Andy Carroll was stunned when Steve Bruce became his West Brom manager as pair ‘didn’t see eye to eye’

ANDY CARROLL is adamant there was no major fall-out with Steve Bruce at West Brom as he revealed he has no plans to follow him into the dug-out just yet.

The 34-year-old former England international is currently battling to keep Reading in the Championship.

The ex-Newcastle, Liverpool and West Ham forward scored twice in eight games for Reading last season before moving to West Brom in January 2022 on a six-month deal - only to return to the Royals last summer.

Carroll was recruited by ex-West Brom boss Valerien Ismael after an injury to striker Daryl Dike.

Just one game later, however, Ismael was sacked - forcing the towering frontman into a reunion with old Newcastle manager Bruce.

Carroll previously hit the headlines by revealing that “the second day I regretted being there” due to Bruce’s arrival.

The Baggies then axed Bruce back in October before they were due to play Reading, which led to Carroll posting on social media: “It’s always sad to see people get the sack.

“Especially when we were guaranteed three points at the weekend. It is a shame but that’s football.

“You don’t get the results, it’s a business at the end of the day. That’s why you have to keep the lads together and work hard as a manager and get the lads working hard for you.”

That led to many believing that there was bad blood between the two - but speaking exclusively to Sun Sport on behalf of , he explained: “I regret leaving Reading.

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“I did enjoy my time at West Brom – it's a great club. I had Steve Bruce as manager for two years at Newcastle, and I didn’t get much game time.

“We didn’t have a falling out of sorts, but we didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of issues.

“So when I joined West Brom and he became their manager three days later, it was like ‘really? - but it is what it is.

“I still worked hard and tried at West Brom, but the situation was out of my hands after signing under a different manager – things like that happen in football.”

Carroll witnessed another managerial change this week when Reading, who have recently been docked six points, sacked boss Paul Ince.

The Royals are 22nd in the Championship, a point from safety, with already-promoted Burnley next and only four games left after that to try and beat the drop.

Noel Hunt has been placed in temporary charge, but despite his own playing career seemingly winding down, Carroll insists that he has no plans to become a manager himself at the moment.

Instead, he is adamant he still loves the battles on the pitch and plans to continue tormenting defenders for as long as possible.

Carroll added: “My future is playing football right now – that's all I’m thinking about. There’s no thought in my mind that I’m going anywhere else.

“I want to play football for as long as I can. I love the game and how physical it is.”