Red-Faced Webster and Red Card Carroll

Posted on February 08, 2014 by Daniel Lofthouse

Andy Carroll

In their recent encounter with Swansea, West Ham won by 2-0 to come out victorious, but at the cost of a red card for West Ham striker Andy Carroll.

Red Card
As a result of the red card, Carroll will now be forced to miss matches with Aston Villa, Norwich and Southampton, a fact which is certain to be playing on his mind, but also on the mind of manager Sam Allardyce, as Carroll set up both of the two goals scored against Swansea.

Similarly, having only played 5 games this season, and only 15 games in the 12 months between March 2013 and Feb 2014, many are frustrated that Carroll has only been a regular fixture a handful of times, despite the player having so much potential.

Appeal Process
The decision for the red card came in the 59th minute by referee Howard Webb, a decision which the Hammers disagreed with. As a result, West Ham attempted to repeal the decision. In support of the appeal, manager Allardyce has stated that Webb had made an “obvious error”, but that “There has to be somebody to look at that in the cold light of day and say that is certainly not a red card”.

Therefore, the appeal went ahead, but was unfortunately dismissed by the FA under the grounds that the club could not put a panel of 3 people who could explain why the referee had made a bad decision in their decision to send the Hammer striker off after making contact with Swansea’s Flores’s head.

Following the failed appeal, Swansea’s boss Michael Laudrup was asked about the decision, and he claims that even he felt it was “a bit harsh”. When Carroll himself found out the result of the inquiry, he posted his comments in tweet form posting a simple one word tweet that truly summarized the player’s feelings: “Disgraceful”.

Embarrassing Encounter
However, the red card and the failed appeal weren’t the only embarrassing things that have happened to Carroll recently. Following the match, the forward returned to the Upton Park dressing room for his early bath, but found glamorous Sky Sports News presenter Charlie Webster in there instead.

Ice Bath Surprise
Webster, of course, was in the ice bath in the changing room because she had just finished her 250-mile charity run for Woman’s Aid. Webster had been given full access to the Hammers’ physio and treatment facilities following her completion of her 250-mile long run along 40 football grounds.

While the teams were off the pitch at half time, Webster took to the field for a bow and round of applause to celebrate her own personal victory.

Thankfully, when Carroll and Webster came face to face by the ice bath, Carroll did the honorable thing and allowed Webster to continue it while he finished off his off his post-game cool-down with an ice bucket instead.

It appears as though on one level, Carroll was the only one who lost out that day, as West Ham won, Webster finished her charity marathon and even sponsor Alpari won with both of the Webster and West Ham donning the Alpari jersey