Rodgers regrets Carroll departure, considers Owen return
Football News Roundup – 3/9/12
Brendan Rodgers admits he would not have let Andy Carroll go out on loan if he knew the England striker wasn't going to be replaced. A frustrating transfer deadline day for Liverpool saw Spurs snatch top target Clint Dempsey, and the club struggled to find goals yesterday as they succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at home to Arsenal.
The Mail reports that Rodgers is now considering a move for Michael Owen, who has been without a club since leaving Manchester United at the end of last season. But Liverpool face stiff competition from both Sunderland and Stoke, who are also rumoured to be interested in the player.
It was an even more bitter result for Rodgers as Carroll shined in West ham's 3-0 thrashing of Fulham. The one sour note in an impressive debut performance for the 23 year old was that he pulled his hamstring in the 68<sup>th minute, an injury which boss Sam Allardyce fears could keep him out for over a month. That news is bad not just for the Hammers, as it means Carroll could miss England's first four world cup qualifiers against Moldova, Ukraine, San Marino and Poland.
Manchester City maintained their unbeaten start with an unconvincing 3-1 win against QPR. Assistant manager David Platt admitted the reigning champions were not up to speed:
"I don't think we are playing as well as we did at the start of last season, you know, when we were blowing teams away."
One person who was watching the game intently on Saturday was Jose Mourinho, whose Real Madrid side play City in the Champions League. One of their last minute signings was that of Chelsea star Michael Essien on loan, and the 29 year has an affectionate name for his former manager.
"Everything went very fast because I was at my hotel room yesterday afternoon and I had the call from my daddy and then he said he would love to have me here and you know I would never said no to him because he was the one who brought me to Chelsea when he was there. So as soon as he said it I just said to him yes I'm always ready to come to him and that is what happened."
Nice to see a father-son reunion, but City will be hoping to break up the family affair when the two sides meet on 18 September.
Written and presented by Alfred Joyner