Carsley: We do need players.Byline: Colin Tattum LEE Carsley Lee Carsley (born February 28, 1974 in Birmingham, England) is a professional football player for Everton, and who represents the Republic of Ireland internationally (his grandmother is from Dunmanway, County Cork). has backed manager Alex McLeish's assessment that Blues still need to strengthen their squad. Another midfielder and a left-back are prime requirements for McLeish - and he now may well be considering a centre-back for the short term because of injury problems. "We still do need players," said Carsley, Blues' captain. "For a club this size to reach its potential, the team needs to keep improving and evolving. "It's important the manager gets the right players in, better than what we've already got. You can't just buy players for the sake of the numbers. "They've got to be of a certain quality and the right type of characters. "I think what he's done so far, with the lads he's brought in, has been decent business." Carsley, who asked to play for a young Blues side at Tamworth on Wednesday to boost his pre-season minutes, revealed that he didn't expect to be a regular, even though he retains the skipper's armband arm·band n. A band worn around the upper arm, often as identification or as a symbol of mourning or protest. Noun 1. armband - worn around arm as identification or to indicate mourning . He knows that the addition of Barry Ferguson Barry Ferguson MBE (born Hamilton, Scotland, February 2, 1978) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays in midfield. He currently plays for and captains both Scottish Premier League club Rangers and the Scotland national team. , plus McLeish's well-documented interest in Michel and Craig Gardner Craig Gardner (born November 25, 1986 in Solihull) is an English footballer, who plays for the English Premiership club Aston Villa as a midfielder. He grew up in the Yardley district of Birmingham and was offered the chance to play for Aston Villa's rivals Birmingham City but , means that competition in central midfield is high on the agenda. Striker Kevin Phillips There are several people called Kevin Phillips
"I think it's different for people like me and Kev, I'm 35 and he's 36," said Carsley. "If you'd said that to me when I was 20, I'd have said you were mad as back then you want to play every week. ''At our age now, going into the Pre-mieLeague, you have to be a bit more realistic and the fact that the manager has got some very good midfield players - Lee Bowyer, Damien Johnson has started pre-season well, Keith Fahey can go in there too - it's something you have to accept. I think we both know that we will still play a part this season, and the manager wants us to bring our experience to the table and help the other lads. "He's probably going to pick certain teams in certain formations for particular games as well so you've always got to be ready." CAPTION(S): Backing for the boss: Lee Carsley says Blues need to add more faces to the squad. |
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