he Asoro rumour: I met Carr at Sweden-Netherlands on Tuesday (my article and quotes). Did not get the impression we're after him, just that he and Arsenal's Bobby Bennett were both really impressed with him when they watched Sweden-Spain U21 the day before.
Spoke to Carr for quite a while. Very open and honest, somewhat feels he's been harshly criticized. He was clear on the fact that Rafa runs the whole show now, said all of the signings this summer was Rafa's. Referred a lot back to Tioté, Cabaye, Debuchy and Ben Arfa and said that in Ben Arfa's case, it was all Pardew. "He only played him at times because he was a fan favourite. Just look at him now" was his conclusion.
He also said Saivet was meant to be Tioté's replacement in January as the club was certain he was going, and badly misused as a consequence of that.
All in all, I'd not expect him to be part of the club's setup for much longer. He said some things that made me quite certain he's not in any significant power, and from the sound of it, Benitez has a very different idea of who to sign.