Has announced his retirement come the end of the season. He is a rarity in the modern game, a one club man who always gave his all for the football club he initially joined as a striker. I am no great lover of Liverpool FC but have always admired the unstinting devotion given the club by its fans and some long serving players. Carragher has played over 700 first team games and I suspect that Stephen Gerrard will also retire having spent an entire career at Liverpool.
Good luck in your retirement Jamie, see you (probably) on the skysports pundits couch
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Comments
Doesn't matter how much money you earn or what level you're playing at - to be at one single club for 26 years without showing desire to go anywhere else deserves the highest level of respect in the game.
'I've got two brothers who find it hard to work in Liverpool in this Capital of Culture year. One of the reasons is we've made it too easy for all those foreigners to come here and take our jobs.'
[...] Liverpool teammate Rigobert Song:
'He strolled off to all his French speaking friends and began talking to them. I could see him pointing towards me while everyone was grinning. It was clear what he was saying and the rage inside me simmered.
'Later, Song walked on to the training pitch with a smile on his face. He was limping off it with a grimace an hour later. The first chance I got, I did him. Never have I hunted down a 50-50 tackle with greater appetite
"You're not f***ing laughing now are you, you soft t**t?" I said as he hobbled away.
'Did I care he had a knock? No way. I don't remember him or anyone else in the squad for that matter trying to take the **** out of my ability again.'
When my leg was broken in an horrific tackle by Lucas Neill in September 2003, my mates were ready to hunt him down if I gave the go-ahead.
A few weeks later I received a phone call. “You won’t believe this, Jay. We’re in the Trafford Centre and Lucas Neill is walking straight towards us. What do you reckon?”
Did I really want Neill to take a crack? “There’s only one problem,” added the voice. “Little Davey Thommo is with him.”
That was that. I could hardly let one of my best mates, David Thompson, now a Blackburn player, become a witness to an assault. Besides he’d have recognised the attackers. The impromptu mission was aborted and I sent a text to Thommo telling him Neill should give him a hug of thanks.
As word got back to Blackburn about the near miss, or should that be hit, their coach Terry Darracott, a Scouser, appealed to one of my friends to call the boys off. I agreed.
Point
Point C) I think you're entitled to feel aggrieved when someone has "done" you like Neill did. Have you seen the tackle? Was no more cowardly than the planned retribution (not that it happened).
That said 700 plus games at the top tier of the domestic game is deserving of respect given the pressures on a club like Liverpool to buy in high profile players.
He has done well to survive.
Decent pro and good player.
At the end of the day, loyalty is loyalty - doesn't matter what level you are at.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritchie_Humphreys