Carroll out for 3 months

His role is literally pivotal, and if Willock was meant to be fulfilling that role against Cardiff he was not as good (which proves just how good Carroll was at moving the ball along). He will indeed be a major loss and, as northwesthoop mentions, force the club to look even more seriously at getting in temporary replacement cover or a permanent substitute. Wish him a speedy and successful recovery!

I had not thought about his contract surrey chad! That raises the question as to whether the club wants to gamble on him recovering fully or not. if it was not for his injury I would have had no hesitation in signing him. What he does is important to the transition from the back into attack. If Willock was doing that last night (and I am really not sure he was) then he was struggling to adapt to the role. Hate to say it, but if we continue to play 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 then I would have Masterson alongside Ball in the DM role. Whilst not as good as Carroll, he has the ability to link up play and make surges of his own. Sadly he has gone out on loan....

Hopefully, he is back, training and proving his fitness before next season when I think he would be a good squad player. Urrently I'd offer him another 12 months because he has done well and is a decent addition. However, there are a couple of caveats.

1. In the past Carroll has been plagued by hip problems that have seen him miss 41 games for Villa and Swansea. Obviously,with this being a knee injury we have to hope he recovers, but until he proves he is match fit then he becomes a big risk.

2. If between now and the start of next season we sign a couple of decent midfielders then Carroll might be surplus to requirements.

Yeah, it does really

..or Jack Robinson as he seems to have some spare time...?