Carroll leaves troubles behind after hellish week

WHEN a footballer is experiencing issues in their personal life, the commonly held wisdom is that they forget all of their problems when they step onto the pitch.

As we have seen with the recent example of Wayne Rooney, that is not necessarily always the case.

But with Newcastle forward Andy Carroll, it may well be.

Last week could best be described as challenging for the 21-year-old, who appeared in court on Monday morning, charged with assault over an alleged incident with his ex-girlfriend.

Ordered by the court to stay at the house of Kevin Nolan, his captain, Carroll’s car was torched on Wednesday evening. Yet on Saturday his performance was that of a man without a care, as he used his physicality against West Ham.

Trailing to Carlton Cole’s first goal of the season, the tenant set up his landlord for Nolan to smash home the first before heading home Joey Barton’s superb cross to give Newcastle breathing space at the bottom and condemn West Ham to remaining rooted to the foot of the table.

And if Carroll is looking for a role model, he could find it in the unlikely figure of Barton. The former Manchester City midfielder has been in far more than his share of trouble with the law, having served 77 days in prison on common assault and affray charges, yet he is by all accounts a changed man.

He, as much as Carroll, was the difference between the two teams here with his superb delivery from his wide right position, and he also offered his team-mate sound advice as he looks forward to another week that promises to be testing in the extreme.

“The pitch can be a bit of a sanctuary,” said Barton, with Carroll due in court again today over a charge unrelated to that over which he appeared last Monday.

“Andy knows where we are, and I’ve been in his shoes and I will try and converse with him. My reputation hindered me for a long, long time and I will try and guide him to stop him going down that path.

“The courts will take the steps they feel necessary, but he is a great kid. He comes in to training and works hard every day – all the lads support him and so does Chris Hughton. If he loses that then he will be in trouble, but he showed with his performance what it means to pull on that black-and-white jersey, and as long as he keeps performing then it’s nothing to do with me what he does off the football pitch.”

Indeed, it seems that Newcastle produce some of their best football in adversity.

As Barton admitted with a smile: “we thrive when our backs are against the wall.”

Yet that would obscure a team that has some genuine quality in the shape of Carroll, Barton himself and Cheik Tiote, who is a one-man barrier in front of the back four.

It didn’t look that way at the start of the game though, as West Ham stormed out of the blocks and deservedly took the lead through Cole

Yet being at the bottom of the table is often in part due to a lack of confidence, and so it was here.

Nolan’s equaliser was somewhat against the run of play, but Carroll’s winner certainly wasn’t as West Ham barely offered anything of note during a turgid second-half display.

Avram Grant, their manager, insists that now is not the time to panic, but six points and seven goals after nine games should set alarm bells ringing.

“We know we are going through a tough season but I think even having lost this game, I am sure we can do it (stay up) and we will stay positive,” said Grant.

As rallying cries go, Grant would hardly have William Wallace deciding to hang up his war-paint.

Yet as he and his captain, Matthew Upson, pointed out, the Hammers were on a run of five games undefeated in all competitions before this loss. There was only one Premier League victories in those five, mind you, but it could have been seen as a foundation on which to improve upon.

“We’re not hitting the panic button,” insisted Upson. “West Ham gets a lot of press attention and speculation for negative reasons. People can get carried away with our performances and our position. But before this game we went five unbeaten, and we just need to turn a few draws into wins.”

Yet while Upson only has to worry about events on the pitch, it is the off-field activities that concern Carroll rather more at present.

If only everything was as easy off the pitch as it appears to be once he crosses that white line.