Andy Carroll is expecting a hostile reception from Newcastle United’s travelling fans should he recover from a knee injury in time to face his old club for the first time since his transfer deadline day move to Liverpool.
However his manager, Kenny Dalglish, is adamant the 22 year-old should take any outpouring of fury as a compliment.
It remains unclear whether the England international agitated for a move away from his boyhood club or Newcastle informed him he would be sold when Liverpool tabled their record £35 million bid for Carroll on Jan 31.
Newcastle released a statement on the day explaining their sadness at seeing the player leave after he handed in a transfer request, but in a text exchange with the editor of a Newcastle fanzine, Carroll himself insisted he was “gutted” to be leaving his hometown side and suggested he had been “kind of pushed out the door”.
Whatever the truth, Dalglish revealed on Thursday that Carroll is anticipating that his former fans will make their displeasure at his perceived treachery known at Anfield in the Premier League on Sunday.
However, the Scot believes the most expensive player in Liverpool's history has the character to take it.
“I think the boy is expecting something,” said the Liverpool manager, who will wait until tomorrow before deciding whether Carroll is fit to play.
“The fans will do whatever they want. It will not take away from what he has done for their club and it won’t take away what the club meant to Andy.
“It is a compliment, really, in a strange way, if you do get the abuse because it means you must have been important to them.
“I don’t know what they will do on Sunday but if, as a player, you don’t get abuse off your old supporters then they can’t have been too disappointed that you left.”
Dalglish, on the other hand, is simply delighted with the £35 million signing.
The Scot was confident enough in Carroll’s abilities as a footballer to suggest he is not surprised by what he has seen on the field, but it is clear he has been equally impressed by the personality of a perceived bad boy.
“There has nothing that Andy has done [on the pitch] that has surprised us, but what you don’t know to the same extent is the personality,” said Dalglish.
“If there is one thing that has pleasantly surprised us it is the boy’s personality.
"He is a real down-to-earth boy who sometimes doesn’t realize he is a footballer but that is because he is naive and has his feet firmly fixed on the ground.
“We have been delighted with the way he has gone about his rehabilitation and his performances.”
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