Stephen Carr

**elroy** · 01/05/2017, 8:35 PM

Agreed, 100% with all of this. Never got the impression he was overly bothered about playing for Ireland.

Far better club career than international

**geysir** · 01/05/2017, 11:47 PM

Originally Posted by elroy

Agreed, 100% with all of this. Never got the impression he was overly bothered about playing for Ireland.

Far better club career than international

Successive managers liked him and his attitude and kept picking him. Maybe he just wasn't concerned about being interviewed and didn't bother too much with that sort of stuff.
"It was an honour to play for my country. I didn’t play enough. There were too many injuries. But just to play was the most important thing because not everybody gets that opportunity."

**tetsujin1979** · 02/05/2017, 12:08 AM

I'm convinced I read a piece before where he said he just didn't like being interviewed, think he was still with Birmingham at the time.

**seanfhear** · 02/05/2017, 7:26 AM

Injuries reduced his potential by a lot.......Its impossible to say what could have been had he been lucky with injuries......

**Ol� Ol�** · 02/05/2017, 9:29 AM

Himself, Gary Kelly and Steve Finnan are all in and around the same age and have about 50 caps each. There was a natural progression over time, I think, from Kelly to Carr to Finnan. In the cases of Kelly and Finnan, this was in line with European success and for Carr, it was in line with brilliant club form and fitness. And a link to Barcelona.

I don't think the public took to him as well as the other pair, or so the media try and portray. Always liked him. He was a cracking player when fit.

**DeLorean** · 02/05/2017, 9:34 AM

I can't remember having any negative thoughts about him, just a good pro and a brilliant player. Pretty low key alright I suppose but I would have thought the same about Finnan.

**geysir** · 02/05/2017, 9:40 AM

Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

I'm convinced I read a piece before where he said he just didn't like being interviewed, think he was still with Birmingham at the time.

And added to that, I recall reading some journalistic spiteful gossip and innuendo about him.

Here is a good article about saint Stephen from 2003

'Well, let us introduce you to somebody. You won't know him that well because fame and Stephen Carr are not especially friendly. He's just a good pro. Twice voted the best right-back in the Premiership, but armed with all the hubris of a bellboy.

Half-an-hour in his company brings a wash, rinse and tumble-dry to your prejudices. He is 27, current captain of Tottenham Hotspur and just about the sanest human being you could encounter in a high-performance domain.'

**geysir** · 02/05/2017, 9:55 AM

Whatever SkStu believes, the opposite opinion must be researched in order to establish v�rit�

**SkStu** · 02/05/2017, 2:29 PM

That's a fairly unnecessary post Geysir. I just expressed an opinion, you don't have to go and try to prove my opinion wrong. Your response to Elroy was enough to show you disagreed with my post but you felt the need to call me out individually. Okay, I get it, you dislike me.

I just took a look back through this thread and it seems that there were plenty more like me that felt the same way at the time he was playing/retiring/playing/retiring.

**tetsujin1979** · 02/05/2017, 3:43 PM

Stu has a point geysir, you presented evidence contrary to his opinion, no need to call him out personally on it

**EAFC_rdfl** · 02/05/2017, 4:02 PM

Well able to bang in a goal too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXCi9JXCrCA

And

**KrisLetang** · 02/05/2017, 6:38 PM

This recent conversation got me thinking, who are the top 5 most loathed Ireland players of all time. Loathed by the fans, I mean. SI, maybe Carr. Who else?

**tetsujin1979** · 02/05/2017, 7:53 PM

Up until this conversation, I didn't think Carr was loathed to any degree at all.

**Charlie Darwin** · 02/05/2017, 8:03 PM

It's comforting in a way that when we question players' commitment, we don't restrict ourselves to current players. That's where we differ from the English I think - they only hound players who are actually in the squad.

**CraftyToePoke** · 02/05/2017, 8:10 PM

Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

It's comforting in a way that when we question players' commitment, we don't restrict ourselves to current players. That's where we differ from the English I think - they only hound players who are actually in the squad.

Nothing like a good grudge to keep the soul energised & alert CD.

**KrisLetang** · 02/05/2017, 8:17 PM

Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Up until this conversation, I didn't think Carr was loathed to any degree at all.

I didn't either. Just looking at the capped list on Wiki, there have been 9 Kelly's that were capped total. Alan Jr, Alan Sr, David, Gary, Jimmy, Mark, Noel, Phil, and Stephen. Surely at least one was loathed.

**SkStu** · 02/05/2017, 8:23 PM

Just to be clear, I didn't say "loathed" - that is a strong word. I said he was, for me, one of the least likeable Irish players in my memory...

**geysir** · 02/05/2017, 9:05 PM

Originally Posted by SkStu

That's a fairly unnecessary post Geysir. I just expressed an opinion, you don't have to go and try to prove my opinion wrong. Your response to Elroy was enough to show you disagreed with my post but you felt the need to call me out individually. Okay, I get it, you dislike me.

It was meant in jest that's why I put that smiley thing there, nothing to do with a like or dislike.

I just took a look back through this thread and it seems that there were plenty more like me that felt the same way at the time he was playing/retiring/playing/retiring.

I don't know how many others shared prejudices about Carr in the past, prejudice x 10 or x 20 is still prejudice, not a justification for having one. It was a well known fact at the time, that Carr didn't do interviews, because journalists referred to it often enough in their write-ups around the games.

**irishfan86** · 03/05/2017, 6:44 PM

Carr at his peak IMO was better than Finnan (certainly going forward) -- my issue with Carr was never his personality or any B.S. like that -- it was the fact he continued to keep his place even when it was clear that Finnan was playing at a higher level. And that often meant Finnan was shunted out to the left or not played at all.

**geysir** · 03/05/2017, 9:32 PM

Originally Posted by irishfan86

Carr at his peak IMO was better than Finnan (certainly going forward) -- my issue with Carr was never his personality or any B.S. like that -- it was the fact he continued to keep his place even when it was clear that Finnan was playing at a higher level. And that often meant Finnan was shunted out to the left or not played at all.

Was there a time Finnan was available but not selected? I more or less thought that the main reason Finnan was shunted around to LB and RM was because our squad depth was weak and as he was the best footballer, he could do a good job elsewhere and allow the more limited Carr (by that stage) and Kelly to play at RB.
Stan called Carr up for that campaign because the squad was stretched thin, even Sledge was called up based on a TV reality show or something and that whiz kid O'Brien.