| Having turned down a move to Chelsea in favour of signing for
Liverpool after Rafa Benitez had convinced the young goalkeeper that
there would be very few first-team opportunities at the London club; you
could forgive Scott Carson for feeling slightly aggrieved at how his
Anfield career ultimately turned out.
In over three years at the club, Carson made only nine appearances
for the Reds in all competitions, and spent much of his time at
Liverpool farmed out on loan - to Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton Athletic
and Aston Villa.
Having signed the then England under-21 goalkeeper from cash-strapped
Leeds United in January 2005 for what was widely considered to be a
bargain fee of £750,000, Benitez genuinely viewed Carson as someone who
could challenge Jerzy Dudek for the number one shirt.
As hard as it is to believe now, Carson's Liverpool career actually
began promisingly. It took the 19-year-old just two months to make his
debut, deputising for the injured Dudek away at Newcastle in a 1-0
defeat. That April, Carson appeared in three consecutive matches - a 1-0
league victory against Bolton, a loss by the same scoreline to
Manchester City and a 2-1 Champions League quarter-final first-leg
victory over Juventus (the photo above is during the game). In
that European game Scott made one very good stop from Alessandro Del
Piero, although was cited for being at fault for Fabio Cannavaro's goal
which gave Juve a lifeline in the tie.
Carson made his fourth, and final, league appearance for Liverpool in
the side's last game of the season - a 2-1 win at home to Aston Villa -
and would finish the season with a Champions League winners medal after
being an unused substitute in the side's dramatic triumph in Istanbul.
However, the following season started badly for Scott even before a
ball was kicked, as Pepe Reina joined the Reds from Villareal,
effectively making the former Leeds stopper Liverpool's third choice
goalkeeper. After making just four appearances - all in cup competitions
- Carson was loaned out to Sheffield Wednesday in March 2006, in a bid
to make England's World Cup squad. Despite not being named in the
initial party, Carson did end up going to Germany after Robert Green was
ruled out of the tournament through injury, although he didn't play.
At the start of the 2006/07 season, Scott found himself loaned out
once again - this time on a season-long loan deal to Charlton. Benitez
maintained that Carson was still very much in his plans, citing the need
for the young goalkeeper to get some experience before he could
seriously challenge either Reina or Dudek for the gloves.
Despite playing in every game of that campaign - save for the two
against Liverpool for which he was ineligible - Carson still found
himself surplus to requirements upon his return to Anfield. Once again
he was loaned out, this time to Aston Villa who even paid £2 million for
the privilege of his services for a season. The Midlands club had
wanted to sign Carson but manager Martin O'Neill unsurprisingly baulked
at the £10 million figure he was quoted by Benitez - who remained
adamant he didn't want to sell his young 'keeper.
However, in July 2008, Carson did finally leave Liverpool on a
permanent basis, signing for West Bromwich Albion for an initial fee of
£3.25 million. (David Fuller)
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