The Kenny Dalglish column
aily Mirror
Why the Big 'Un will be a big hit with Big Sam
Carroll can blossom under Allardyce at West Ham. Plus: Why I don't expect Rooney to leave United even if he has fallen out with Fergie, Everton's flying start and more
When a manager moves on, it often happens that some of his players follow him.
Andy Carroll did a good job for me at Liverpool, he finished the season strongly and did well for England in the Euros.
But Brendan Rodgers has his own philosophies and his own plans, and Andy obviously doesn't fit in with those.
That's just the way football is.
Before people start criticising Andy for his time at Liverpool, though, let's just remember a couple of things.
There were only three domestic trophies up for grabs in England last season and Andy won one of them.
He made a big contribution to Liverpool winning the Carling Cup, and scored the winner against Everton in the FA Cup semi-final.
If I'd brought him on earlier in the final against Chelsea, he might have won that for us as well.
As it was, he scored a goal and tormented their defence - and then destroyed John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic at Anfield in a league game against Chelsea a few days later.
The longer Andy stayed at Liverpool, the greater the improvement there was in him.
And the reception he got when he went out to warm up during the game against Manchester City last weekend showed that not many fans felt he let them down.
I was pleased that he did well in the summer and that Roy Hodgson has picked him in England squad for next week's World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine.
His loan move to West Ham gives him a better chance of keeping his place with England.
Brendan was honest enough to say that Andy probably wouldn't get that many starts if he stayed at Liverpool.
And now the Big 'Un has joined up with a manager, in Big Sam, who worked with him at Newcastle and has got a lot of belief in him.
Andy will play a lot of games at West Ham if he delivers, and I am sure that he will.
I don't care how good a player you are, if you believe that the manager believes in you, it makes all the difference.
Football is all about opinions and most of the time, people have different opinions.
So just because Andy was not wanted at one club does not mean that applies elsewhere.
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