West Ham striker Andy Carroll has criticised Brendan Rodgers' treatment of him while at Liverpool, telling The Times that he lost respect for the Anfield coach due to his "mixed messages."
Carroll, 26, was signed by then-Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish from Newcastle for 35 million pounds on deadline day of the 2011 January transfer window, but struggled to adapt to life at Anfield.
Rodgers took over in the summer of 2012, and Carroll joined West Ham on loan for the season before completing a permanent move to Upton Park a year later.
Carroll will travel to Anfield to face his old side on Saturday afternoon, and the striker says that while he would have accepted being told he was not part of Rodgers' long-term plans, he claims the Northern Irishman was not honest with him face-to-face.
"With Brendan Rodgers, there was a lot going on," Carroll said. "What he was saying to me and what was actually happening [were different things]. He was telling me one thing to my face, then I'd leave the training ground and he would ring me and tell me a completely different thing.
"He would say: 'You're going to play every week, you're going to play every game up front with [Luis] Suarez'. I'd leave and get home and he would ring me and say: 'Fulham and West Ham want you and I think it's best you should go.' I had just had a conversation with him 10 minutes ago. So I would go back and see him and he would say the opposite again.
"It was the same thing round and round and round. On phone calls, it was: 'I think you should go.' To my face it was: 'You'll start every week'. It was mixed messages. He was messing with my head. I lost respect for him, to be honest."
Carroll says he became angry at his treatment by the Liverpool coach, and saw an exit from Anfield as his only possible choice.
"Another example: I went to Hearts for the [Europa League qualifier]," he said. "I got up there. He said I was starting. I woke up in the morning and he came in and said: 'I think you've got a hamstring problem, you're not going to start.' I said my hamstring was fine. He said I'd be on the bench. I got to the ground and I wasn't even on the bench. I was the only one missing out.
"It was just messing me about. I was angry. I knew it was time to go. I thought I just want to play football. I didn't need this. Under Brendan I knew I was never going to play, with what he was saying to me.
"If he had said straightaway I wasn't going to play, I'd have said fair enough, you're a new manager, it's your decision. You didn't sign me, fair enough. He did it to a few other players, too, players who are not there now. I didn't need to speak to anyone about it. I just knew it was a breakdown. If the manager is treating me like this, [I thought] there is no reason for me to be at Liverpool."
Carroll has struggled with numerous injury problems during his time at Upton Park, scoring just twice in 15 Premier League appearances last season. However, the striker has recently found full fitness and has netted five times in 12 games so far this term.
Hammers boss Sam Allardyce says Carroll has nothing to prove on his return to Anfield, and believes the striker could be worth as much as 70 million pounds in today's market.
The Mirror quotes him as saying: "There are few of his type and capabilities today. Kenny saw him as wanting to lead the line with Suarez and they bought him. Because he never had a long time to establish himself -- and a new manager came in with a different philosophy -- he leaves.
"So, at the time everyone said, '35 million pounds, wow, what is going on?' It's a drop in the ocean now. Two years on, 35 million pounds won't even get you a top quality striker and you have to go to 50, 60, 70, 100 million-pound bracket.
"What did Barca play for Suarez? 80 million pounds? At the time, people think that was over-priced, but when you are giving them a five or six-year contract and, if two or three years down the line, they are developing as good as you expect, then everyone talks about it as a bargain -- '35 million for Andy Carroll, what a bargain and we would pay 60 million or 70 million for him now.' That is football at the top level."