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John Carew fires parting shot at Gerard Houllier

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John Carew today fired a bitter parting shot at Gerard Houllier after claiming the Villa boss showed him the cold shoulder.

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John Carew today fired a bitter parting shot at Gerard Houllier after claiming the Villa boss showed him the cold shoulder.

The 31-year-old striker fell out of favour with Houllier and found his first-team chances restricted to just a handful of appearances.

Carew had been Villa's leading scorer last season but the pair have not seen eye-to-eye since they were both previously at Lyon.

The Norway international was allowed to join Stoke on loan until the end of the season earlier this month and on his departure Houllier insisted he had "no problem" with the player.

But Carew, whose Villa contract expires in the summer, has now taken a swipe at the Frenchman.

"In all my clubs the manager has wanted me, except for the last three or four months," said Carew.

"But that is only three or four months out of 14 years playing. It's a long story with Houllier. There are personal problems you cannot control, but I find no motivation in (playing for) Houllier.

"I could have stopped playing and I would have had a fantastic career and done everything I wanted to. But I didn't really want to stop. I'm inspired by this.

"I had a fantastic relationship with the Villa fans more or less from the start, but that's now over."

Meanwhile, Gabby Agbonlahor admitted Villa's players are willing to put their preferences over positions to one side in order to boost the march up the Premier League table.

The 24-year-old striker has been used on the left wing in Villa's last two games which have yielded victories over Manchester City and Wigan.

It has helped Villa climb up to 13th place and Agbonlahor accepts that while he may prefer to play through the middle he can see the bigger picture.

"I think with the formation we're playing everyone's playing in different positions," said Agbonlahor.

"People might not be happy with where they're playing but the team comes first."