You can always tell when someone really wants to sell a story by the language they use to market it: EXCLUSIVE, Sensational, Amazing! the headlines scream. YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED NEXT!!! As if everyone is constantly walking around spitting coffee out comically at the sight of a dog rolling over and pulling a daft face or something: but that's sort of how readers work now, and you have to be competitive. That's probably why The Chronicle have just published a story purporting - from its headline at least - to suggest that Andy Carroll has flat out refused to play under Alan Pardew at Newcastle. Not just that he doesn't want to return becuase he's happy in London, but that the specific issue he has is with the current boss. "Andy Carroll not interested in playing for Alan Pardew at Newcastle United" the title shouted, and clearly that's the message it's going after. But then, the quotes within are very much not of the same type. Carroll might have used his agent as a mouth-piece to say he doesn't want to come back to Newcastle - a move which was apparently fabricated in the first place since West Ham have openly said (via David Gold on Twitter) that they wouldn't accept a £10m bid for him from Newcastle - but he didn't say what they said he said. When asked if he'd come back to Newcastle, even if West Ham made him available, agent Mark Curtis gave the following unequivocal answer: Not a chance. Presumably because he wasn't very talkative, Lee Ryder then found "a source close to Carroll" who presumably wasn't the agent, or he'd have been named, and wasn't the player himself as you can't stand close to yourself, who said the following suspiciously personal things: Andy is really happy in London. Hes settled and he just wants to get back to scoring goals for West Ham. Hes working very hard on fitness and hopes to be back on the pitch soon. Meanwhile there was also a namecheck for Sam Allardyce who said Andy and his new lass are buying a house, which definitely rules out a move for some reason. Was there ever real interest in shipping Carroll out? Would Newcastle have been interested? Who is this mysterious source who seems to know exactly what Andy Carroll is thinking? Could it be Kevin Nolan? No matter what the situation, be wary of silly misleading headlines as you walk through your day - they can often trip you up on purpose. Somewhat inevitably, the Chronicle then changed their title to the less leading "Andy Carroll not interested in playing for Newcastle United", which is still some way away from "Andy Carroll happy at West Ham", but at least it's a start.
