give special mention to that c*nt Charlie 'The C*nt' Nicholas, cos he's clearly a bitter c*nt over choosing Arsenal instead of us and watching us win almost everything sight. C*nt.

One of the funniest posts ever!

[Maestro]

It's a perfectly valid point. Stuart Pearce, although not a pundit, obviously, said in the past he hated Liverpool cos if it hadn't have been for us, he may well have won **** loads of medals with that excellent Forest side. The ones we whooped 5-0.

The same applies to numerous pundits, too numerous to mention. Although I'll give special mention to that c*nt Charlie 'The C*nt' Nicholas, cos he's clearly a bitter c*nt over choosing Arsenal instead of us and watching us win almost everything sight. C*nt.

Charlie Nicholas went to Arsenal because he wanted to party in London.
No footballer in their right mind would have turned us down at that time for footballing reasons.
Andy Gray has several reasons to hate us - his Bluenose roots, allied with the fact that he only got 20 caps for Scotland
because a certain Kenny Dalglish was an automatic choice. He can be horrendously annoying, but most of the time he's just about OK.

I do believe that the media's supposed bias against us is overstated and that we sometimes are oversensitive to this.
As much as I love Phil Thompson, I can imagine he would get right on my tits if I followed another club. He is so blatantly pro-Pool
that it's a miracle he's still on TV.
I find Ray Wilkins ok generally, and Garth Crooks is just so vacuous and overbearingly obsequious that you cannot take him seriously.

We should be thankful that the media is presently not taking us seriously. I can't see us winning the PL, but we're blessed that there's no pressure on us so we should just concentrate on getting maximum points from our remaining PL fixtures and see what that brings us. Be the best that you can be, that's my motto.

[bazza76]

Do you really believe this?

It's embarrassing self-pity to think that it's true, IMO.

Dont you agree that the press handled the situation differently though?
When we beat Chelsea the media focus on their problems, which is understandable to a degree.
But
If we are beaten by anyone, and have players missing, not a word is said about that, and we would be called a bad team on that day.

[Maestro]

Dont you agree that the press handled the situation differently though?
When we beat Chelsea the media focus on their problems, which is understandable to a degree.
But
If we are beaten by anyone, and have players missing, not a word is said about that, and we would be called a bad team on that day.

Sure, but why is that necessarily a bad thing? That aids Rafa and the players by encouraging a siege mentality, which Chelsea and United have often employed to spur them on to winning the title. As long as the players believe that they deservedly won the game rather than Chelsea losing it, it doesn't matter what the press say.

[dww]

I don't think there is a bias against us as such, however as the only really big club to not win the league since the inception of the PL we are an easy target for Sky. We don't play the beautiful football that might exempt us from the constant irritation of their twittering criticism. It is more a lack of any journalistic skill or inteeligent comment that creates an illusion of a conspiracy against us.

On the BBC I generally see a combnation of balanced punditry with some hypercriticism from ex-reds. Imagine if the people on here did the post match critique every week. I suspect Liverpool would be far more harshly treated then (although I suspect we would always be scheduled first on MOTD).

[cobain]

Just picked up an interview on liverpoolfc.tv. Carra's speaking about our League position and catching Chelsea, and then finishes with;

"In Rafa's first season I can remember us going into big games with Neil Mellor a lone striker," he said.

"I don't remember too many people making excuses for us".

A true point. Yet more proof of how biased Press & TV are against us. Haha, they're just jealous!

I'll I can say is:



Fookin' legend!

[Jack D Rips]

I'll I can say is:



Fookin' legend!

Can this be bought anywhere?

[AFII]

I'll I can say is:



Fookin' legend!

Can this be bought anywhere?

Carra isn't for sale

[Diego]

the legend that is carragher

CHRIS BASCOMBE ON JAMIE CARRAGHER
Chris Bascombe 23 January 2007

"You don't half write some crap you," Jamie Carragher said the first time he saw me at Melwood.

"Any chance of getting the man of the match right one day?"

Actually, he didn't use the word crap. It was much scouser.

It was also said in that typical Carragher way. Sharp enough to sound funny, but blunt enough to make a point. You'll have heard this tone many times since.

It's the one that confronted Geoff Shreeves of Sky, who was asked 'who's bigger than Liverpool?' after quizzing Carragher if Steven Gerrard could leave for a 'superior' club.

And the one that cut off the poor Paxman imitator in his prime who urged Carragher to describe the ethos of Liverpool.

"What are yer goin on about mate?" was the appropriate response.

Reporters, especially the most pompous, regularly come a cropper and provoke the same humorously contemptible comeback whenever they try to trip him up.

Fortunately, those of us with more experience have learned the hard way never to ask him questions which are dumb, patronising or both. And pity the individuals who dare attempt to catch Carragher with the use of statistics. He'll pounce as swiftly as he does when making last ditch tackles, with his encyclopaedic knowledge of Liverpool's history ensuring even the match day programme writers need to be on their guard when compiling career details.

Carragher's style of play echoes how he comes across to the media off the park.

Honest, dedicated, obsessive about football and always ready to go in where it hurts when he senses his club, team mates, city or family is getting a kicking.

How often do you hear him talking up players he feels are being unfairly treated? Probably because he’s been there himself. After all, it took him the best part of five years to stop those letters to the ECHO saying Liverpool would never win the big prizes with players like him in defence.

The Kop sing about a team of Carraghers now, but it wasn't so long ago the one they've got wasn't appreciated.

If Liverpool take a beating, you won't see him quickening his step or accepting imaginary mobile phone calls to swerve reporters. If Liverpool win, he’s most likely to slip away unseen while others take the credit. Such modesty isn't a calculated act.

Supporters regular call the ECHO with tales of Carragher's charitable donations, a contribution recently recognised when he was given the freedom of Sefton.

In 2002 he agreed to write a World Cup column on the condition the payments were sent to Alder Hey Children's Hospital, but didn't want that publicised (a few years later I decided it was information which deserved to be shared).

Proceeds from his forthcoming testimonial will go to charity.

Most players go mad if they're getting battered in a newspaper. Carragher gets more annoyed if he's made to sound like he's a world beater.

To this day, touch wood, the only time he's been angry with the ECHO was in 1999 when he was needed to play in the 'unfamiliar' role of centre-half because of an injury to Sami Hyypia.

"I'll fill Sami's boots," read the headline. Carragher thought it made him sound big-headed, as if he was putting himself in the same class as Hyypia. Eight years on, it may seem astounding to supporters a world class centre-half like Carragher would take exception to anyone putting him in a bracket he so clearly is. The notion he'd have to fill anyone's shoes is ridiculous. But it was all about the context. Creating an image of him bigging up himself, and more seriously demeaning one of his team mates, was unacceptable to him, and he made it known.

Fortunately, grudges don't last and he's got most reporters sussed. That's not surprising as he and Steven Gerrard are the most requested for interview.

It's a running gag in the reporting industry how when anyone starts on a newspaper, their first call will be to the Melwood Press Office to set up a meeting with Carragher, who has an inability to fail to be interesting and forthright in his opinions. Need a double page spread for your Saturday or Sunday supplement? Get hold of Carra and fill it with those condescending images about Bootle and scally kids made good (check the archives, it's compulsory all 'serious journalists' have to refer to this when writing about Carragher. If it's Gerrard, just replace Bootle with Huyton).

And do you think the race for the title is hotting up? It's nothing compared to the fight to write Carragher's autobiography when he decides to do it.

All the Jimmy Hill Sunday Supplement crew are desperate for the nod, and have been known to end interviews with an appeal to write it for him. He'll keep them all guessing, but his delay putting pen to paper is further evidence of his disinterest in the footballing cult of celebrity. He's got a Premiership medal to win before he divides his career into chapters.

Let's not forget, this is the fella who when asked if he'd sell his wedding photographs to Hello replied: “I'd rather sell them to The Kop Magazine for £1."

Legendary status - and let's not hear anyone say that's going too far - wasn't achieved overnight.

Across 10 years, Carragher has developed as the ultimate player of the people. The Kop loves him because they know he's one of them. He thinks like them, gives his all as if it was is only appearance for the club, and shows the twin ecstasies of joy and grief as and when appropriate.

If he wasn't playing, he'd be watching and travelling with the family entourage which never misses a game. How do we know? Because he did it in 2003 when he was recovering from a broken leg, joining his dad and cousin on the Happy Al's coach to Middlesbrough and shouting at the incompetence of El-Hadji Diouf with everyone else in the away end.
Steven Gerrard has been the heart of the Liverpool at the start of this Millennium. Jamie Carragher is its soul.

Oh, and I nearly forgot. He's also one of the greatest defenders Liverpool has ever had, and has many more years in red still to serve.
But you knew that bit already.