Close encounters of the Sunderland kind that will steepen Carter’s learning curve
HAYDEN Carter’s learning curve sharpened a little more steeply on Saturday when he was shielding a ball out for a goal kick and Sunderland’s Aiden O’brien gave him a bit of a battering.
It was cynical, wind-up stuff from O’brien but not uncommon in the game and, in the heat of the moment, Carter chose to prove he was not one for being pushed about.
The result was an unseemly scuffle in which more players than Josh Earl, who got far too involved, and O’brien himself could have seen cards.
Carter’s initial reaction probably should have got him a yellow, while Sunderland defender Dion Sanderson’s 70-yard dash to weigh in on the referee’s blind side deserved punishment.
It is rare that everyone who pushes someone in these situations gets a card and, whatever you think of referee Craig Hicks’ performance on Saturday, he and his assistant, Lisa Rashid, would have needed eyes in the back of their head to cop all the guilty parties.
Brewers keeper Ben Garratt’s quick intervention might have saved Carter from doing something he would later have regretted, too.
I was planning an article on Carter’s progress anyway. Late last week, my colleague up north who covers Blackburn Rovers, Jaquob Crooke, asked me how Carter was getting on in the first loan of his career.
I said: “I think perhaps the best compliment that can be paid to Hayden so far is that he has been going about his business almost unnoticed. For a 21-year-old still having his first regular taste of League football that is quite something.”
Well, forget that, he’s certainly been noticed now!
Of course, he was also noticed when he scored on his debut against Gillingham, the only goal of the game and the Brewers’ first clean sheet of the season. He was superb in that game, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s first signing before the big influx of players that followed, and the overwhelming feeling was of delight that the best defender the club had earlier in the season, Sam Hughes, looked to have been adequately replaced following the cruciate ligament injury that ended his season. Quiet efficiency is the phrase that comes to mind when assessing Carter.
If there were any nerves at all when he made his debut, poking in his first senior goal after 33 minutes would have done no harm at all in calming them – but the clean sheet was the bigger deal for the team. Carter looks younger in the face than his 21 years and while he will fill out, he is a solid enough unit to hold his own.
He is calm on the ball, decisive and does not try to do anything too clever when the ball simply needs clearing.
That said, when the opportunity arises, he shows no nerves in bringing the ball out of defence.
When you think about it, it was quite a leap for Hasselbaink to show such faith in Carter by making him his first signing when, with 50 goals conceded before the halfway point in the season, the utmost priority for Burton was to shore up the defence.
They have to go and play men’s football and they have to play in a team where points are crucial.
Tony Mowbray
Carter has not let him down. Furthermore, because of injuries, he has had three different centrehalf partners in the first five games and taken that in his stride, too.
Sunderland was another big lesson, not just because of his encounter with O’brien but because, for the first time since he arrived, the Brewers were comprehensively outplayed.
In four games, he had helped keep three clean sheets and, in the fourth, a fortunate deflection on a cross led to Ipswich Town scoring the only goal.
Sunderland, moving the ball better at times than any other League One club the Brewers have faced this season, knocked that record by scoring three times.
It will have been a reality check for everyone: this survival battle is not going to be without its setbacks.
After Saturday’s events, looking back at what Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray said when Carter was loaned out is interesting.
“From my perspective, with the likes of Hayden Carter and Brad Lyons (on loan with Morecambe), it’s (about) moving their careers on,” said Mowbray.
“They have to go and play men’s football and they have to play in a team where points are crucial.
“They’re in a position in the league table where they feel the pressure of football matches and that will accelerate their development, hopefully like Scotty Wharton.
“Scotty went out for three years to develop and grow (to Cambridge United, Lincoln City, Bury and Northampton Town), especially at centre-half because it’s a man’s job, really. You’re playing against experienced men who want to score goals against you, you have to know how to use your body, be resilient and
strong and powerful.
“Sometimes young guys have to go and learn that and feel what it takes to go out there and win.
“It’ll be massive for Hayden to go out on loan at Burton. I had conversations with Jimmy Floyd and we’re looking forward to him doing well for them.
“It’s a tough division, they’re obviously at the bottom and conceding a lot of goals so, hopefully, Hayden will help them in their situation.”
Wise words indeed and Carter will have digested another element of “what it feels like” after the Sunderland game.
He looks well equipped to cope.