Liverpool V QPR at Anfield : Match Preview

18 May 2013 15:31
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Carragher open to idea of coaching

Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher will bring the curtain down on a 16-year playing career on Sunday but he has not ruled out making a return to the game in a coaching capacity.

The 35-year-old, due to lead the side out on his 737th appearance for the club against QPR, will become a television pundit next season.

However, he accepts nothing will ever replace the buzz of the dressing room and the only job which will come close to that would be as a coach.

"I am sure I will (miss it). I love the dressing room and getting yourself up for big games," he said.

"There is nothing better than being successful and achieving things with your mates - they were great times for us.

"It is very difficult to replace that whatever job you go into.

"The closest is probably coaching and managing so I suppose if I do miss it so much I will look to get back in at some stage."

Manager Brendan Rodgers said he will miss his regular chats with Carragher about football but hoped he would not be lost to the game in the long run.

Chairman Tom Werner has already said the door is always open for the Bootle-born defender to return in some capacity and Rodgers echoed that.

"Over the course of the next two to three years he will look to decide what he wants to do," he said.

"There is no doubt if you are a footballer with the passion he has you are going to miss it.

"You are never going to take the football out of him.

"He has never ruled that (coaching) out but it is not at the forefront of his mind at the moment.

"I hope one day in the future we can look at that side.

"I think he has a great deal to offer on the coaching side but I think there is a natural break off where he needs to go have a period with his family and then he will renew his motivation.

"You never know what the future holds."

First and foremost, Carragher has a match to get through.

Liverpool are planning to mark his retirement with a guard of honour from teams, a Kop mosaic and presentations from Ian Callaghan - the only man ahead of Carragher in terms of Liverpool appearances - and injured captain Steven Gerrard.

Liverpool are guaranteed to finish seventh - one place better than last year and closer to the top four than 12 months ago, when finishing 17 points adrift cost Kenny Dalglish his job.

Centre-back Martin Skrtel missed the game at Craven Cottage through illness but could return alongside Carragher and while defender Martin Kelly returned to full training this week after a knee ligament operation he is not in line for consideration.

QPR striker Loic Remy is available, the club have confirmed.

Remy has been bailed following his arrest on suspicion of rape after being one of three men held by Scotland Yard's sex crime squad for an offence that is alleged to have taken place on May 6 in west London.

The 26-year-old France international, who joined relegated QPR from Marseille for #8million in January, denies the claim.

QPR were relegated from the Premier League on April 28 following their goalless draw at Reading, who will also spend next season attempting to win promotion from the npower Championship.

Boss Harry Redknapp envisages a busy summer ahead in the transfer window, claiming his current squad would be incapable of securing an immediate return to the top flight.

"We need to change things here to give ourselves a chance of trying to mount a challenge for next season because it won't be easy," Redknapp said. "The hard work starts in the summer, trying to clear the decks, make some changes and get some fresh blood in.

"We need a group who will be good enough to compete at the top of the Championship. We certainly weren't good enough to compete in the Premier League.

"I'd like the changes to be extensive because the club needs changing. The team that's here hasn't been good enough and would struggle to get out of the Championship next season."

Moroccan playmaker Adel Taarabt could miss out at Anfield due to the death of his grandmother.

Source: PA