21 March 2007

The former Manchester United shot stopper Roy Carroll is the latest goalkeeper to be linked to Walter Smith’s Ibrox revolution in recent weeks. The West Ham and Northern Ireland star has had a troubled time recently and has lost his first team place to Robert Green.

Carroll left Manchester United in 2005 after Sir Alex Ferguson failed to guarantee him first team football and, despite his personal problems which West Ham have helped him with, he won’t be happy sitting on the bench at Upton Park, regardless of what division they will be playing in next season.

Carroll played a huge part in West Ham’s success last season but has only made 16 appearances during this campaign due to injury, off-the-field problems and the form of former Norwich ace Robert Green. Solid and assured, Carroll instilled confidence in the Hammers’ back four and was a fantastic coup by Alan Pardew. He rarely makes mistakes but when he does they tend to be huge.

Who can ever forget the Pedro Mendes goal that never was for Spurs against Manchester United at Old Trafford when Carroll amazingly dropped the ball a foot over the line from a speculative shot but failed to be given by the assistant? Carroll also cost United in a Champions League match against AC Milan when he spilled a shot into the path of Hernan Crespo.

The Premiership and FA Cup winner is still only 29-years-old and has many good years ahead of him. He has European and international experience and would surely love to add some more medals to his collection. He could easily achieve that aim by joining Glasgow Rangers. The Gers are a totally different team from the one that started the season under Paul Le Guen and are look like giving Gordon Strachan’s Celtic a run for their money next season.

Walter Smith is obviously looking to replace Stefan Klos, who will be on his way in the summer, and give young Allan McGregor some competition for the number one jersey. Everton’s out-of-favour Richard Wright has also been linked with a move to Ibrox but Roy Carroll’s crucial experience in Europe and of big game situations would surely put him ahead of Wright in the pecking order. Source - Scottish Daily Express