Andy Carroll has hit out at
Brendan Rodgers for being two-faced ahead of
West Ham United's clash with
Liverpool on Saturday.
Carroll was at Liverpool when Rodgers replaced Kenny Dalglish in 2012, but did not feature in the new boss' plans and was sent on loan to Upton Park before sealing a permanent switch a year later.
And the 26-year-old striker says he lost respect the Northern Irishman after he was lied to over his role in the team - being told one thing face-to-face and the opposite on the phone.
“With Brendan Rodgers, there was a lot going on,” the England international told
The Times.
“What he was saying to me and what was actually happening [were different things]. He was telling me one thing to my face, then I’d leave the training ground and he would ring me and tell me a completely different thing.
“He would say: ‘You’re going to play every week, you’re going to play every game up front with [Luis] Suárez’. I’d leave and get home and he would ring me and say: ‘Fulham and West Ham want you and I think it’s best you should go.’ I had just had a conversation with him 10 minutes ago. So I would go back and see him and he would say the opposite again.
“It was the same thing round and round and round. On phone calls, it was: ‘I think you should go.’ To my face it was: ‘You’ll start every week’. It was mixed messages. He was messing with my head. I lost respect for him, to be honest.
“Another example: I went to Hearts for the [Europa League qualifier]. I got up there. He said I was starting. I woke up in the morning and he came in and said: ‘I think you’ve got a hamstring problem, you’re not going to start.’ I said my hamstring was fine. He said I’d be on the bench. I got to the ground and I wasn’t even on the bench. I was the only one missing out.
“It was just messing me about. I was angry. I knew it was time to go. I thought I just want to play football. I didn’t need this. Under Brendan I knew I was never going to play, with what he was saying to me.
