Andy Carroll had a quiet transfer deadline day.
Kelvin Herrera Authentic Jersey . He trained, prepared himself for his first home start of the season and got rid of some overdue baggage, finally shaving off his overgrown beard. It was three years to the day since he was the most expensive British signing in history. January 31st, 2011 changed the Gateshead lad forever. Playing and scoring goals for his boyhood club, Newcastle United, Carroll was enjoying the dream life - on the pitch. Off it was a constant battle. That Andy Carroll came with some serious baggage. Multiple assault charges finally saw him granted bail on the condition of him moving to a permanent residence, rather than a hotel. Newcastle teammate Kevin Nolan took him in and put a curfew on Carroll to help him stay out of trouble. "I said he could stay, I cleared it with the Mrs, of course, first, Nolan later reflected. She was down in Liverpool a lot of the time so we were like roommates. He was a pretty good cook. Pasta with tomatoes, chicken; things like that." On the field, Nolan wanted nothing changed and loved making runs from midfield to get on the end of a knockdown by the big striker. Back at the family home, issues around Carroll continued when his car was set on fire in the driveway and graffiti was written all over the garage door. The Nolan family stuck by him as the midfielder revealed to the Guardian, back in 2010: "Andy has got to be indoors for 10.30pm and he has got to be in bed by 11pm. Wed already got the kids on curfews, so its no trouble to enforce.What I have learnt about Andy, though, is that hes always asleep at the wrong time, like when I get him up early to do the school run with me. He gets up at 10 to eight and we leave at five past. We then have our breakfast at the training ground. I dont know if he likes it but thats the way it is." Carroll would later see the assault charges dropped and as he moved out of the Nolan household, he did with much less baggage. Nolan told the Daily Mirror in 2012: "When you look back on it now, it was bizarre him staying with us, but it worked. In our family, thats what we do for our friends. Ive been brought up like that by my mum and dad. "I know Andy was very grateful for what we did for him, thats why were so close. He has his family there for him but sometimes you need other people as well." Carrolls 35 million pound move to Liverpool in 2011 was called a dream move by Nolan, who was obviously delighted for his mate, but the dream soon turned out to be a nightmare for Carroll. It was not a move that came too soon for him. It was simply a move that should never have come at all. Liverpool captured the Englishman on the day they let Fernando Torres leave. The 35 million pound figure they paid was never what Carroll was worth. It was simply a number Newcastle, on the final day of the transfer window, would allow their goal scorer to leave for. Incredibly, Liverpool took the bait and Carrolls life changed forever. Sure, there were some good moments, such as scoring the winner at Wembley over Everton in the FA Cup semifinal, but there were some tough moments too and when Kenny Dalglish was replaced by Brendan Rodgers as manager, it was only a matter of time that Carroll would be moved on. Nineteen months after signing at Anfield, Carroll was reunited with Nolan, this time down south at West Ham, agreeing to a season-long loan. "He has learned so much. There is a different lad standing in that dressing room now. There is a man who can look after himself and do the right things on a daily basis," Nolan said. Carroll did enough last season to convince the Hammers to pay Liverpool 15 million pounds and hand the striker a new six year contract. Except, once again, Carroll came with baggage, this time in the case of a heel injury that he picked up on the final day of last season against Reading. The injury proved to be far worse than original thought and with Carroll out for months; West Ham struggled badly, causing many to panic, including the clubs co-owner David Sullivan. "Had we known he would be out for this long, we would not have signed him," Sullivan told the BBCs Football Focus in December. "We are not a rich enough club to deal with that. You know any player can get injured, but we cant buy a player knowing he is going to be out for half the season. When we signed him we were assured by the medical staff that the very, very latest he would be back was September 1st. That would have meant he would only miss two league games." Sullivan has every right to look after his investments but it seemed a bizarre thing to say publicly. Even if he privately believed it, it is not as if the money spent on Carroll could have gone on another player who would have instantly changed the clubs fortunes. You only have to look at the long list of strikers bought for a lot of money, in the Premier League, to know many do not work out. Injury or no injury, that label is yet to be attached to the now 25-year-old Carroll. The jury still remains out on what he can actually become. On Saturday he started his second game of the season, at home to Swansea, and in the first half showed exactly why West Ham wanted to spend that amount of money on him. Carroll was magnificent, finding pockets of space to hold up the ball and supply wide men, choosing his battles in between Chico Flores and Dwight Tiendalli, to regularly win aerial duels, and then winning two significant headers that set up the games two goals, in a 2-0 West Ham win. The beneficiary? Nolan of course. Like Carroll, the 2013-14 season had been a season to forget so far for the Hammers captain but he had no injury to blame for his torrid campaign. Nolan scored 10 goals from midfield last season and had been expected to score regularly again this season but, heading into Saturday, the 31-year-old had as many league red cards as goals this season (2). After the second red card, against Fulham in December, manager Sam Allardyce had seen enough, fining him two weeks wages (100 thousand pounds), saying: "Our captain was irresponsible. Not just today but for the future because he is suspended. Hes let everyone down and himself. I just dont quite understand where hes lost his cool and why its happened." Nolan sat out seven games through suspension but on Saturday he was reunited with his mate, playing just behind Carroll, giving West Ham fans what they hope to be a glimpse at the partnership that can keep their team in the Premier League this season. Except, once again more baggage comes with Carroll. In the second half on Saturday he was sent off for extending a wild arm to Chico Floress head. Allardyce called it an injustice and plans to appeal against it but if that is unsuccessful Carroll will again sit out for three more games. Once Carroll returns he will have gone nine months without playing a full 90 minutes. He will have three months to not only play a pivotal role in saving West Hams season but also attempt to get on Roy Hodgsons England plane to Brazil. At the moment he appears to be completely off Hodgsons radar but in just 45 minutes on Saturday he showed why he should be more than just considered if he can play regularly. Carroll offers something completely different to the England manager, who has enough quick forwards looking to get in behind a defensive line. Carroll showed against Sweden in Euro 2012 that he can be a real handful for international defenders if the quality of the deliveries into the box is high. West Ham became the final Premier League team to score a headed goal this season on Saturday and if they can improve their crosses and get Carroll heavily involved down the stretch then do not rule out the forward making an unlikely late, successful attempt at the 23rd and final player seat on the plane to Brazil. Time is certainly running out but if Carroll can remove the personal baggage, he may well be packing his own baggage to the World Cup.
Yordano Ventura Jersey . Ibrahimovic put PSG ahead when he got in front of his marker to neatly flick in Lucass cross in the 59th minute. New signing Yohan Cabaye came on as a second-half substitute and headed Ezequiel Lavezzis cross against the post in the 87th. Moments later, Lucas set up another goal from the right when fellow countryman Alex turned in his corner with a strikers finish.
Bo Jackson Jersey . The two-time Olympic halfpipe gold medallist informed ESPN on Monday he plans to compete in Apsen, Colo.TORONTO – Watching Brett Cecil pitch, its difficult to imagine that just a little more than a year ago, a group of reporters approached his locker stall in Dunedin to ask if hed cracked the 2013 lineup. Whats happened since - an All-Star appearance and a 2.82 ERA in 60 appearances last season and a perfect run over his first 10 outings (eight-and-two-thirds innings) this season - is special. There was Cecil on Tuesday, called upon by manager John Gibbons in the seventh inning of a 3-3 game with the Blue Jays in a jam, bailing out his team once again. The Orioles had runners on second and third with one out. Cecil walked slugging left-hander Chris Davis before striking out Adam Jones and Steve Clevenger. The clutch performance paved the way to a six-run eighth and Toronto beat the Orioles 9-3, winning the opening game of a fourth-consecutive series. “Just trying to make good pitches,” said Cecil. Cecil is a native of Dunkirk, Maryland. He went to the University of Maryland and served as the Terrapins closer in his sophomore year of 2006, saving 13 games to set a school record. His success as a reliever in college prepared him for the role hes tasked with now. “I knew right off the bat once I moved to the ‘pen that it wouldnt take long,” said Cecil. “Ive done it before and it worked out in the past and it sure has now.” GIBBONS APPROACH TO BULLPEN Entering Tuesdays action, the Blue Jays had received 103 2/3 innings in 19 games from their starting pitchers, an average of between five-and-a-third and five and two-thirds innings per outing. Toronto will need more from its starting five and the sooner the better. After this coming Mondays off day, the Blue Jays will begin a stretch in which they have one day off between April 29 and June 1. Manager John Gibbons tries to balance the short-term and long-term consequences of each decision. “I mean, youve got to think long-term, but youre trying to win that game, too,” said Gibbons. “If theyre fresh you go to them … You want (starters) to go deeper into the game, but if they start to lose it or start to tire out because of the pitches or whatever it is, you look at the lineup or what youre facing, youre trying to hold that game in check.” Youll start to see more of J.A. Happ, Esmil Rogers and Todd Redmond in the fifth and sixth innings in games if the starters dont get deep. The specialists at the back-end of the bullpen cant be the daily option. “If you wear them down too much, those guys arent going to be probably effective later, anyway,” said Gibbons. “Thats why youre going to need some other guys to step up and get some big outs in the sixth, maybe the seventh.” In the last two seasons, 13 of the 20 playoff teams have had staffs that averaged six or more innings per start. The worst, Cleveland, averaged just better than five-and-two-thirds innings per start last season. The Blue Jays, in the earlly going of 2014, are averaging about an out fewer per start than the Indians of last year.
Frank White Jersey. If that doesnt seem like much, prorate that stat over 162 games. Youre asking your bullpen to get 162 more outs over the course of the season. INJURED JANSSEN IN TORONTO Casey Janssen rejoined his teammates in Toronto on Tuesday after his minor-league rehab assignment was halted. The strain in his abdominal/back area, near his oblique, hasnt improved to the point where Janssen is comfortable continuing to appear in games. He threw an inning for Single-A Dunedin a week ago Tuesday, allowing a hit and striking out one. “To be clear, it wasnt a setback,” said Janssen. “We realized it wasnt going to heal doing what I was doing. So instead of putting our foot on the gas, we had to take it off a bit and listen to my body a little bit more.” Janssen played catch before Tuesdays game with the Orioles. The plan is to throw a bullpen session in Toronto later this week and, if hes feeling better, Janssen will go back out on a rehab assignment. “Thats the frustrating part. Im not in pain,” said Janssen. “I mean theres a little bit of annoyance in there and the thing was, as long as you werent in pain, to keep progressing. So I didnt have symptoms of pain, but realizing that the swelling wasnt going to go away and Im in more jeopardy of maybe reinjuring, either that or somewhere else because Im compensating, we added it all up and it didnt make sense.” The Blue Jays bullpen, usually reliable, had two hiccups toward the end of the just-completed road trip through Baltimore, Minnesota and Cleveland. A six-run, eight-walk eighth inning turned a 5-3 lead into a 9-5 deficit in Thursday nights loss to the Twins. On Sunday, three walks and a bases-clearing double in the sixth turned a 4-2 lead into a 5-4 deficit in a loss to the Indians. Janssen is confident his mates will get back on track. “Those guys are still one of the best in the game,” said Janssen. “I dont care what a game or two happened or didnt happen. Basically, these guys are really, really good. Its a strength of our team and it will be a strength of our team.” ROGERS REBUILDING CONFIDENCE Esmil Rogers pitched two scoreless innings to mop up Saturdays shutout win in Cleveland. After a tough start, he needed it. “I know that I can do that more than one time,” said Rogers. “Anytime they need me, Im going to be there. If Im healthy, Im going to be great.” Rogers has allowed a staff-high four home runs on the season in just 10 1/3 innings pitched. Watching balls fly out of the park, he admits, rattled his confidence. “Sometimes you get a little frustrated about that because people can see you and you want to do the best you can,” said Rogers. “I think about it and I dont want it to happen again, but this is baseball. You dont know when youre going to be good and when youre going to be bad.”
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