Will Dalglish and Liverpool ditch Carroll in the summer after Newcastle defeat?

Andy Carroll suffered a humiliating first return to St James' Park yesterday

In the build-up to yesterday's much anticipated clash between Newcastle and Liverpool at St James' Park, Andy Carroll let it be known that were he to score, he wouldn't celebrate.

He wouldn't rub it in to the fans who used to chant his name and wouldn't show contempt for the club which gave him his big break in professional football.

However, within 10 minutes, he did show a complete lack of respect to his former club with a disgraceful dive which summed up his ineptitude in a Liverpool shirt.

Carroll had rounded Tim Krul and just needed to slot the ball into an empty net, but chose to throw himself to the floor and earned himself a deserved booking and, presumably, a place in Team GB's diving team for the Olympics this summer.

On this evidence, he's got more chance of making that team than he has of forcing his way into Stuart Pearce's football squad for either the Olympics or Euro 2012.

In fairness to him, he started yesterday's game looking more like the player who lit up the Premier League for Newcastle in the first six months of last season and more like the player Kenny Dalglish decided to spend £35million on.

He still didn't look worth that price-tag - in truth, even at his best he never did - but he did look like he'd be a threat to Newcastle throughout the game.

If he had slotted the opportunity away within 10 minutes, that would have set the tone for the rest of the match but he bottled it and had to deal with the consequences.

From the moment Papiss Cisse expertly headed home after some slack defending from Martin Skrtel on 19 minutes, there was only one team in it.

Carroll did have one more chance, which he headed over from close range, but would have felt humiliated long before Dalglish dragged him off with Liverpool 2-0 down and more than 10 minutes still remaining.

The 23-year-old was jeered and abused for the entire time he was on the pitch by the fans who used to cheer him, and the substitution would have just rubbed salt into his wounds.

It has become clear over recent months that Carroll is out of his depth at Anfield and Dalglish made a massive mistake to spend £35million on him just over a year ago, and it would be no surprise if he was offloaded in the summer.

The foul-mouthed tirade Carroll launched at Dalglish upon being subbed and subsequent storm straight up the tunnel will not have helped his chances of remaining a Liverpool player for much longer.

Carroll was clearly furious after being substituted

Dalglish was clearly trying to make a point by withdrawing Carroll at 2-0 down when the team were desperately looking for goals to get them back in the game that his performances have simply not been good enough and he will have to significantly improve if he is to save his Liverpool career.

If the Reds could recoup anywhere near the fee they spent for him in the summer, there can be little doubt they would offload him.

Their trouble will be that a club would be extremely foolish to spend anywhere near £15million for him, never mind £35million.

His reported £80,000 a week wages would also have to be significantly slashed were he to move, so it may be that Liverpool are stuck with him along with Dalglish's other costly flops, most notably Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing.

Around £75million has been spent on those three players alone and yesterday's defeat to Newcastle showed just how much of a fallacy their transfer strategy has been.

While Carroll toiled, his successor in the famous black-and-white number nine jersey thrived.

Papiss Cisse's brace took his tally to seven goals in seven games since his reported £9million switch from Freiburg in January, which is two more league goals than Carroll has scored in 15 months for the Anfield club.

Cisse looks the real deal with his movement, finishing and composure drawing comparisons to great Newcastle goalscorers of the past, including Andy Cole.

Cisse has started his Newcastle career in stunning fashion

As well as Cisse, the likes of Hatem Ben Arfa, Demba Ba, Yohan Cabaye and Cheick Tiote have all been brought in relatively cheaply and all were superb against Liverpool, while James Perch and Mike Williamson's performances were as good as any.

Newcastle thoroughly deserved their victory over Liverpool - despite Danny Simpson's handball on the line in the first half - and are now 11 points better off than the Merseysiders, so it is clear which transfer policy works best.

Alan Pardew and his scouting network have brought in some superb players and they deservedly sit in the top six of the Premier League, a fact Magpies fans ensured Jose Enrique did not forget with repeated chants of "Jose Enrique, we're in the top six", referring to Twitter comments by the player last summer suggesting the club's transfer policy meant a return to European competition was impossible.

Carroll's humiliation was complete as he was substituted and Enrique's ended with a bizarre cameo in goal.

Pepe Reina deservedly saw red for a ridiculous headbutt on Perch - who certainly made the most of whatever contact there was - and Newcastle fans revelled in seeing their former left-back suffer the ignominy of pulling on the goalkeeper's jersey for the closing stages.

Carroll and Enrique may point to their Carling Cup winner's medals to justify their decisions to swap Tyneside for Merseyside - as well as significantly improved bank balances - but as far as the league campaign is concerned, their new side has been embarrassed by their lack of success compared to the prudent Magpies.

Liverpool have now lost six of their last seven league games and their lack of form in the league cannot be defended by their performances in the cups.

Liverpool is too big a club to be classed as a 'cup team' so a tag like that should be embarrassing for Dalglish and the club's owners.

Dalglish is likely to survive this period as fans still appear unwavering in their support for him, but whether the likes of Carroll will is a major doubt.

His confidence will now be at an all-time low after the humiliation of his first return to Tyneside, and it would be no surprise if both he and the club wish to go their separate ways this summer.

Carroll will find it difficult to find a club willing to spend the amount of money it would take to get him out of Anfield and the wages he would demand, and many have predicted he will one day return to Newcastle.

After yesterday's events and the reception he received at St James' Park, it appears he wouldn't be welcomed back with open arms.

His career is at a crossroads as he looks out of his depth and lacking the desire to succeed, so it is hard to see where he will go from here.

As for Newcastle, everything is looking very rosy for them.

The spectre of the summer's transfer window still looms large, with Ba and Tiote both heavily linked with moves, but after the club's recent successes in the transfer market, they should be trusted to make the correct decisions.

Cisse is already looking like a superb player and if the team can continue to play like this, a top-five finish is not out of the question.

A top-four placing still looks fanciful but whatever happens in their remaining seven games, this has been a superb season for them.

Many predicted they would face a relegation battle after losing key players last summer, but they simply replaced them with better ones and now look sensational.

Fans are loving the club's revival and Pardew deserves tremendous credit - perhaps even the manager of the year award - for the unbelievable job he has done at St James' Park.

Pardew has built an excellent team at Newcastle

Even the loss of captain Fabricio Coloccini did not derail them against Liverpool, with Williamson and Perch dealing with the likes of Carroll and Luis Suarez superbly.

Newcastle produced a magnificent team display sprinkled with individual genius from the likes of Ben Arfa and Cisse and nothing should be taken away from them.

They were brilliant but Liverpool were shocking for much of the game.

They were epitomised by Carroll's performance and the big number nine may be angling for a move back to Newcastle.

However, on this evidence, it is hard to see why they would want him.

Pardew is still a big fan of him and Carroll was tremendous for around 12 months in a Newcastle shirt, but the Magpies play a different style now and to add Carroll to that would only unsettle what Pardew has built over the course of this season.

Carroll could be in for a very lonely summer unless he can somehow find form in the remaining games of this season.

Of course, it is still feasible he could score the winning goal in the FA Cup final and salvage his career at Anfield, but unless Liverpool and Dalglish adopt a much more direct style it is hard to see how they will get the best out of him.

To spend £35million on a player who simply doesn't fit in with a team's style of play was barbaric and Liverpool will have it confirmed to them in the summer just how much Carroll's stock has fallen in the period since they signed him.

They would be lucky to get a fee of £10million for him and, however hard they try to offload him, they will find it extremely difficult to.

Carroll could soon find himself as the unwanted man as no club will want to spend a significant fee on him and Liverpool and Dalglish's patience may soon wear thin if it hasn't already.

Dalglish has stuck by Carroll throughout his underwhelming spell of form

Dalglish's withdrawal of Carroll yesterday may have been a sign that his faith is wavering and it is hard to see how the striker can come back from this.

Liverpool appear stuck with him and he appears stuck with them, so the next few years should be very interesting.

Carroll should look back on last January's decision to leave Newcastle with enormous regret.

He looked like a player with tremendous potential and that potential is still surely intact, but he has struggled to fit in with Liverpool's style of play and the burden of his huge price-tag looks to have weighed heavily on his shoulders.

Carroll was described as the 'next Alan Shearer' during his time at St James' Park but now looks more like the new Michael Ricketts.

The £35million fee Liverpool spent on him looked ridiculous at the time and now looks more like daylight robbery.

Yesterday's return to St James' Park for Carroll - and Enrique - could not have been much more humiliating and his confidence must now be shattered.

He is still living in a Liverpool hotel and is still thought to crave a move back to the North-East, but with his diving antics yesterday he has now burnt the bridges he had remaining on Tyneside.

His tirade at Dalglish may have had the same effect on Merseyside and it will be extremely interesting to see if the Scot sticks with his record signing this summer.

Carroll does not look like a Liverpool player and, if they can somehow find a club to take him off their hands, it would be no surprise to see Dalglish cut his losses on him soon.