Carroll Rejects Contract

Going?
By Chris O'Brien
November 11 2004

Northern Ireland international Roy Carroll has rejected a contract extension at Old Trafford, through fears of a lack of first-team football. The 27-year-old Ulsterman could leave for a free at the end of the season, but Sir Alex Ferguson is urging a re-think.

Manchester United ‘keeper Roy Carroll has turned down a one-year contract extension at Old Trafford. The Ulsterman is considering a future away from the Red Devils as he is not happy with only being offered a short-term and does not feel he will be guaranteed first-team football with strong competition from Tim Howard and Ricardo.

Carroll is an ambitious player who wants to shrug off competition from Maik Taylor to become Northern Ireland’s first-choice ‘keeper, and also wants to play regularly at club level. The 27-year-old would want assurance of a first-team place and perhaps a longer extension before putting pen to paper, with Everton one of many clubs said to be monitoring the situation closely.

Sir Alex Ferguson has urged the former Wigan Athletic and Hull City to re-think his decision. The Scotsman is now selecting Carroll as first-choice ‘keeper after some poor displays from Howard, and Carroll’s heroics between the sticks particularly away in Prague and at home to Arsenal have kept him an automatic choice for the starting XI.

"We hope there will be a change of mind and that he will stay," said Fergie.

"At the moment Roy is the first choice because he has performed well and he has never let us down."

United have been linked with a whole host of goalkeepers in recent weeks, including Chelsea’s Carlo Cudicini and Middlesbrough’s Mark Schwarzer, but voices coming out of the club suggest such rumours are false.