Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers warned Andy Carroll he faced a season in the STANDS if he rejected a move to West Ham United, it has been revealed.

The Sun says the £35million striker had been desperate to prove himself to the new Anfield manager after a slow start to his Kop career. But the big Geordie soon realised that Rodgers was hell bent on kicking him out of the door.

However, Carroll, 23, was so confident of proving Rodgers wrong that, when he joined West Ham on loan last week, the frontman himself insisted on a recall clause that he could return to the Reds in January.

But after the way he was treated, Carroll privately concedes he does not feel he could ever play for Rodgers again as the manager is so adamant he does not fit his blueprint.

The only way that could change is if Rodgers were to admit he had made a mistake. It would be a spectacular climbdown but Liverpool are in such a mess, he could be forced to eat humble pie.