Do We Need Carra?

[saveferris]

Reckon this will be discussed and sorted out in the summer in no time at all

[gerbin11]

I would say that with the amount of passion, commitment and dedication he has shown the club over the years if at any stage he feels that he would not get the game time with this club and he wanted to go he should be supported in his decision. He has said he wouldn't play in a lesser premier league club so I would have no problem. I can see him going on a rolling 12 month contract until he doesn't feature as a mainstay, enabling him to leave on a free to whichever club he wants. In the past month or so he has said this before and on that occasion he said he wanted to go to another club to get ideas on how other places prepare, train and organise. whatever he decides he'll have my support, for whatever its worth.

[kingfunk]

If true, it seems to me that he is trying to hold the club to ransom. He should sign the deal then keep fighting for his place. I would be well pissed if Rafa guaranteed any player their place in the squad. NO player is bigger than the club, thats not the way contracts work, Bad form from jamie if true, bad form.

[CJ]

under paisley as soon as he wasnt good enough he would have gone. i think we are too sentimental now. you dont see this message from giggs and scholes.

i think if we had won the league these wouldnt be issues as winning and not playing every game is ok.

if he isnt good enough to command a regular slot and wont come in and do a job when needed then he should go.

for carras point of view you can see he just wants to play and if he cant get them at liverpool then why not look elsewhere. he only has a limited number of years left and he wants to play as much as possible. so you can understand that. its the same for sami.

the problem is that from the media reports it looks like carra is saying play me or i am gone where as he might be saying it differently.

[The Erectile Banana]

Of course we do, he's still our best centre back.

Agger is potentially better but is too injury prone to be relied on as first choice.

What we do need is to sign a successor for Carra this summer. As has been noted he's 32 now, and may not be quite as good as he has been. Skrtel should have been the answer, but he seems to have lost his way after a good start to his LFC career. I would not trust him to step into Carra's shoes based on current form.

Carra deserves a two year contract. There's no reason why he shouldn't be a regular for next season at least. Sure, he's had some shaky moments this season, but so have all our players, and his form has been much improved recently.

[Lee]

Two ways of looking at this.

1) Fight for your place and prove that when it comes to performing, age is no issue. See it as a challenge as Sami did, get your head down and work. Nobody should be in the team because of past glories or merit.

2) It's understandable that he doesn't want to spend his last few seasons on the bench and nobody appreciates a player who trains, collects his wages and is happy to sit on the bench week in, week out.

Whatever happens, I think he's good enough to stay next season and perhaps the season after - who knows? Interesting interview on the BBC website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/8554078.stm

Jamie Carragher unfazed by possible Liverpool exit


Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has said he would have "no problem" leaving Anfield should his hometown club decide not to extend his current contract.

The 32-year-old has just over a year left on his contract, but has yet to begin negotiations over a new deal.

He told the Sunday Times: "I'll still play my best and if I have to move then I'll move. It wouldn't bother me."

Carragher has spent his entire career at Anfield, making over 500 appearances for the club over the last decade.

The Bootle-born central defender, who made his debut against Middlesbrough in 1997, is one of the few home-grown products to regularly make Liverpool's starting line-up.

He has been a mainstay of the side this season, with only midfielders Dirk Kuyt and Lucas Leiva making more Premier League appearances for the Reds.

However, Liverpool's vice captain acknowledged he may have to look elsewhere if he wants to continue his playing career.

"The club will give me a new contract if they want to," he added. "It's a club thing. It's down to them. I'll keep playing and see where it takes me."

The versatile defender quit international football in 2007 after becoming disillusioned with a lack of opportunities in the England team and said he was "not scared of making big decisions".

Manager Rafael Benitez said the player wanted to concentrate on completing this season before beginning talks on a new deal.

"There is no news about Carragher," said Benitez. "We have spoken to him and he was very clear that at this moment he just wants to concentrate on doing his job.

"I think Jamie prefers the situation as it is. The information I have is that he is comfortable with how things are and that he wants to wait."

[TheElephantMan]

I wondered whether JC would change his mind about refusing to play for England? If ever the national team could use him it's right now. I have no real interest in international football, but if Jamie's main reason for ending his England career was to sustain his club playing career then maybe under current circumstances he should reassess that decision?

[Armchairkopite]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/8554078.stm

Jamie Carragher unfazed by possible Liverpool exit


Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has said he would have "no problem" leaving Anfield should his hometown club decide not to extend his current contract.

The 32-year-old has just over a year left on his contract, but has yet to begin negotiations over a new deal.

He told the Sunday Times: "I'll still play my best and if I have to move then I'll move. It wouldn't bother me."

Carragher has spent his entire career at Anfield, making over 500 appearances for the club over the last decade.

The Bootle-born central defender, who made his debut against Middlesbrough in 1997, is one of the few home-grown products to regularly make Liverpool's starting line-up.

He has been a mainstay of the side this season, with only midfielders Dirk Kuyt and Lucas Leiva making more Premier League appearances for the Reds.

However, Liverpool's vice captain acknowledged he may have to look elsewhere if he wants to continue his playing career.

"The club will give me a new contract if they want to," he added. "It's a club thing. It's down to them. I'll keep playing and see where it takes me."

The versatile defender quit international football in 2007 after becoming disillusioned with a lack of opportunities in the England team and said he was "not scared of making big decisions".

Manager Rafael Benitez said the player wanted to concentrate on completing this season before beginning talks on a new deal.

"There is no news about Carragher," said Benitez. "We have spoken to him and he was very clear that at this moment he just wants to concentrate on doing his job.

"I think Jamie prefers the situation as it is. The information I have is that he is comfortable with how things are and that he wants to wait."[/QUOTE]

The last part would suggest that the club are ready to offer him a contract and have already been in touch.

[pezzzer]

loosing hypia was bad enough and took our defense an age to recover from his on/off field input. loosing carra would destroy it imo

[Rich]

We need Carragher still and also shines like a beacon to the local lads that if you work very hard then you could become a legend too.

We should offer him rolling 12month contracts with an automatic trigger to the next 12 months if he plays a certain number of games.

[red g]

it seems to me the question should be 'does carra need liverpool?'

[squaddie]

I love Carra, but the problem i see, is our left/right backs should be able attack without fear of relying on the central defenders to pick up the pieces (Chelsea have got this boxed). He's 'losing his legs' and everyone knows it...... I'd never want to see him leave, but that doesn’t mean we should play him week in week out just to keep hold of him if its detrimental to the squad/performance.

[little dave hedgehog]

i don't think that's a danger squaddie.

rafa will **** him right off if this becomes a real problem.

[squaddie]

Thats not my point tbh.

Carragher would never be a problem for us if he'd be willing to sit on the bench 'now and again'........ Which he isnt.... So as soon as this starts happening he'll be wanting to move on to first team football. Very similar to the Hyppia situation and at the end of the day how could you blame him?

My only worry is there's no defender in our team that has the ability to control that back line the way he does.... Not one that i can think of anyway

[little dave hedgehog]

would probably be good to bring in simon kjaer.