Reading’s Andy Carroll makes surprise West Brom transfer admission after digs at Steve Bruce

Reading’s Andy Carroll makes a surprise West Brom transfer admission after previously aiming digs at former boss Steve Bruce.

He has admitted that he regretted his short spell at the Baggies last season, just a day after he joined the club in January with his contract at the Royals coming to an end.

Carroll, 33, was bought in by Valerien Ismael as cover for Daryl Dike, who injured himself on his first start for the club.

He was seen as a short-term option and made his West Brom debut against Millwall, but it proved to be Ismael’s last game in charge of the club and was he was replaced by Steve Bruce.

Carroll joined Reading on a short-term contract in October 2021, netted twice in eight games for them under former boss Veljko Paunovic, left the club to join West Brom on January 28th, making his debut for the them the following day in a 2-0 defeat against Millwall and going on to score three times in 15 matches.

He admits his regret over his decision was almost instant, after enjoying his first spell with Reading.

“To be honest, the second day I was there [at West Brom] I regretted being there,” Carroll told Berkshire Live.

After leaving West Brom at end of the season, the 33-year old signed a contract with the Royals until January.

Carroll hopes to extend his stay at Paul Ince’s side and adds that he would be open to signing a new deal at Madejski Stadium, if offered one.

“Hopefully you guys have asked the gaffer and he has given you the answer,” he said to reporters at the club’s Bearwood Park training ground when questioned about his future. “But I am willing to sign if there is a deal there.”

Carroll says the current dressing room is one of the best he has been involved in.

💬 I spoke to Andy Carroll about his Reading future and his decision to join West Brom back in January.

He admits he regretted leaving Reading then, and there is a decision to be made again with his current contract up in January 🤔#ReadingFC #WBA https://t.co/1AlHgK6VO6

— Robert Warlow (@rob_warlow) December 15, 2022

He continued, as per RDG TODAY: “It sounds cliche but we really are like a family. It’s a tight group, everyone is involved with each other.

“The dressing room is fantastic. It’s one of the best I’ve been in to be honest. The lads are really tight and have stuck together. It’s good to be a part of.

“I’ve been in dressing rooms before where there all groups all over the place and they keep themselves to themselves. Here it’s not like that at all.

“To be honest, the second day I was there (West Brom) I regretted being there.

“I was in Spain keeping fit and working hard (over the summer).

“When I got the call from the manager, I was like ‘Yeah, come on, get me back in’

“You’ll have to ask the manager as I don’t have the answers, but I’m willing to sign if there is a deal there.”

Andy Carroll says Reading can be pleased with their season so far, but suggests it could have been even better.

They currently sit 9th in the Championship table, with 32 points from 23 played, but lost 3-2 to Birmingham on Friday night.

“It has been good. I think at the beginning of the season if you asked anyone if they would be happy with where we are now, I think they would say yes, without a doubt,” he said.

“I think we’ve had a couple of results that didn’t go our way when they could have done and we are a bit disappointed with that, but I think we are in a good place at the minute.

“We’ve played some good games, after Birmingham we will have faced everyone in the league, and we are where we are, but I think we could be a little bit higher actually so hopefully that will be the case after Friday. We will try and put our mistakes right and push higher.”

Two months ago, Andy Carroll aimed an incredibly brutal dig at Bruce ahead of the two sides’ meeting.

Carroll criticised Brucey by claiming his side were ‘guaranteed three points’ against the Baggies this weekend before the club axed the manager.

The West Midlands club sacked Bruce after falling to 22nd in the Championship, following a run of one win and eight draws from 13 matches.

Andy Carroll stuck the knife and twisted when it came to talking about the former manager after his West Brom sacking.

The duo worked together at Newcastle United for two seasons, with Bruce bringing the striker back to Tyneside on a free transfer – just eight years after his £35million exit.

One goal in 43 appearances for the Magpies saw Carroll released in 2021. The target man signed for West Brom in January this year, only to be reunited with Bruce a few days later when the club appointed him as manager.

But Carroll faced the 61-year-old’s axe for the second time in 12 months as his short-term contract was not renewed over the summer. There is a grudge between the duo as he paid little sympathy to Bruce’s recent departure.

One win in their opening 12 games gave West Brom – sitting third-bottom of the Championship – no choice but to get rid of the ex-Toon boss, especially after a bust-up with a fan. Carroll’s new side, Reading, are set to face the Baggies on Saturday.

Speaking to the media ahead of the match, Carroll wished he had a chance to play against the Midlands outfit under his former boss.

“It’s always sad to see people get the sack,” he started. “Especially when we were guaranteed three points at the weekend. It is a shame but that’s football.

“You don’t get the results, it’s a business at the end of the day. That’s why you have to keep the lads together and work hard as a manager and get the lads working hard for you. Everyone is enjoying themselves.”

A popular figure during his spell with the club, he admitted he was surprised to see the Premier League regulars in the bottom three.

“I’m surprised,” he said. “They’ve got a great squad and a great team. It’s surprising to see them down there but it is the way football is. If they win the next three or four games they’re right back up there.”

West Brom News site responded to this by writing: “Bruce was given plenty of time to turn things around at The Hawthorns. The board were extremely lenient and could’ve pulled the trigger earlier, but he was afforded time and he couldn’t make things work.

“It says it all that rival players were considering West Brom a “guaranteed three points” with Bruce at the helm.

“Carroll knows more than most about what the Baggies dressing room was like under Bruce, and it seems he may have started to lose the players before the season had even begun.

“Carroll commenting on keeping “the lads together” suggests that Bruce was already losing grip on his players while Carroll was at the club.

“It became clearer and clearer as time ticked on that the players had downed tools towards the end of his tenure. Hopefully, his replacement can drag West Brom out of the drop zone and up towards where they deserve to be.”

West Brom currently sit 17th in the table, with 26 points from 21 games played.

This is what fans said as Reading’s Andy Carroll makes a surprise West Brom transfer admission after digs at Steve Bruce…

@jwgr1571: I would happily take him again and use him as a super sub

@Alan4NewportSal: I suspect he is trying to win support of Reading fans to get an extended contract. Means nothing, nowt, zilch.

@STurnerTipster: Took him two days?

@thetooncentre: Wonder why 👀

@BaggiesTom1: Regret even wasting money on him

@_shirleyvillain: As would anyone signing for the boggies 😂

@Sudo_One: I like him I do. But he’s hardly gonna say “I loved it at WBA, wish I was still there.” I would say we are likely the only club in for him.

@OllyURZ: Sign him up for 18 months then get him on the coaching team

@Charliejuk: I’d be interested to know why he regretted the move to WBA on the second day. Poor training facilities? Disorganised coaches?

@conradchircop: Andy Carroll, who up to the time of writing has scored 7 goals in 35 games since the start of last season, and hasn’t hit double figures in a season since 2011. Yes we were disappointed with Bruce but you didn’t exactly set the Hawthorns or Madjeski alight, have you?

@Knott15Dave: I think he has just done the team talk when we play them in the new year.

He needs to stay, if for no other reason than it gives me an excuse to keep wearing this…😉 pic.twitter.com/5TG7BUxCGn

— Andrew Butcher (@ChezvegasRoyal) December 15, 2022

@cadders10: 20k a week he wanted 😂😂 👋🗑

@ChrisHobster: It works both ways, I regretted us signing him 🙈🙈

@BaggieForLife: Interesting he said he ‘regretted going there’ rather than he was upset by Bruce’s arrival. Most of us were upset with that mind. It’s the club he was referring to.

@NickGri73026857: Still took his wages home didn’t he, simply won’t be missed. 🤡

@stephendyer57: We regret it as well as supporters

@barrelwba10: Shame he’s a berk he was one of a small number of players at the time who put a shift in

@Chriswashbrook1: Seems to be more of a dig at Bruce.But either way who cares was shit anyway

@JakeWBA97: If we didn’t appoint Bruce he would have stayed

@NUFC1916: Think it’s very clear where the leaks were coming from now 😂

@wbaa_j: haven’t ever heard this from any player in my existence of supporting albion. the steve bruce affect #wba

@jpriv78982: always grateful you came big fella @AndyTCarroll

@thealexbarons: Small point, but Steve Bruce wasn’t in charge on Andy Carroll’s second day, Valerin Ismael was…

@HarveyRoom04: Carroll joined when Ismael was in charge. I don’t like Bruce, but that’s just inaccurate

and not listening to Brucey and his ‘tactics!’ 😉

You only have to see the improvement since he’s gone to work out the problem AGAIN was Brucey – but the #NUFCFans were wrong huh!? #NUFC

— Magpie 24/7 (@Magpie24_7) December 16, 2022