and anyone would have done the same if in his position.
Just like getting a pay rise at work.
Except when you give someone a pay raise when they don't deserve one that's bad for morale, no? Like if you were Martin Skrtel for example. Stay fit, work hard, in the best form of your life, yet for 2 years have played second fiddle to a player who hasn't consistently played well in 4 years, requiring injuries to get into the team and at the same time earning a fraction of his wages.
If we couldn't keep Sami Hyypia who was nothing but a consumate professional to the core, acted with dignity and respect, lead by example and accepted that his days as a starter were limited took the ego dent and was always ready to step in when required. Since that was a case, you can't really blame people for being a bit puzzled (to put it mildly) that the club awarded Carragher a 3 year contract, with a payraise after his worst form in over a decade and almost every single one of his once arsenal of attributes slip away with every start. If this had come in 2006 then by all means make him one of the top earners. But when he's close to the top earners at the club, with many earning far less and performing far better there's disharmony, just like when someone gets a promotion or pay raise in work when there were others who deserved it more.
It's not about anyone would've done it. It's the fact that he plays the local lad, working class hero. Talks like he would defend the club with his life when there has been little to nothing showing that in the past few years. The club was in turmoil, he stayed silent while the foreign ones (you know the ones whose wives and girlfriends poor mrs. Carragher couldn't talk to during club dinners) spoke out, demanding change, actions, encouraged fan protests and defended the manager. He stayed silent as a European Cup winning manager was sacked after one bad season, the very same manager who had turned him from a makeshift fullback and squad player into one of the best center backs in Europe. And then after weeks and weeks of contract negotiations, protests against the owners, facing financial oblivion in relegation form he decides to to bite the bullet and with the club's best interests at heart, save it the trouble of buying a new center back by securing the next 3 years of his services, for a decent payraise hours before the takeover.
But even ignoring all of that. Purely from an empirical point of view. As the club was playing, how many times in the past 2-3 years have you felt better knowing Carragher was on the team sheet (if you don't include games against Everton)?