Fabio Capello accused England star of 'sleeping with grannies' - but got him mixed up with a team-mate
Andy Carroll has revealed he was once subject to a furious rant from former England manager Fabio Capello for allegedly accusing him of "sleeping with grannies".
During his four year spell as England manager, Capello certainly made his mark with a disappointing 2010 World Cup campaign in South Africa, in which Three Lions suffered an early round of 16 exit, perhaps the lowest point of his tenure.
Since his reign, it's been made clear that the Italian was strict when it came to rules, and unfortunately this led to former England star Carroll being accused of having sexual relations with grannies.
Fabio Capello wrongly slammed Andy Carroll for "sleeping with grannies" in brutal rant
Four months after England's 2010 World Cup exit, Capello called up a 21-year-old Carroll for his England debut for a 2-1 loss to France in a friendly.
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However, that isn't to say that the pair had a great working relationship, as Carroll revealed in his autobiography ‘Owning It’.
In perhaps one of the most alarming cases, Carroll claims that the former England boss furious lambasted him for his behaviour off the pitch, claiming he had been sleeping with grannies.
Carroll wrote: "One evening, John Terry knocked on my door. ‘The gaffer wants a word,’ he said. ‘What? Why!' I said, confused. 'He's not happy with your behaviour outside of football.'
"I later found out that John had gone to Capello and said he needed to speak to me because I was out of control.
"No sooner had I walked into this meeting with Capello than he started berating me. ‘You are always in the media for drinking and sleeping with grannies,’ he said. ‘You need to stop with this’. ‘What?’ I said, ‘I haven't done that.’
"Yes, you have. Drinking and sleeping with old ladies…’ That wasn't me… I was thinking, ‘What is this fella on about? Who's told him I've been sleeping with grannies? Has he got me mixed up with one of my team-mates?’
"In the end, I just had to accept it. ‘Yeah, all right,’ I said. ‘It won't happen again...’"
In the end, Carroll only had to live with the seemingly false accusations for a short period of time as Capello eventually stepped down from his role in early 2012, having fallen out with the English FA for their decision to strip Terry of the captaincy.
READ MORE: England's next debutant: The uncapped stars pushing to be Thomas Tuchel's next surprise call-up
Andy Carroll reveals the bizarre reason why ketchup was banned during England camps
But as it turns out, the accusations of his sexual activity wasn't the only thing about Capello that left Carroll confused and frustrated.
In another incident, he revealed the Italian manager angrily berated him for being on his phone ahead of a team meeting.
"The gaffer, Fabio Capello, was slightly crazy," Carroll wrote.
"One day, me and Ashley Young decided to head down for a meeting fifteen minutes early.
"There I was, sitting on the floor looking at my phone, when Capello walked in, marched over and snatched it out of my hand. 'We are trying to work here!' he barked. ‘You're disrespectful, f***ing using your phone! Send me a message!'
"With that, he threw the phone at my chest. I looked at him and thought, ‘Mate, I'm fifteen minutes early for your meeting, and there's nobody else here. What is your problem?’ Ashley, who had hidden his phone up his shirt, looked terrified."
Elsewhere in the book, the England star questioned Capello's decision to allow wine and desserts during team meals, but was adamant that ketchup wasn't to be served.
But, after some reflection, Carroll came up with his own theory.
Carroll continued: "Capello would let us have a glass of wine and dessert with lunch and dinner - chocolate cake, ice cream, whatever - but wouldn't allow ketchup.
"It made no sense - why wine and dessert but not ketchup? - and I could only conclude that it had nothing to do with nutritional concerns and everything to do with the fact he was Italian."
Topics: Andy Carroll, Fabio Capello, Football News, England, Football
Ben McCrum