Source: FOOTYMAD
Carsley hopes for Coventry return
Captain would like to coach at City Coventry City club captain Lee Carsley, who had recently been told his contract will not be renewed, has said he would like to return to the club one day in a coaching capacity. The 37 year old midfielder missed the last half of the season after have operations to rectify an Achilles injury and to repair a hernia, but was told last week he was being released from the club he returned to last year. Carsley had previously said he would like to play on for as long as possible and when his playing days did finally end, he would like to move into coaching. By the end of the season Carsley had recovered from his surgery and had worked hard to regain his fitness, but all he lacked was match practise. He still thinks he has a lot to offer another football club and will be actively searching for somewhere to play next season. Carsley was ever present in the Coventry side until January, missing just one game through suspension and so he has confidence he is still fit enough to play professional football. He said, “My only disappointment is that I came to the club with a view to helping it get back up or, at least, finish higher up the league, and I have not been able to achieve that, but that’s my only regret because when I came back to the club I said I was part of the team that got relegated from the Premier League and I still don’t feel that my time is finished at Coventry, and at some point I want to come back and help them progress and get up the league. Not as a player but in some other capacity and I am sure that will happen at some point." "I live in Coventry, my kids were born here and go to school here, so it means a lot to me.” Carsley had the two operations in quick succession so he could recover from both of them at the same time and it had been hoped he would be able to return to action in February or March at the latest, but he had continuing complications with his Achilles tendon which required another operation and signalled the end of his season. He explained, “When I had my operations in January the plan was that I’d be out for four or five weeks and then come back and hopefully continue to push for the play-offs, which is where we were at the time. I think we were four points off fourth place and two points off sixth, so in hindsight, which is a brilliant thing, I should have maybe waited until the end of the season and got it done then." “I should have had three or four weeks rehab instead and then carried on playing because obviously after the Barnsley game in January I didn’t play again.” After a considerably longer recovery period than he had first envisaged, Carley is not once again fully fit and raring to go, but first he has to find a new employer. He continued, “I had the ops to get rid of tendinitis that was giving me stiffness in the mornings and after games and it’s ironic that this is the best I have felt in three or four years, so it is unfortunate. I trained in the last week of the season so the only thing I have been lacking is match fitness." "I am not getting any younger but I played 26 games last season, and all 90 minutes, so it is not like I am struggling in games and coming off with ten minutes to go because I was blowing up, but like I say, the frustrating thing is that I couldn’t help more.” Despite being released by Coventry, Carsley insists he will continue to support the club. He will start the search for a new club, but he is looking for one that has ambition and that will test his capabilities. He said, “I love playing football and the fact that you train every day and keep fit and I don’t mind going down the leagues but what I don’t want to do is play for a team that is just happy to be hanging on. I joined Coventry because the way it was put to me was that we would be pushing, and in the first 10-15 games we were." “That’s the type of team I want to play for. I was at the awards the other night and it is so frustrating that we were celebrating still being in the Championship and finishing 18th. Maybe I came to Coventry with unrealistic ambitions because I really thought I could be part of the team that would help the club get back to the Premier League, I really did.” He continued, “I have got a few meetings next week and I will see what turns up. I plan to go into coaching when I finish playing but I never really imagined I would do both at the same time because I don’t know how successful you can be at doing both. When I put my mind to something I do it the best I can and I don’t know how that would work being a player coach." “It is just a case of choosing the right path to go down. I have enjoyed this season, although there were parts I didn’t enjoy, but all in all I don’t regret coming back to Coventry, I just regret the way it turned out.”
