AUDERE EST FACERE: Carrick Makes His Bed
July 26th, 2006 by Alan HylandsAfter Michael Carrick rejected Spurs final offer of a new contract it now looks like the player is making as much of a concerted effort as he can to force the club to sell him. Ungrateful little bastard that he is. Where does the line be drawn between a club (let?s call them Manchester United) making a very public and derogatroy bid for a current England international and first team regular at a Premiership rival and Ashley Cole sneaking out for a coffee with Peter kenyon to tell him that he wouldn?t be adverse to a payrise and a move across London?
When the subject of the low bid then gets his head turned with the thought of that move the player?s current club are left in an impossible position. Spurs CANNOT afford to have another high profile Bosman exit on their hands, we can?t have it financially and for the sake of the club?s morale and the morale of the fans the board can?t allow it. Carrick and Manchester United know this and the snidey buggers have planned it out between themselves to force Spurs into taking a lower than market value price or risk losing ther player for nothing when his contract ends.
I know we can?t afford to take a 15 million pound stand against this practice and force Carrick to see out his time training with the youth team but I would love to see Mr Levy?s old pal Joe Lewis reach into his vast backpocket and tell Levy to make the primadonna sit out the contract that has made his reputation. Spurs have been prepared to make him the highest paid player at the club but that isn?t enough for Carrick and his loyalty to the cause and the club has been put on show for all to see.
Clear out your locker Michael, you are all that is wrong with modern football. Loyalty is dead and after listening to your painful interviews I doubt it?s a high degree of cunning that?s telling you to move. Take the Yankee dollar at Old Trafford, tread water with a club that has seen it?s glory days in recent years and I hope you regret what you?ve done when Spurs are sitting above United in the league next season.
You?ve made your bed with Spurs and you?ve underestimated the club and what they are trying to achieve. Ask Paul Stewart if he thinks he did the right thing over a decade ago when he did the same thing.
You could have been a star Michael.
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July 26th, 2006 at 11:46 am
Remark from a Gooner -
You are right mate -
But there is no loyalty these days. Contract mean nothing and that is why by next wk Carrick will be a Manc and Cole a Chelsea rent boy.
These things happen. Ungrateful, uneducated scum is what these people are…
And for this reason, I gave up on watching AFC a couple of years back. There’s no way I’m paying ludicrous ticket prices to make scumbag players millionaires and then have them turn their backs on us at a whim.
July 26th, 2006 at 11:46 am
Get with it mate, Carrick is leaving for more money and a better chance to win trophies, and why shouldn’t he? If you or I, or anyone reading this post, got a job offer which was better paid with better conditions then we would all take it. Why should Carrick, or Ashley Cole, be any different?
July 26th, 2006 at 11:48 am
Do not believe everything you read in the papers, if they say it’s raining I look out of the window. I have not seen in any paper Carrick come out and say he wants to leave. To say he has turned down the new pay offer is a little premature. He is only just back from vacation. Let’s be patient and wait. If he did want to go Martin will make the decision how and when.
July 26th, 2006 at 11:51 am
Gotta say as a Gooner I kind of sympathise with you guys on this. Isn’t it a coincidence that United made a bid (a very public one) during the WC? I’m sure Rooney, Neville and Ferdinand had nothing to do with turning his head eh?
July 26th, 2006 at 11:57 am
Hi,
Liverpool fan here, Seems as if you have sour grapes here. But to be totally fair to you, you knew that with success the bigger fish of the league were bound to start circling.
To be honest how can Spurs hang onto there best players? You arent a regular in Europe, have never played Champions League football. Why all of a sudden do you think you have the right to mix it with the big boys?
Carrick is doing what any football player would want to do, and that is better himself. Tottenham are never going to be seen in the same breath as Man Utd.
I dont understand why you dont just take the money and run. Jol will probably buy an adequate replacement for a 3rd of the money Utd spend on him. And besides Carrick really isnt worth 15M, Hes nowhere near the quality of certain central midfielders in the Prem.
So I should stop moaning!
July 26th, 2006 at 11:57 am
Listen mate, don’t you think you’re a little over the top there?
How much did Spurs pay West Ham for Carrick? Eh?
Not an awful lot. You’ll get more than 10 mill. from United I imagine, and that’s his true market value. You’ll make a huge profit and get a fair price.
A better price than Chelsea got for Duff. And by some distance.
July 26th, 2006 at 11:59 am
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.poor spurs. oh well that’s life!
July 26th, 2006 at 12:03 pm
That’s a bit strong. You’ve called Carrick an “ungrateful little bastard” on the basis of your assumption, that “it looks like” he’s trying to persuade Spurs to sell him. There could be 20 other reasons why he hasn’t signed the contract.
Let’s wait and see.
July 26th, 2006 at 12:03 pm
I think this is a rather over-the-top post and hopefully you will have to eat some much loved humble pie. I have yet to hear anything but paper talk regarding this move, except that is that both Tottenham and Man Utd have both said they bid and it was rejected. Martin Jol I think has clearly stated, if you are stupid enough to bid ?20 million then well maybe we will consider that. That is if Carrick wants to go. Carrick himself has no need to comment on it, because a)It all happened before the World cup, b)It would only fuel the respect given to bullshit stories made up by the press, and c) If a transfer were to happen it would only cause problems to that end. I for one trust MArtin Jol and Daniel Levy. They wont keep a player if he doesnt want to stay, we all no there is no real loyalty in the game, Ryan Giggs and others exempt, but?20 million is a lot of cash around ?16million profit and we dont need the cash so why not hold out for it.
July 26th, 2006 at 12:03 pm
Sorry but who is saying Carrick rejected a new contract? The press? Don’t believe those lying “let’s make stuff up to sell papers” rats. The only people you should pay any attention to are Carrick, Jol or Levy
July 26th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
Wot a load of crap. If he wants to go to a bigger club let him. If you had been a roadsweeper for 10years and then offered a job as a corporate high flyer I am sure you would turn it down. Muppet.
July 26th, 2006 at 12:09 pm
Carrick = Cole = Filth ….
Cole was shocking as Arsenal are the club he claims he supports. But obviously not since Tweedy turned his head to shiny white suits and the like.
I agree, Man U have unsettled Carrick and a fine player he is too.
July 26th, 2006 at 12:10 pm
this is the funniest period and the most happiest for me this whole summer, we told cole to fcuk off over verbal agreement n chelsea can pay us ?25mil, now spurs fans are crying about the whole situation when they were having a go in the not so distant past, ‘karma’ is such a beautiful thing wuldnt u say hahahaha
July 26th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
Are you kidding me, you idiot???
He is barely worth the ?10m united offered! Are you telling me he is worth 2 times the amount that Zokora is, or more??? Well you might if you are a moron. Oh, and players dont have to negotiate new contracts to stay at their clubs, you know. If he doesnt want to sign a new deal, he doesnt have to. If you think he’s that good, maybe you should have given him a fairer deal to start with.
Claiming this is a low bid trying to get him to ask to leave is nonsense. It is a very fair bid. So yes, the difference b/w this and tapping up is huge, and blatantly obvious (to all but you, it would appear).
“Could have been a star”???? More likely to be one if he does leave!
July 26th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
Derogatroy bid??
6 million offered for the younger Downing of M’brough.
Comparitively, how much is Carrick worth??????
July 26th, 2006 at 12:20 pm
Carrick was bought for considerably less that the figures being bandied about. (2.75 million I think if memory serves me right)
Spurs would in fact lose very little money if he stays and goes in 2 years time on a free if you look at it from that point of view.
It is disappointing that players seem to be only oin the game for the money and as much of it as they can get. Greed is rife in football but often when players do move for the money they end up regretting it later.
If we can get a decent amount and he wants to go let him, but not to Man ure as they will be a rival this year. Ship him off to a foreign club or make him sit out the remainder of his contract either playing to his best standard or else sat in the reserves regretting the foolish way he is behaving now.
C’mon Carrick use some common sense, Spurs are on the up and showing real ambition, Man Ure are not the club they were and you could end up like Sean Wright Philips; sat on the bench earning loads of money but not playing much football. You have enough money but do you love the game or not?
July 26th, 2006 at 12:24 pm
sour graping twat……why dont you feel the same for the other players that have left the club,but oh no because its Carrick.a player is a player they always want to play at the best clubs and face it even if united today is not united of old its still simply bigger than spurs and dont blame a player for wanting to play champions league soccer coz after all you squandered your chance to the lousiest of clubs Ass.all players look forward to playing the champions league so dont blame Carrick for wanting to join united.
and yes i guess you’ve noticed i am saying all this coz i am a proud United fan who wont be too happyif fergie doesnt cash in on some of the remaining standard players
July 26th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
Makes me laugh to hear that from a Tottenham fan - Tottenham invented the derogatory public bid their history is full of ?3M bids for ?8m players.
Just think of Chimbonda, Curtis Davis, etc etc
?12-15m for a player who cost ?2.75m only two years ago, has a history of injury problems at Wet Sham and had only one decent isn’t derogatory!
July 26th, 2006 at 12:43 pm
Carrick has rejected a contract according to who? Some tardy journo desperate for something to write. Why not wait and see what happens b4 jumping on Carrick’s back. He hasnt made any public statements about leaving, nor have Spurs. If I had a pound for every story I read saying Henry had rejected an offer of a contract from Arsenal and was joining Barca, I’d be a rich man.
July 26th, 2006 at 12:46 pm
I think this is a great article. Your dead right about Carrick, I think he’s a great player and I?d love to see him stay and commit to our club. Unfortunately, as you quite rightly point out above he has absolutely no loyalty to Spurs and as far as I’m concerned he can leave, we have cover in his position anyway, I think Tom Huddleston could flourish in the coming years and will get a chance to do so in Carrick’s absence, in the meantime Zokora is a ready made replacement for right now.
I do however think that if United cannot come up with an acceptable offer, between 15-20 million and Carrick chooses not to sign we should make him rot in the reserves all season. This would effect his whole career, the thought of spending 2 seasons in Spurs’ reserves may make him think twice about his options, 2 years where he should be playing some of the best football of his entire career wasted, no England opportunities either.
The problem when a Player has just 2 years left on their contract is that everybody knows that in a years time the player will be worth considerable less and as such it boils down to how much United want him right NOW as to whether we get a fair price, otherwise we will get half his value next year or nothing the year after!
If Carrick had done the right thing and signed a contract extension on improved terms Spurs wouldn?t be in the precarious position we are in today that we know and so does everyone else that next year he is going to be worth so much less which is why in my opinion we should use the only tool we have which is not selecting him in an attempt to force his hand into signing, even if this is with a clause in the contract saying he can leave for x amount of money. That way he would be contracted to us for longer, therefore we wouldn’t be in position where we know that if we don’t sell before start of season he is virtually losing value week by week but if an acceptable offer came in from another club we would have to let him go which isn’t ideal but at least we would get a fair amount for him, he could play for us in the meantime and continue his career.
July 26th, 2006 at 12:50 pm
I missed the word ’season’ after ‘decent’
July 26th, 2006 at 1:01 pm
If you thought Carrick ever wanted to play for Spurs your mistaken. He only went there when the asrenal deal dell thought. Carrick want to play in the chmpions league and Spurs can do that, so he wants to move on.
July 26th, 2006 at 1:07 pm
Carrick cost spurs ?2.75 million, we have 2 choices, let him go now for ?12 to ?15 million and make a huge profit on him (not that we need the money) or make him honour his contract for the next 2 years.
If he goes for nothing at the end of his contract then I dont believe losing a player that cost as little as he did is the end of the world, To get 4 seasons out of him for ?2.75m, whilst progressing the club to higher levels is good buisness. Maybe his heart is elsewhere (or so he thinks) but he would have to keep on performing for 2 more seasons for any other club to even look at him, and by then spurs will be at least level, if not above manyoo and he might even see the light!
I say keep him, what have we got to loose?
July 26th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
Please stop thinking that you are a big club, it really is becoming tiresome. Players go to Tottenham to establish themselves or get their last pay packet. Look at Zokora, he as good as said he would be elsewhere if he had received an offer. Going to Man U or Arsenal or Chelsea etc. is a step up in class. You are mediocre at best, not Champions League material. I would even go as far as saying that staying with you (Ledley King) represents a lack of ambition. As for derogatory bids, you are unsurpassed. You make pathetic bids for every player under the sun, just to kid your stupid fans that you are big boys and are going places. THFC is pathetic.
July 26th, 2006 at 2:03 pm
I sincerely hope this story isn’t true. Following on from the loss of Mido and failing to buy Duff, the failure to retain the brightest prospect in the side would raise uncomfortable questions about whether Spurs really are a club going somewhere. If gives the impression that it’s a stepping-stone club for putting players in the shop window for somone else.
How many more years of mid-table obscurity can be expected?
It’s not an issue of disloyalty of the player at all. It’s an issue of whether Spurs are a club worth staying with once a modicum of success has been sniffed at.
July 26th, 2006 at 2:06 pm
Calm down…I dont see why your getting so worked up over a player who can be easily replaced, with the midfield options we have at the moment we wont miss him at all!! Huddlestone is a natural replacement plus has more to his game in my opinion(he can tackle for one). If Carrick wants to go to Man U then let him, he’s served us well but if his heart isnt in the club then sell him and make a profit. He’s a northerner anyway so is naturally drawn to his roots, no great loss if he goes in my opinion.
July 26th, 2006 at 2:24 pm
Well said KP (and, on the properly reported side, I was very heartened to read the Jermain Defoe quotes).
However, Squiddy, that’s the sort of comment non-Spurs fans seem to expect from Spurs fans. It’s patently obvious that the club and the management have set their eyes well beyond mid-table obscurity. There are particular circumstances surrounding the Mido and Duff situations; and Rome wasn’t built in a day: until we show that we can compete with the likes of Man Ure, we’ll be subject to being raided.
I, for one, however, am more content with the progress at the club and am looking forward to next year
July 26th, 2006 at 2:33 pm
I think Carrick is being a little cheeky. The fact is he was goingto sign for Arsenal until they decided not to sign him and then we came in for me. Seems to me the Geordie lad has very little loyalty and if he wants to play for Mau Utd then sell him. I personally think he is massively overrated..
July 26th, 2006 at 2:37 pm
should read - came in for him (not me obviously)
July 26th, 2006 at 3:40 pm
Carrick can go if he wants, he’s a good player but not world class and this will been shown at ManU. 15m quid would come in handy to buy some new talent and there is enough cover already at Spurs for his position.
Squiddy needs to get updated though as his comments are wrong on just about all counts - Spurs at 5th are a well beyond “mid table obscurity”; Carrick is far from being the brightest prospect in the side - not with Lennon, King, Dawson, Defoe, Zakora, Keane etc; we declined to take up the option on fill-in Mido in favour of signing Berbatov for a bigger fee as he’s a much classier player; and apart from Carrick which other players have used Spurs as a shop window for brighter horizons in the last 5 years? So amongst the dozens of potential players we track but dont end up signing is 30 yr old Chelski reject D. Duff - at 75grand a week he was just not worth signing and given the recent track record at WHL exect the money saved to be used on acquring younger brighter prospects.
July 26th, 2006 at 6:16 pm
Hark at chelski scum fan. the only reason chelski are where they are you twat is that you spent so much money to break into the top four a few years back you nearly went bankrupt, then a mega rich russian bought you and your debts, and is currently buying everyone at overpriced rates by clubs mugging you off because of the sugar daddy russian whilst your pathetic club still runs at a loss. How do you like your club being one mans plaything?! Cant wait till he gets bored, and goes elsewhere and you go under. so funny you chavs on your high horse, i remember when your staff were going round with buckets…’give a pound andsave the bridge’, so dont get all high and mighty. you are not a big club and NO-ONE likes you Chav.
If Carrick goes then he goes he goes, but do NOT sell him to Man Utd. We should not be selling to our rivals when i believe we will be challenging them this year. Besides we have got replacements, so i agree get the best out of the 2.75m player we bought on mediocre wages if that is what he wants for the next two years, and groom huddlestone as his replacement for spurs and england.
July 26th, 2006 at 6:36 pm
And to add to Mikky, Lennon took a pay cut to join Spurs. So there are some good and loyal players, just that if the media reports are true, then Carrick is one of the modern ‘greed’ players. Gone were the days of Matt LeTissier, Steve Perryman….
July 26th, 2006 at 8:45 pm
Yes but the difference is that Ashley Cole is a homosexual……
July 26th, 2006 at 8:47 pm
……….and ARSENAL belong back in South London, hey Wenger leave those kids alone……..
July 26th, 2006 at 8:49 pm
and lets not forget that baggage thief tha Arsebal had.
PS. Donkey Adams now plays piano at the Blue Oyster BAR, Eew aw eew aw eew aw.
July 26th, 2006 at 8:50 pm
…we dont need no education,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
July 26th, 2006 at 10:20 pm
Chelsea Fan:
Excuse me, but your club is a disgrace. A joke, a travelling circus a la New York Cosmos, a freak show. Tell me - why do chelsea players stay at Chelsea? To get a game and better themselves.. no, to bleed your muppet supporters dry to pay their 100K a week salaries while they sit on the bench.. more likely.
Before the windfall, you would not have organically grown into anything but your usual, pitiful, winless, trophyless bunch of hangers-on with no fans to boot in a ramshackle stadium fit only for greyhounds.
You have no class, no history and no honour….. but well done winning the league and all that …. quite a acheivement given your gazillions. You should be ashamed if you dont win every game 10-0 with your money. Must be great being a chelsea fan, then again you probably only have been for a couple of years.
July 26th, 2006 at 10:55 pm
“a chelsea fan”……………Dont you have a name or are you too gutless to leave one.
Absolutely every football fan i know thinks that you lot are a circus, and that your so called club are killing football…………Ok let your filthy lucre buy it but eventually he will become tired of it…………and oh how we will all laugh at your demise.
I F**king hate you lot, No class, No quality, no dignity…..We all despise you.
July 27th, 2006 at 12:12 am
Some of these comments people are making are laughable! Firstly the Liverpool fan that says Spurs are wrong to think they can play with the “big boys”! What a load of rubbish. Chelsea werent big boys until the money was there a few years back and now they are taking teams to the cleaners. If the top four are the only ones that deserve success then why are there other teams??? Second thing I have to point out is that all these people saying about “derogatory bids of 3million etc”… how is 3million derogatory? Why do you think we’re called yids? Because of jewish connections in our history! And what are jewish people commonly known for (despite it being a stereotype too)… knowing the VALUE of money! Football has gone mad with the 20millions being spent here and there like marbles in a playground. Noone is worth that! Spurs are clever with their money as we try to spend less and we sell for more! Thats just good business. And third point; ManUtd, Chelsea and Liverpool are very guilty recently of using the press to unsettle players. ManUtd with Carrick, Chelsea with everyone, ever and Liverpool with Defoe - although that failed as Rafa made a complete prat of himself. Its a dirty tactic nowadays which is ruining loyalty in football. I also disagree with all these people that say if you were a roadsweeper and someone offered you an executive spot, you’d take it! Well, of course you would but they are normal jobs. Football is not. Its a team game where success is won by team work. I admit its a job and you have to think about your future, but to assume you will get more success by changing to a “top four” is conceited and nothing less. Take Rooney for example - he moved to Man Utd and has won what?! No league title, no Champions League title, just a tiny cup or two. WOW SUCCESS!!! What a great move! Well done Rooney, you could of done that with Everton, but they couldnt cos you abandoned them!!! Truth of it is - Carrick will never see success with Man Utd as long as Chelsea have the resources they do. That being said, I dont believe he has rejected this offer yet or said he wants to leave for sure. I’m waiting for official press release on this cos half the reporters out there are obviously filling white space for the sake of filling white space.
July 27th, 2006 at 12:27 am
Oh and one final thing - in Newcastle it really does show how much success can be gained from paying big! Of course you could sign players like Lennon, Dawson, Carrick, Huddlestone, and more for under 3 million and move up to 4th or 5th from mid table in just one season. A note to all Chelsea fans who are belittling Spurs after a minute of success, I would start to worry about 2 things. 1. Whats going to happen when the money runs out and 2. Look at what happened to Real Madrid when they bought all the best ego’s in the world.
Spurs are a big club. There’s no doubt about it. Even Southampton are a big club in the reality of it. A big club is a team that has played most of its days in the top divisions of club football. Superstar clubs are the ones that play europe every year, win things annually and spend carelessly in the market. I wish some of you would stop and think about things carefully before you talk such tripe!
July 27th, 2006 at 5:57 am
This bloke “Chelsea Fan” made me laugh. The words “Chelsea” and “fan” do not belong in the same sentence. I remember being at Stamford Bridge to watch them v Spurs and there were 13000 there and most of them were Spurs supporters. When Roman decides to up anchor and do the off its going to be Leeds United time. Does he honestly think Chelscum would be Champions League material without the money? Any rich geezer can buy success. And what makes me laugh all the more is that Mourinho thinks its all down to him! Jumped-up midget Thunderbird puppet.
July 27th, 2006 at 8:22 am
as much as id like him to stay, i think we have an already made replacement in huddlestone and i also think he would struggle for a place with zokora being an obviously better defensive mid with much better pace!!! we would need to play sum1 pacey that will attack foward!!! and that aint his game although he would still have a chance in the mid wid zokora coz of his great passing vision other then that we could go and buy a left wing , and creative mid (nevded) with the money we will get!!! although we have plenty of cover in the mid i think we need a skillful guy!!! and i think its only fair manure should pay over the odds for him as we dont have to sell him!!! the only regret i have about carrick is sellin mendez for him!!! that guy is class!!!
July 27th, 2006 at 10:06 am
In answer to that rude chelsea fan cussing Spurs:
Yes, it is easy to poke fun out of our team right now. We haven’t had the success of Arsenal or Man utd in recent seasons, but make no mistake, we are a big club.
It all depends on what is meant by ‘big club’. We have a much richer history than Chelsea, far more supporters, a more loyal fan base. We have doubles, european trophies (in fact we were the first british club to win a european trophy and the first club last century to win the double)
I admit that your owner has more money than, well anyone! I admit that you have won more than us in recent seasons. That doesn’t make you a bigger club, just more successful in recent times.
I also notice that most chelsea fans I bump into or come across on sites such as this one seem to be very young or very immature. How long did you support chelsea for? Do you live in West London? Have you ever been there? Idiot.
(I do admit, though, that teasing your local rivals is fair game. That doesn’t stop you being a tnuc, though)
July 27th, 2006 at 10:26 am
Carrick will probably leave, although he should be wary of joining
a team with an average midfield and no ball winner! Michael is a good
player but he will not find the likes of Zakora or King behind him
to mop up his mistakes!
July 27th, 2006 at 11:03 am
Why don’t we wait until he actually does go before laying into him. We seem to be doing our best as fans to drive hm out.
July 27th, 2006 at 1:50 pm
Every person in every profession wishes to be at the top of the pile. However, Carrick is still a Spurs player and until he is not why are you chastising him? If he wants to leave, let him. We have about 10 good central midfielders and believe me Huddlestone has more raw talent than Carrick does and Ghaly has looked very good in the pre-season friendlies - even impressing at right back.
If a rival company came in and promised to double your wages to work for them what would you do? Exactly, so would we all. So stop chatting rubbish about loyalty etc. Nowadays footballers get rich through playing football. Back in the days when you finished playing you still had to work etc to earn a living. There is too much money in the game now but it is not the players fault - it is ours - the fans. At least 10 teams in the Premiership believe they are BIG clubs, yet only 4 teams can reach the promised land of the Champions League. Everything else is seen as failure. If Andy Reid or Anthony Gardner left Spurs would you accuse them of disloyalty? No, you would probably buy some champagne to celebrate.
July 27th, 2006 at 11:04 pm
We arent doing our best to drive him out at all! Most Spurs fans are on the defensive as they are disappointed about losing another potential world beater to a top four club. However all this speculation, all the press and all the talk about it and not a word from him. Not a sausage. Thats not the act of a loyal spurs boy - like Jenas!
I find it interesting how there is lots of talk that we have now accepted a ?15m bid now with a possible rise in number to ?18m for him, from United. Its been a long time coming. It will be a shame… but could this money sort out the more important issues of a good left winger and right back!? Zokora, Jenas, Ghaly, Davids, Murphy, Huddlestone and Tainio will easily make up for lost space; what do you think? Hmm… I thought so. And Jol has even gone on record saying Huddlestone is the BEST passer of the ball he has ever seen, and that was when we had Carrick, so I’m not sweating it! COYS!!!
July 27th, 2006 at 11:24 pm
Speaking as a Utd fan, I think if you guys (Spurs) can get ?15-17m from us for Carrick you should take the money and run. I don’t think Carrick is worth that much in any case, and it’s a great profit on a player that only cost some ?2.7m and is ample money with which to buy a replacement - not that you really need to, what with Martin Jol seemingly intent on stockpiling central midfielders for some reason (do you really need Carrick, Huddlestone, Jenas, Davids, Zokora, Murphy, Ghaly and Tainio?). As for loyalty, I don’t hear any complaints when Spurs cherry-picked Murphy from a smaller club - where he was a regular and one of the best players - to sit on the bench at White Heart Lane, and it’s a bit rich to be angry at Carrick (who’s not from the area nor is a Spurs fan) when other players go on to what they believe are better clubs all the time. It’s football, it happens. Anyway, to be honest I think you got the better deal with Zakora…he’s one heck of a player.