Jamie Carragher admits he almost took a different role at Liverpool before retiring

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Jamie Carragher only played one season with Liverpool while Brendan Rodgers was in charge on Merseyside.

The 47-year-old spent 17 years as part of the Reds, starting his time at the club at the age of nine, before retiring at the end of the 2013 season.

During his time at Anfield, he achieved success in multiple cup competitions, winning the treble in Gerard Houllier’s side and the Champions League under Rafa Benitez in the infamous 2005 Istanbul final.

Carragher, alongside Steven Gerrard, was an important part of the Liverpool team of the 2000s, but decided that he could not carry on his career after 737 games at the club.

Rodgers’ arrival at Liverpool marked a difference for the club as Kenny Dalglish was let go from his role as manager.

Jamie Carragher was offered a player-coach role but Brendan Rodgers U-turned

In his first year in charge, the Northern Irish coach took the club higher than they had previously finished, with them ending up in seventh place at the end of the 2012/2013 season.

While the Scouser had decided to hang up the boots following the end of that season, he almost took up a different role alongside his duties as a player.

On the latest episode of Stick to Football, the former No. 23 told the story of when Rodgers took over the role and a phone conversation the two had about plans for the season.

Carragher revealed that in the call, he was offered the role of becoming a player-coach for Liverpool, something he had considered previously.

During the podcast, he explained that it almost happened until Rodgers U-turned on his original decision.

He said: “And then Kenny lost his job. Obviously, he changed it for Brendan Rodgers. So Brendan Rodgers came in and I was on holiday. We were on the phone for about an hour talking about football, his ideas, his plans.

“And he just said at the end of the phone call, Would you want to be a player-coach? I said, I’d love to. I said, I’ve had this conversation with Kenny and it’ll give me a good opportunity.

“And then I met him face to face in Liverpool and he changed his mind, which, you know. So we brought Mike Marsh in from the academy. And he’d worked with Jose, Brendan.

“If you remember Jose, every club he went to, he almost, he sort of promoted a club man sort of next to him, didn’t he? I think Steve Clarke did that at Chelsea.”

Jamie Carragher’s new role could have extended his stay at Liverpool

Carragher was always going to retire at the end of that season, but if he had been given the role which Rodgers had offered in the first place, he likely would have stayed.

It would have been as a coach, more so, but it would have been a great fit for the Reds, who, the following season, finished as runners-up.

Why the coach had decided against employing the centre-back in that capacity is unknown, but it could have been a very important decision that may have made a difference to the squad.