I DON’T WANT AN EARLY EXIT
As a Reds revolution brings whispers of an Anf ield departure for Adam, the dogged midf ielder is set to make a stand
HAVING fielded pre-season criticism for putting his studs up, Charlie Adam may now be required to master the art of digging his heels in. The Liverpool midfielder was none too popular with the opposition players of Spurs for a challenge that left Gareth Bale on crutches during a friendly in Baltimore. Utterly unperturbed by that incident, however, it is the popularity contest with his own manager from which Adam must emerge victorious.
The 26-year-old has, for much of the close season, been considered a potential victim of the proposed changes Brendan Rodgers intends to implement in the early months of his revolution on Merseyside.
Rodgers’ favourite midfield son from Swansea, Joe Allen, was recruited for £15million. As Brazilian Lucas returns from a season-long injury at Anfield to ramp up the competition in that department, Adam has been linked with forming the makeweight part of a bid by Rodgers to land Fulham striker Clint Dempsey.
‘For me, I’m not going anywhere,’ the Scotland international insisted. ‘I’m happy at Liverpool and why would I leave after a year? There is no point.
‘I never heard anything about Fulham and nobody spoke to me about it so, for the moment, it’s paper talk.
‘I’m open enough to say that I’ve had a conversation with the manager and no one has contacted Fulham — or made contact from Fulham to Liverpool.’
The scenario is somewhat familiar in Adam’s career tale. In 2009, when he was valued at just £500,000 and not worthy of a regular place in Walter Smith’s squad, Adam disagreed with both assessments strongly.
So much so that his intransigence and desire not to give up on a future with Rangers led to Blackpool manager Ian Holloway suggesting: ‘If he was a chocolate bar, he’d be licking himself.’
The upshot was all very sweet for Holloway and Adam. They teamed up to inspire Blackpool to promotion then a thrilling Barclays Premier League campaign — form which persuaded Liverpool to spend £9m last summer.
One year on, the player’s natural confidence in his own ability and determination to remain with a major club once again sees Adam make a stand.
‘It’s not unsettling,’ he contested. ‘The new manager comes in, has his ideas and wants to bring his own guys in. If you’re in his plans, then fine.
‘He’s been great since day one. The training and the way he’s come across has been exactly what everyone had heard about. He’s a first-class manager.’
The man who bought Adam, Kenny Dalglish, oversaw a desperate league campaign in which Liverpool won six home matches and finished eighth on identical points with Fulham.
The knockout tournament successes of a penalty shoot-out victory over Championship side Cardiff City in the Carling Cup and reaching the FA Cup Final to play Chelsea were outweighed in the minds of the ownership by the top-flight campaign that cost Dalglish his job.
That has led to the Rodgers project, which Adam insists he can remain an important part of as one of the keys to being competitive in the upper echelons of the division and in Europe is depth of squad.
Certainly, Adam’s bossing effort — in a more advanced position than he had been accustomed to — in a Craig Levein Scotland team against Australia suggests he retains all the confidence and creativity that made him a transfer target for all the top clubs before opting for Anfield.
‘It’s not for me to sit and say how I did last season,’ he said. ‘Everyone has an opinion on how I fared. For me, I played a number of games but I got injured towards the end and that was a disappointment.
‘I’m playing with some of the best players in the world, I have a good coach, good manager and