I'd gone stale at West Ham, says Carroll

  • by Staff Writer
  • Saturday, 21st December 2019

Andy Carroll says that it was important for the sake of his career that he left West Ham United last summer.

The oft-injured striker returned to his home town club last summer after seven years in east London having made just 73 starts for the Hammers during that period.

And speaking to the Daily Mail, Carroll claimed that he had hit the blocks at West Ham - necessitating a move elsewhere in order to kick start his career.


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"I had good times at West Ham but I needed to get out," he said. "It had gone stale. The minute I woke up I didn't want to speak to anyone. I was so angry with myself, my ankle, at not playing.

"When I went out, people wanted to talk about football and I just couldn't handle it. I stayed in on my own. Then I was going upstairs when people were downstairs. I was like, 'Get everyone out the house, I don't want anyone here!'

"I was in a dark place. It was hard to snap out of and it wasn't until I was on the A1 driving back up here [to Newcastle] that I was like, 'This is it, I can start enjoying life again'."

Carroll also revealed that he has little time for West Ham's "bitter" vice chair Karren Brady, who used her heavily-criticised tabloid newspaper column to question his commitment to the club during his lengthy spell in London.

"Some of the things I could say about her… It's madness," he said. "It was ridiculous, completely ridiculous.

"I've spoken to her about five times. But that's Karren Brady, I'm not bothered what she says. We beat them then she says that. She never said that in the seven years I was there. She's just bitter. Let her get on with it."


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The big striker - like numerous players before him - also claimed that his rehabilitation from injury was often hampered by bad advice from the club's appointed medical staff.

"My last game at West Ham I played with a broken ankle," he insisted. "I'd been told it was fine even though I was in so much pain I thought, 'I just can't do this any more'.

"I had one operation and the screws came loose. Unheard of. The next one, the fracture opened again because the screws still weren't tight enough.

"So I went to a new surgeon. This time the screws were bigger but they realised the ankle ligaments were frayed on the outside. It hadn't been spotted for two years!

"I should have gone to Wickes and got a big bag of screws before those consultations! But my latest surgeon was excellent. He repaired everything. That's nine months now and no problems."

You may read the entire interview with Carroll at the Mail Online.

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