Northampton Town: Carlisle ‘I owed it to Aidy to join Cobblers’
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CLARKE CARLISLE believes he owes Aidy Boothroyd one – because the Cobblers boss was responsible for one of his most successful periods in the game.
Carlisle and Boothroyd were together at Watford when the club was transformed from relegation candidates to a Premier League outfit
Even still, the defender probably did not expect his path to cross with that of his former manager when he took up the reins at a struggling league two club, especially as he was on loan at Preston North End at the time.
But the memories of the champagne days at Vicarage Road tilted the decision for Carlisle, who now wants to repay his former boss for those good times five years ago by helping their latest mutual club remain in the Football League.
“Aidy called me up and asked if I’d go down to Northampton and help him out because they’ve got a real battle on for this last four months of the season,” he said.
“I said I’d be delighted to work with him again. When you’re successful in football you remember those times really fondly and the time I spent with him at Watford was one of the first major successes of my career.
“Aidy did so well there, we had a great group of lads and we really enjoyed the work so I kind of owe him one.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to contribute to the cause here at Northampton.”
As well as footballing considerations, there were also practical factors to bear in mind for the father-of-three who also doubles up as chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association.
A lengthy consultation with his wife preceded the deal, as he explained: “Working with Aidy again was a no-brainer but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a long and serious chat with Mrs C about the move.
“We needed to make sure that this would be suitable for us for the next four months but we both decided it would be excellent for us.”
Carlisle was denied the opportunity to make his Town debut at the weekend when the game against Macclesfield fell victim to a frozen pitch.
The defender will now have to wait until Saturday’s trip to Dagenham & Redbridge for his first appearance in the claret and white. By then he should be fully familiar with his new team-mates.
“It’s like the first day at school again,” he said. “You try to learn everyone’s names and you feel so stupid if you get one of them wrong.
“They seem like a really good bunch of lads and hopefully I can show Aidy that I still deserve to be in the side.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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