Carson and the great comeback

Scott Carson probably won’t play for England in the next 10 days.

But the Albion keeper is back in the squad less than a year after his international debut brought his footballing world crashing around him.

That, according to the man who coaches him at The Hawthorns, represents a major victory in its own right.

Joe Corrigan knows a thing or two about playing for England, having won nine caps in his own illustrious playing career.

So the 59-year-old former Manchester City keeper is perfectly qualified to assess the impact that Carson’s nightmare debut against Croatia last year could have had.

Eleven months on from the night when Carson’s fumble accelerated the demise of Steve McClaren, the 22-year-old was named in Capello’s squad on Sunday.

The man who has mentored him since he arrived at the Hawthorns this summer could not have been happier.

Corrigan said: “I’m delighted after what went on with the qualifying game, when he was lambasted for a mistake, which we’re all liable to make.

“People have to realise, and I didn’t at the time, that he was only 21 years of age. To be put out into a situation where it was life or death in football terms was a massive thing for him.

“Unfortunately it didn’t work out for him but I’ve said in the past that it wasn’t down to that one game that England didn’t qualify.

“It was also down to what happened before in other qualifying games and that added a lot to the pressure that was put on him that night. He has taken it on the chin and since he joined us he has been fantastic to work with.

“Hopefully everything will be put behind him and he will get on with things.”

Corrigan, whose career is chronicled in a new autobiography to be released tomorrow, took on Carson, baggage and all, when the giant youngster made his £3.25million switch from Liverpool in the summer.

The Croatia experience remained fresh in the collective memory of a nation and, presumably, Carson himself. Yet Corrigan insists he never felt the need to discuss it with Carson.

The former Liverpool goalkeeping coach said: “It’s all in the past and you can’t do anything about it. I was taught at a very early age that if you start dwelling on things the next thing you will do is make another mistake.

“You have to move on and get on with things and try to do your best. He has done that.”

Big Joe: The Joe Corrigan Story is out tomorrow.

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