Why didn’t anyone try to sign me?

Posted Sunday, May 19, 2013 by thesun.co.uk

Mr Livepool went through 16 years without being linked

BAFFLED ... Jamie Carragher is at a loss as to why no club attempted to buy him

JAMIE CARRAGHER will head into retirement tonight puzzled by one burning question — why didn’t any other club ever try to sign him?

During his 16 years at Anfield, Carragher has never been linked with a move to another club and says he was never told of any outside interest.

For a man considered good enough to play 736 times for Liverpool — make that 737 after today’s game against Queens Park Rangers — that is bordering on the bizarre.

And Carragher, 35, seemed almost hurt by the fact as he reflected on his career as a one– club man.

He said: “I never really had the option to leave — I don’t know whether it was a good thing or bad thing. Maybe no-one rates me!

“I’ve never even been close. My agent has never rang me up and said, ‘This team fancy buying you’. Not once.

“Maybe I was always seen as ‘Mr Liverpool’, I suppose. You’ll have to ask different managers. But I’d never have left in any circumstances.

“Maybe those managers realised that. Or, like I said, they just didn’t fancy me.

“And I can’t say I ever thought about leaving when I wasn’t in the side. You have good times and bad times at your club.

“It’s like being a supporter. You don’t stop supporting your team because of a bad run.

“And we’ve had some great times here, won some big trophies. So I feel lucky and privileged.”

Carragher insists the good times will come back and believes the Kop will be patient with Brendan Rodgers as long as the club is moving in the right direction.

He added: “The Liverpool supporters are very knowledgeable and understand where the club is at the moment.

“First and foremost, we have to to try to get back in the top four rather than starting the season talking about titles.

“And then you go from there. You get extra revenue to improve your team again.

“Just because you get into the top four doesn’t mean you are going to stay there. There’s that much competition in the league to get into those places.

“The first step is to get into those Champions League places and attract players.

“But people talk about me retiring without winning a Premier League winner’s medal, and ask whether the same thing could happen to Steven Gerrard.

“And I’d have to say if Steven was only going to play for another two years, the chances are he wouldn’t win one either. That is because it’s going to take a while for us to contend again.

“But Steven Gerrard could be around for another four or five years with the way he looks after himself and the help of the sports science team.

“So if you’re talking about him being here for that long, then why not?”

The former England ace grins at the suggestion people would have paid good money to put him in the same small room as his future Sky Sports colleague, Gary Neville, during their playing heyday.

Their personal rivalry often seemed just as intense as the deep–rooted one between their clubs.

And Carragher does not rule out the possibility of old animosities resurfacing.

He said: “Gary’s been really good on the TV, hasn’t he?

“I’m sure Gary and I will come up against each other.

“You have been through where you are fighting for your club but I think, when you stop playing, you put aside those rivalries a bit.

“You stay a supporter of your club, of course, but that competitive edge and aggression is not as intense.

“But it might all kick off again, who knows!”