Carra on management, Liverpool's season and Capello: "He used to make me laugh every day"

By David Maddock in Mirror Football Blog

Published 17:42 03/09/10

Ahead of Jamie Carragher's testimonial this Saturday, the Daily Mirror's Liverpool correspondent David Maddock has spoken to the Reds' vice captain to get his views on everything from management to Fabio Capello's sense of humour...

Carra on advice for young players starting out
“Don’t go on the ale! I don’t think there is a certain path. Football and life are about ups and down. I wouldn’t change anything. LFC and my family have been my life and Liverpool have made me the fella I am and the person I will continue to be. There are obviously things I regret and things you get involved in when I was growing up but that’s all part of the procedure of getting where you are now.”

Carra on managers
“There’s a mystique about people you don’t get to speak to. The likes of Alex Ferguson and Mourinho, I could talk to them all day if I had the chance. The people I spoke to, Benitez and Houllier were here for a few years and I took from them, I know what they think, and then you think about other managers and wonder what they would think in certain situations, what they would do.

“That’s one of the reasons why I went back to England – because Capello was one of those that you think ‘I wonder what he’s like, he does this or he does that’, so it was interesting to work with him. I got on great with him, he was great with me. He used to make me laugh every day, honestly. Just the way he was – no messing. He really made me laugh.”

Carra on being a manager
People always assume I’ll be a manager, but I’d be a bit reluctant to go away and start somewhere else, not in a cocky attitude and because I thought I was too good or anything like that but it is more that you see players coming and going all the time and from different countries and I thank my lucky stars I’ve not had to do that.

“I’ve got my kids in school and you have to think about that so that’s why I think if something come up ‘could I be sacked in six months’ and you have to take your kids back into school with your tail between your legs so I do think of that side. I want to be a manager, it wouldn’t scare me; it would be the family issue more than myself.

If it was just me and the missus then I wouldn’t mind and see the world or different parts of the country but I'm very big on my kids being settled with their family. But I don’t think I’d walk away from football completely - I couldn’t think of anything else I would want to do. I always think I would be involved in football. Maybe doing your job as a journalist!”

Carra on Liverpool’s season
“I hope it’s not going to be one of those seasons where we just tread water. I’m not banking on one of them. I want to push on, I want to get in the top four and I want to win a trophy. Liverpool supporters haven’t been to Wembley for a very long time because of the Cardiff situation a few years ago and I want to play at Wembley for Liverpool. I’ve never done that and that is one of my aims for this season. It might be hard to win the league, but we’ve got to aim high still.”

Carra on management, Liverpool's season and Capello: "He used to make me laugh every day"

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