BACK in August I blogged about my admiration for the indomitable Lee Carsley after he turned down an offer from Wigan to give us one last season of tough-tackling, astute passing and the occasional, timely screamer.
It’s well on record that Carsley is a top bloke and his down-to-earth modesty and self-depreciating humour is a rarity among top flight footballers.
But it’s important that the 'Mr Nice Guy' tag is never misinterpreted as patronising because, above everything else, Super Lee was a vital member of teams which finished seventh, fourth, sixth and fifth. Like I said in August, Cars has been every bit a simportant to us as Mascherano is to Liverpool and Essien to Chelsea.
Oh, and he was never afraid to have a shot - even when better strikers of the ball were going missing. They weren't always on target but, oh, when he connected....
So I believe Cars is very much our loss and Birmingham’s gain - although when I was lucky enough to chat to him at Finch Farm before the Newcastle game it became clear he had already made up his mind.
The decision to leave came down solely to being closer to his little lad Connor and being a proper family again with his wife Louise and the other kids.
During our chat a guy from the Irish Sunday Times was genuinely puzzled about why Carsley did not look for another Premier League club who would surely offer him two years.
His answer summed up why he will be remembered so fondly. “It might sound like a cliche,” he said. “But once you’ve played for Everton that’s it. I wouldn’t want to play for another Premier League team.”
That’s not to say he won’t put as much unflinching effort into getting Brum back in the Prem, but you could tell he meant it.
Anyway, thanks for eveything Cars. Here's a few reasons why he was a hero (Youtube doesn't do him justice by the way).
On a different note. Echo football jury panellist and Paddock nark Tony Scott reckons reports linking us with an 18m Euro bid for Brazilian forward Jo are from a long line of red herrings (season ticket promos which the club willingly peddles) along the lines of Lucho Gonzalez, Juan Roman Riquelme, Michael Owen, Chris Sutton, Alan Shearer etc..
I’m not so sure, or cynical (God Knows Why), as Tony but I can see where he’s coming from.
What do you reckon?
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stephen hawkins football boots wrote...
Everton have broken the transfer record in the last 3 seasons with James Beattie - premiership proven with Southampton, Andy Johnson - premiership proven with Crystal Palace and Yakubu - premiership proven with Boro and Portsmouth !
What im getting at here is I cant see Everton's board giving Moyes 18 million pound on a 21-year-old untried centre forward, can you?
Ive read that Tony Scott fella before in the jury panel and he talks sense most of time too !
Posted by: stephen hawkins football boots | May 21, 2008 10:57 AM