Andy Carroll: “I went in and asked him (Chris Hughton) for it.
“We had a couple of days off and when we come back in again the manager pulled me aside and gave it to me.
“I grew up watching Shearer. That was the shirt I wanted to wear as a boy.”
All well and good, but what about the conversation BEFORE that?
When Hughton reminded Carroll that "no-one at the club was worthy of it", and the youngster had a CV like a train crash!
Carroll was sent home from the England Youth camp in Holland in disgrace for reasons that were swept under the carpet.
He was sent on loan to Preston North End, who sent him back!
He had more than one brush with the law, allegedly 'smacked' his girlfriend, was locked up TWICE, broke Steven Taylor's jaw over a text message, hit a guy with a bottle in a nightclub, etc, etc, etc.
And the only reason Hughton gave him the shirt was to get him to sign a new contract - and two months after signing a 5-year deal he slaps in a transfer request.
Yes, life is a bundle of laughs with Andy Carroll.
And how long before he gets locked up on Merseyside?
I'll give him 'til Christmas.
