Carew signs for stoke on loan

[Fin Feds Dad]

When he first came he was tremendous - and we have seen some great performances including blues 5 - 1 at home and reading away.

But

every club he has been to he has started off superbly and then fading away (perhaps he is a bit of a nomad), getting caught out the night before our biggest european night in years and his attitude at times has took the shine off things for me.

A very good friend of mine also had the misfortune of bumping into him on a train one evening on the way back from a match - complete twat apparantly.

Oh well, good luck in 'Duck City' Big John - score a few against our rivals please.

[KevinGage]

Would have liked to see him with Bent at some stage, you never know, it might have got him fired up again.

Truth be told, we haven't seen the best of him since 2009.

His game changed following the back injury that he struggled with midway through that season (which he apparently still has). Before that, he was a menace to centre backs, even if he wasn't scoring. John Terry and Micah Richards both listed him as the toughest opponent they had faced.

After that, he went in for the physical stuff much less and opted to ghost into the penalty area and cause havoc that way. Some outrageous goals versus Stoke at home,  Everton away and Reading in the cup giving some kind of indication of what he could do when on song.

He hasn't been at the races this season, but has given us four decent years overall (OK probably more like three and a bit) so good luck.

[tremzvillain]

versus Stoke at home

That was a cracker. I always liked Carew, thought he was the first 'proper' striker we'd signed in ages when he came here.

[TaxDodger]

To be honest if he'd been as good as he could have been he'd probably have ended up at somewere like Real Madrid and we'd never have seen him at Villa Park.

[Ads]

You can only take the piss like he did if you’re an exceptional talent. And he wasn’t.

[ozzjim]

To be honest if he'd been as good as he could have been he'd probably have ended up at somewere like Real Madrid and we'd never have seen him at Villa Park.

The margin that separates the good premiership player from the great is consistency of performance matching the talent. Carew was as talented as any centre forward in Europe for the last 10 years, but his consistency level was about at our level. Bent is the reverse, talent at our level, consistency at the top, similar to Andy Cole for example, and as such a better comodity to move us forward. Will always love big John for some of the memories, the songs, the goals, but for 12 months he has been gone. If he were a racehorse they would have shot him by now, or put him out to stud, unfortunately John took the latter option upon himself and hasn't been interested in football.

Now go big John, John Carew, score some goals for Stoke to send West Ham, Blues, Albion, Wigan, Fulham etc crashing down. Oh and if you play Blackpool, I hope you have a particularly good day!

[supertom]

All good things must come to an end. I loved Big John. Loved him right up until the point this season started and he just didn't look up for it. But before then, he was unpredictable. That made him frustrating as hell, but always compelling to watch, and able to produce something from nothing. He was mercurial, and I can't help but like having those sort of live wire players around. More often than not they look disinterested, but every now and again just look like world beaters...must be how Toon fans felt about Tino Asprilla.

[usav]

My kids will be gutted. They love him

Snap - they used to sing the John Carew song in the bath.

[Toronto Villa]

To be honest if he'd been as good as he could have been he'd probably have ended up at somewere like Real Madrid and we'd never have seen him at Villa Park.

The margin that separates the good premiership player from the great is consistency of performance matching the talent. Carew was as talented as any centre forward in Europe for the last 10 years, but his consistency level was about at our level. Bent is the reverse, talent at our level, consistency at the top, similar to Andy Cole for example, and as such a better comodity to move us forward. Will always love big John for some of the memories, the songs, the goals, but for 12 months he has been gone. If he were a racehorse they would have shot him by now, or put him out to stud, unfortunately John took the latter option upon himself and hasn't been interested in football.

Now go big John, John Carew, score some goals for Stoke to send West Ham, Blues, Albion, Wigan, Fulham etc crashing down. Oh and if you play Blackpool, I hope you have a particularly good day!

great post Ozz and exactly how I feel. I don't really know why this is but I will be gutted when he scores his first goal for Stoke, or when we watch highlights and he's just battered another defender. We all know he won't do it consistently, but when he'll be in the mood he'll be superb for them. Thanks for the memories Big John.

ps. I assume being on loan he can't play against us?

[OzVilla]

Despite his last year with us, swapping Baros for Carew was probably one of the best value for money signings we've made over the last 10 years.

On his day defenders just couldn't handle him - on his off day they didn't need to.  Clearly gained extra kudos for his song and tearing Blose a new one a few times.

I'll chose to remember those good times.

Good luck big man.

[barrysleftfoot]

   I always felt JC always had a lot more in the locker.

   When he 1st come, i thought what a great player we had, we relied so much on him, but his performances, and commitment , for me , got less and less.

  In the end , for me , he was a liability, little effort, little ability, little threrat.Not sorry to see him go tbh.

[Mike Jeffries]

Stoke still to play:

Fulham (a)
SHA (a)
Stripey Black Country lot (h)
West Ham (a)
Wolves (h)
Wigan (h) Last game of the season.

Play for your next move in these particular games please John, and the memory could be a little fonder!

There were some good times and thanks for those.

[bentshouldbe9]

He was immense when he 1st started with us but apart from the odd game changing performance he has never been the same since the titty bar incident :-(. Good luck bug John

[TheSandman]

Unplayable on his day, unwatchable when it wasn't his day.

A good player who gave us some good times. I'd like to wish him all the best in his future endeavours apart from when they are against us.

[myf]

He let us down this year big time.  Trying to play the fans against the manager when he simply could not give a shit.  I won't be sad to see him gone.  The words of the Lyon owner a few years back have actually turned out to be true - he is a lazy bastard.  Anyone who declares themselves unfit to play for my club can get fucked.

Good luck in the Hanley strip joints John.