Former England and Liverpool forward Andy Carroll has admitted he wasn’t too keen on being a manager until he was appointed Dagenham & Redbridge boss by KSI.
Carroll, 37, was made Daggers caretaker manager last Wednesday after new minority owner KSI decided to sack former boss Lee Bradbury.
That decision came despite the club beating Farnborough on Tuesday night in what turned out to be Bradbury’s final game to leave them in 12th place in the National League South.
But Carroll’s reign began in the best possible way last Saturday as his side secured a 1-0 win over play-off rivals Torquay United, with KSI watching on in glee.
Then, on Saturday, the social media megastar was in attendance again as he watched his side beat Hampton & Richmond Borough 3-1 to claim victory in their third match in a row and continue their charge towards the play-offs.
Carroll has now opened up on the ordeal, and revealed he only wants the job permanently if he can continue playing.
‘Management was never something I wanted to do,’ he told The Sun. ‘But I always knew that if there was a chance for me to do it, I could.
‘It’s something that is exciting me at the minute. I’m really happy with the way it is going, but I never thought about it and it just fell on my lap.
‘I want to play football. I’m still contracted here to play football and that’s what I want to do every single day. If that includes having the manager’s job alongside it, so be it. But being the boss permanently and not being able to play football isn’t something I’d do right now.’
Former Liverpool and England man Carroll seems to be taking his new role in his stride and celebrated passionately as Stan Leech scored a first-half hat-trick for the Essex-based side on Saturday.
He wore all black and carried a calm demeanor on the sidelines until his side found the back of the net.
KSI, meanwhile, wore a club shirt and celebrated on the pitch at full-time.
Carroll, who joined Dagenham last summer but is currently injured, also holds a minority stake in the club, and he watched the first game of KSI’s tenure next to the YouTuber-turned-boxer earlier this month.
He signed for Dagenham as a player after leaving Bordeaux and had netted six times in 12 games until he suffered the injury in December.
Carroll’s appointment as caretaker boss also came despite him being due to stand trial next January after pleading not guilty to breaching a non-molestation order having been accused of repeatedly calling his ex-wife Billi Mucklow, with whom he shares three children.
A non-molestation order is handed out at civil court and designed to stop someone going near another person.
Breaching a non-molestation order can lead to a maximum of five years in prison.
