1st, 2011 changed

Andy Carroll had a quiet transfer deadline day. Shonn Greene Jersey . He trained, prepared himself for his first home start of the season and got rid of some overdue baggage, finally shaving off his overgrown beard. It was three years to the day since he was the most expensive British signing in history. January 31st, 2011 changed the Gateshead lad forever. Playing and scoring goals for his boyhood club, Newcastle United, Carroll was enjoying the dream life - on the pitch. Off it was a constant battle. That Andy Carroll came with some serious baggage. Multiple assault charges finally saw him granted bail on the condition of him moving to a permanent residence, rather than a hotel. Newcastle teammate Kevin Nolan took him in and put a curfew on Carroll to help him stay out of trouble. "I said he could stay, I cleared it with the Mrs, of course, first, Nolan later reflected. She was down in Liverpool a lot of the time so we were like roommates. He was a pretty good cook. Pasta with tomatoes, chicken; things like that." On the field, Nolan wanted nothing changed and loved making runs from midfield to get on the end of a knockdown by the big striker. Back at the family home, issues around Carroll continued when his car was set on fire in the driveway and graffiti was written all over the garage door. The Nolan family stuck by him as the midfielder revealed to the Guardian, back in 2010: "Andy has got to be indoors for 10.30pm and he has got to be in bed by 11pm. Wed already got the kids on curfews, so its no trouble to enforce.What I have learnt about Andy, though, is that hes always asleep at the wrong time, like when I get him up early to do the school run with me. He gets up at 10 to eight and we leave at five past. We then have our breakfast at the training ground. I dont know if he likes it but thats the way it is." Carroll would later see the assault charges dropped and as he moved out of the Nolan household, he did with much less baggage. Nolan told the Daily Mirror in 2012: "When you look back on it now, it was bizarre him staying with us, but it worked. In our family, thats what we do for our friends. Ive been brought up like that by my mum and dad. "I know Andy was very grateful for what we did for him, thats why were so close. He has his family there for him but sometimes you need other people as well." Carrolls 35 million pound move to Liverpool in 2011 was called a dream move by Nolan, who was obviously delighted for his mate, but the dream soon turned out to be a nightmare for Carroll. It was not a move that came too soon for him. It was simply a move that should never have come at all. Liverpool captured the Englishman on the day they let Fernando Torres leave. The 35 million pound figure they paid was never what Carroll was worth. It was simply a number Newcastle, on the final day of the transfer window, would allow their goal scorer to leave for. Incredibly, Liverpool took the bait and Carrolls life changed forever. Sure, there were some good moments, such as scoring the winner at Wembley over Everton in the FA Cup semifinal, but there were some tough moments too and when Kenny Dalglish was replaced by Brendan Rodgers as manager, it was only a matter of time that Carroll would be moved on. Nineteen months after signing at Anfield, Carroll was reunited with Nolan, this time down south at West Ham, agreeing to a season-long loan. "He has learned so much. There is a different lad standing in that dressing room now. There is a man who can look after himself and do the right things on a daily basis," Nolan said. Carroll did enough last season to convince the Hammers to pay Liverpool 15 million pounds and hand the striker a new six year contract. Except, once again, Carroll came with baggage, this time in the case of a heel injury that he picked up on the final day of last season against Reading. The injury proved to be far worse than original thought and with Carroll out for months; West Ham struggled badly, causing many to panic, including the clubs co-owner David Sullivan. "Had we known he would be out for this long, we would not have signed him," Sullivan told the BBCs Football Focus in December. "We are not a rich enough club to deal with that. You know any player can get injured, but we cant buy a player knowing he is going to be out for half the season. When we signed him we were assured by the medical staff that the very, very latest he would be back was September 1st. That would have meant he would only miss two league games." Sullivan has every right to look after his investments but it seemed a bizarre thing to say publicly. Even if he privately believed it, it is not as if the money spent on Carroll could have gone on another player who would have instantly changed the clubs fortunes. You only have to look at the long list of strikers bought for a lot of money, in the Premier League, to know many do not work out. Injury or no injury, that label is yet to be attached to the now 25-year-old Carroll. The jury still remains out on what he can actually become. On Saturday he started his second game of the season, at home to Swansea, and in the first half showed exactly why West Ham wanted to spend that amount of money on him. Carroll was magnificent, finding pockets of space to hold up the ball and supply wide men, choosing his battles in between Chico Flores and Dwight Tiendalli, to regularly win aerial duels, and then winning two significant headers that set up the games two goals, in a 2-0 West Ham win. The beneficiary? Nolan of course. Like Carroll, the 2013-14 season had been a season to forget so far for the Hammers captain but he had no injury to blame for his torrid campaign. Nolan scored 10 goals from midfield last season and had been expected to score regularly again this season but, heading into Saturday, the 31-year-old had as many league red cards as goals this season (2). After the second red card, against Fulham in December, manager Sam Allardyce had seen enough, fining him two weeks wages (100 thousand pounds), saying: "Our captain was irresponsible. Not just today but for the future because he is suspended. Hes let everyone down and himself. I just dont quite understand where hes lost his cool and why its happened." Nolan sat out seven games through suspension but on Saturday he was reunited with his mate, playing just behind Carroll, giving West Ham fans what they hope to be a glimpse at the partnership that can keep their team in the Premier League this season. Except, once again more baggage comes with Carroll. In the second half on Saturday he was sent off for extending a wild arm to Chico Floress head. Allardyce called it an injustice and plans to appeal against it but if that is unsuccessful Carroll will again sit out for three more games. Once Carroll returns he will have gone nine months without playing a full 90 minutes. He will have three months to not only play a pivotal role in saving West Hams season but also attempt to get on Roy Hodgsons England plane to Brazil. At the moment he appears to be completely off Hodgsons radar but in just 45 minutes on Saturday he showed why he should be more than just considered if he can play regularly. Carroll offers something completely different to the England manager, who has enough quick forwards looking to get in behind a defensive line. Carroll showed against Sweden in Euro 2012 that he can be a real handful for international defenders if the quality of the deliveries into the box is high. West Ham became the final Premier League team to score a headed goal this season on Saturday and if they can improve their crosses and get Carroll heavily involved down the stretch then do not rule out the forward making an unlikely late, successful attempt at the 23rd and final player seat on the plane to Brazil. Time is certainly running out but if Carroll can remove the personal baggage, he may well be packing his own baggage to the World Cup. Bruce Matthews Titans Jersey . The Bobcats (2-2) trailed 35-23 early in the second quarter, but cut the lead to 42-40 at halftime. Charlotte outscored Cleveland 32-17 in the third quarter to go ahead 72-59 and pulled away. Delanie Walker Jersey .C. - The New Orleans Saints will have to wait another week for a chance to clinch a playoff spot.PHILADELPHIA -- Ryan Kesler needed a lucky bounce and an empty net for the easiest Vancouver goal of the season. Its the kind of break a team needs sometimes to win on the road. And just the latest blunder that has Philadelphia mired at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Kesler followed the empty-netter with the second of his two goals with 2:25 left in the third period to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night. The Canucks won for the second time this season when trailing after two periods. "You want to get those under your belt early and establish yourself as a resilient group," Kesler said. "We did that again tonight." Chris Higgins also scored for Vancouver and Roberto Luongo made the win stand with 20 saves. Tye McGinn scored both goals for the Flyers, who dropped to 1-6. The Flyers are the only team in the NHL that has yet to score at least three goals in a game this season. Higgins and Kesler and each scored in the third period to rally Vancouver. The Flyers fell to 1-3 under coach Craig Berube. "Were kind of sitting back and waiting for something bad to happen," Berube said. It did in the third. Higgins fired a shot off Steve Mason and Kesler pounced to score past the sprawled Flyers goalie for the winner. The Canucks tied it 2-2 early in the third when Henrik Sedin fed Higgins for a one-timer and his first goal of the season. Each team struggled to generate offence. The Canucks failed to crack 20 shots until midway through the third and the Flyers didnt attempt their 20th until the final minutes. The Flyers took only one shot on two power-play attempts, and their special teams unit ranks among the worst in the league. "We are scared to make something happen on the ice," Flyers forward Jakub Voracek. Armed with one of the lowest-scoring offences in the NHL, the Flyers almost broke through early in the first, but Claude Girouxs shot rang off the post. Giroux, once one of the best players in the game, has yet to score this season, though he did pick up his second assist on McGinns second goal. Warren Moon Womens Jersey. "We are getting better every game, thats how we all look at it. Its a fact," Giroux said. "If anybody knows anything about hockey, theyll know we played a good game tonight. We played our best game, and its a good thing coming right now." McGinn has been impressive since the Flyers brought him up last week. With forwards Scott Hartnell and Vinny Lecavalier out with injuries, the Flyers turned to McGinn and pressed him into service on Girouxs line. He scored against Detroit in his first game back, then showed against Vancouver that he has a knack for positioning himself in the right place at the right time. McGinn backhanded a rebound midway through the first for a 1-0 lead. Philadelphias lead lasted all of 10 seconds. Mason skated behind the net and tried to clear the puck, but it took a funky carom past him and right to a streaking Kesler, who pounded the puck into the empty net for the easy, tying goal. "I didnt see it until it was in the blue paint," he said. "Its just one of those bounces." Mason stopped 22 shots -- just not the one he never saw coming. "Bad bounces happen," he said. "Its just how you respond, and I thought for the most part, we played a pretty good game." McGinn made it 2-1 only 2:10 into the second when he finished off a rush with a poke past Luongo for his third goal of the season. McGinn has a chance to stick around with Hartnell out another two to four weeks with an undisclosed injury. By the time Hartnell and Lecavalier return, the Flyers season could be unsalvageable. Giroux said its too early to give up on the season. "Well start winning games here soon, and when we will, well be back in the playoff race," he said. NOTES: Several Flyers sported pink tape as part of "Hockey Fights Cancer" night. ... The Canucks opened a seven-game road trip, which ends Oct. 25 in St. Louis. ... Sedin scored his 800th career point. ... Vancouver is 3-0 when it allows three goals or less. ... Vancouver won 20 of 35 faceoffs. cheap jerseys from china cheap jerseys ' ' '