Houllier slams 'stupid' Carew!

[Dribbler]

In my opinion Houllier is completely right to say that Carew, or any player, should have to work hard to prove they are due another contract. He said the same about Reo Coker and i don't remember him throwing his toys out of the pram.

And as for the following:

"If he wants me to fight for a contract, he should speak to me directly and not through the media," said Carew in VG.

"This is disrespectful to me and to the fans who sing my name week in week out."

Who does he think he is? That just makes him sound like an egotistical idiot who thinks he just has to turn up and wave to the fans occasionally to pick up his nice £50k or so a week. He'll be gone soon, too inconsistent, too injury prone, too old, too expensive and too big for his boots.

I've always liked Carew, he was a good swap and he's had some good periods at the club but I don't think we could ever really afford to have him and Heskey in the squad, and say what you like about Heskey but I think his attitude, commitment and work ethic have never been in question.

I think it was odds on that Carew was always going to the first casualty of the Houllier regime. No doubt Houllier's previous words about players having to be professional and stay away from night clubs (or lap dancing clubs) would have been partially aimed at him too. I think Carew probably sets a bad example to the younger players at the club in that regard as well. 

John Carew, Carew,
It's time to say adieu,
Because you know Hou,
He's bigger than me or you.

[eastie]

Bang on dribbler- excellent post!

[Risso]

Sorry, but there's very little that feels right about the club at the moment.

[rutski]

I'm with Gerard on this one. Methinks Carew's days are numbered.

I posted a couple of weeks ago that in the case of Carew it should be good riddance to bad rubbish and got called an idiot by a few.

The blokes attitude is a fucking disgrace and how on earth he has been elevated to a cult hero is beyond me.

Andy Gray - yes
Brain little - yes
paul mcgrath - yes
birchy - yes

Carew - my fucking arse

Birch? A Villa legend? An average player who ran around a lot and tried really hard. And you have him up there with McGrath, Little and Gray. Crikey.

i agree birch is no villa legend, well liked and the fans loved his attitude!
As for John Carew, i thought on his day he could have been whatever he wanted to be, but i would also bracket him with Dalian Atkinson for potential!

[stevenjos]

Fairly clear that Houllier is a great motivator!

[dave.woodhall]

Fairly clear that Houllier is a great motivator!

And I'm sure Luke, Reo Coker, Albrighton, Heskey, Bannan and Clark agree.

[Karl Bridges]

Ireland certainly looked fired up today.

[JD]

I'm with Houllier here. Carew has felt unwell and had niggling injuries over the past couple of weeks. Just how injured is he? He does need to earn a new contract and there is nothing wrong with Houllier saying so.
I just don't think Carew has the motivation to do so.

[Karl Bridges]

IMO even if we had offered him a new deal he would be off. He can negotiate a nice Bosman from 1st Jan and I think that he would have gone regardless of this. One big last pay day.

[Leighton]

How dare anybody criticise Carew. He's got a good song that the fans love to sing about him...

[Bottom Right 89]

I heard Marc Albrighton on the radio say "the gaffer told us to go out and forget what happened in training" - Did Big John just damge his calf in the week or did it kick off Reo-Coker style?

Either way I don't think Carew has been fully fit for over a year now - definitely time for him to move on but I will not be giving him wanker signs for a few misguided comments, he's been a good player for us on the whole and scored a few goals.

[PeterWithe]

"If he wants me to fight for a contract, he should speak to me directly and not through the media," said Carew in the media.

I would have thought that Houllier has been around too long to make this kind of comment, why it cant have been done out of the glare of the media I dont know. Whatever you think of Carew, alienating him when he's the only nearly fit forward we have seems a bit avoidable.

[Dave]

Hilts is right on this - the original comments were completely innocuous.

Since then both Carew's reaction and Houllier's follow-up do absolutely nothing to help anyone.

[Somniloquism]

Hilts is right on this - the original comments were completely innocuous.

Since then both Carew's reaction and Houllier's follow-up do absolutely nothing to help anyone.

Unfortunately GH does seem to get into stupid press fuelled feuds. His comments on Ginola and Liverpool' progress after he left show that.

[darren woolley]

Like it's been said on here many times on his day brilliant but he is rarely seen playing like that now i do think he needs to up his game i agree he should have to work for a new contract like Dribbler said.