Prodigal sons get a dogs abuse
Andy Carroll admitted he was nervous ahead of his return to Newcastle United last weekend.
The England international made his first return to the north east since his departure during last year's January transfer window. It was a contentious £35 million move to Anfield, with Carroll seen as the jewel in a potential future Magpies crown.
Despite the Toon promising not to sell Carroll, the striker left amidst massive expectations at Liverpool.
It was an unhappy return for the pikey Geordie targetman. Although the St James crowd didn't give him the bird to begin with, he was then booked for diving with a empty gaping net in front of him, had a clear penalty claim ignored and was then given the hook early into the second half by Liverpool boss Dalglish, amid cheers and mainly jeers, and then ripped his shirt off as he ignored the bench and trudged off down the tunnel into the dressing rooms.
Newcastle won 2-0 with the new number 9 Papiss Cisse scoring both leaving the Reds still sitting behind Newcastle, as well as Everton in the Premier League table.
Therefore, we thought it was a good time to look back at some other difficult returns across the years...
Harry Redknapp - Portsmouth 4-1 Southampton - April 24, 2005
Redknapp made the switch from Fratton Park to Southampton in 2004, and in a tough relegation run-in, took on his former side back at his old stomping ground.
Pompey turned on the style and drove a stake through Saint's survival hopes with a 4-1 win. Furthermore, Redknapp endured a barrel of abuse from the home faithful, who were quick to remind him where his club were heading.
The 64-year-old subsequently returned to the club later that year, guiding them to the most successful period in their history.
Marvin Morgan - Aldershot Town 1-0 Shrewsbury Town - December 10, 2011
After becoming a fans' favourite at Aldershot, Morgan reacted to being booed during defeat to Hereford United by telling supporters on Twitter that they could all die.
The striker was subsequently transfer listed, and after moving to Dagenham & Redbridge, joined Shrewsbury Town in the summer.
Upon his return last December, Morgan was subject to droves of abuse from the home faithful, during a quiet afternoon.
Rio Ferdinand - Leeds United 1-0 Manchester United - September 14, 2002
Ferdinand's move to Old Trafford smashed the British transfer record, but once their fixtures for the new season were released, all eyes were on his return to Elland Road.
A chorus of boos for the England international were replaced by cheers at the full-time whistle, as Harry Kewell headed Leeds' winner.
Sol Campbell - Spurs 1-1 Arsenal - November 16, 2001
Arsene Wenger remembers the game. The Arsenal team bus crawling into White Hart Lane under attack from a barrage of bricks and bottles. The hatred and bitterness.
The hostility directed at Sol Campbell was 'terrible', Wenger winced, recalling the Tottenham icon's first visit to his old stadium after he dared to run down his contract, ignore interest from Manchester United, and cross the north London divide in one of England's first Bosman deals.
'I remember his big challenge, after about 10 minutes,' said Wenger, searching for details of the 1-1 draw in November 2001. 'That's where he showed he is a man. You always wonder what impact the pressure will have but he showed straight away he was ready.'
Sol Campbell - Portsmouth 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur - September 28, 2008
Campbell was feeling the repercussions of his move to Arsenal even during his days with Portsmouth, and the north London contingent went over the top with their abuse in 2008.
Chants of a homophobic nature were adjudged to have been hurled towards Campbell during the game between Pompey and Tottenham, leaving the defender feeling 'victimised'.
It was the first case of this nature where convictions were handed out, and was very much the straw that broke the camels back in terms of dealing with terrace abuse.
Wayne Rooney - Everton 0-2 Manchester United - February 19, 2005
Even though Rooney was a known supporter of the Toffees, a move to Manchester United appeared too good to turn down for the England star, and later in his first season he had the ideal opportunity to show his worth.
The Goodison Park faithful considered the move as one of the greatest acts of betrayal, and it was a move they showed nothing but bitterness towards.
Booing has since accompanied each of Rooney's visits back to Merseyside, as his success at United has continued.
Ashley Cole - Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea - December 17, 2007
Cole's return to Arsenal was slightly diluted as his first game against his former employers was at Stamford Bridge and then he suffered a knee injury to miss the fixture at the Emirates.
But he did return in December 2007 and it was a very unhappy time for him, as the home Arsenal fans continually waved fake twenty pound notes at him, ex-team-mate Cesc Fabregas pollaxed him with a crunching tackle which sparked a mass brawl, and then Chelsea lost the game 1-0 through a goal from ex-Chelsea defender William Gallas.
On 18 July 2005, Cole signed a one-year extension to his contract with Arsenal, but just a year later departed from the club in acrimonious circumstances. On 15 July 2006, Cole launched a verbal attack on Arsenal; in his autobiography, quoted in The Sun, he claimed that the Arsenal board had treated him as a "scapegoat" and that they had "fed him to the sharks" over the tapping-up affair while Arsenal, from their part, insisted that they were legally obliged to punish Cole for his illegal contact with Chelsea.
Cole was deliberately left out of Arsenal's 2006-07 team photograph, fuelling press speculation that he would leave.
On 28 July 2006, Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein confirmed that Arsenal and Chelsea had been in "civil talks" about the player. Chelsea insisted they would not raise their £16million bid for Cole, but Arsenal held out for at a higher valuation of £25 million. Negotiations continued throughout August and looked to be heading for deadlock, but eventually Cole signed for Chelsea on 31 August for a fee of £5 million, with William Gallas being transferred from Chelsea to Arsenal as part of the same deal. The deal was closed after the transfer window had officially ended, and was not confirmed until an hour and a half after the deadline had passed.
Arsenal had offered Cole a longer contract to stay at the club, but he had been left "trembling with anger" when they offered him £55,000 per week wages, whereas Chelsea were offering him £90,000 a week.
