Blues boss Paul Jewell says 17-year-old midfielder Josh Carson is likely to be in his side for tonight’s game against Middlesbrough — if he remembers to turn up. The Northern Irish youngster completely forgot to show up at training on Sunday, his head apparently still in the clouds after his two-goal performance in Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace.
Jewell confirmed that as far as he’s concerned the U21 international will keep his place for Boro’s visit: "That’s if he remembers to turn up. He forgot to go to training on Sunday.
"I was counting the numbers as they were walking out and there was one missing. ‘Where’s Josh Carson?’ None of the players knew, so I rang him. ‘Where are you?’, ‘I’m at my house’. ‘ What are you doing?’, ‘Making a cup of tea’. ‘Where are you?’, ‘Why, are we training? I didn’t know!’
"He was here five minutes afterwards. He probably had every newspaper there, he had his mum turning one page over, his dad the next. He was soon down at the ground and suitably sorry. The new George Best I’ve called him.”
The Blues boss says word of the Sunday session must have passed him by in all Saturday’s excitement: "Everyone else was here, what I must have done was whispered it in everyone’s ear and not told Josh.
"I think what happened was that after the game he was on such a high that he didn’t hear me. It was a genuine mistake but that’s what he’s like.
"It’s typical of him. That’s part of his make-up. I said he was a scallywag and I meant it in the nicest possible way. He’s got an edge to him.
"He’s a lovely kid but he’s got to make sure he gets his head switched on. He was here five minutes after everyone else having been sat in his house around the corner, having a cup of coffee and getting a pedicure from his mum.”
While delighted with the Antrim-born youngster’s display at the weekend, Jewell says it’s just a first step: "He’s just got to be bright because in this game you can go one of two ways. You can be a two-minute wonder and everyone talks about you for a couple of weeks or you can do it the hard way and be a top player for the next 10 or 15 years.
"At that age, whether it’s Connor Wickham, Joe Whight or Josh Carson, they can have their two minutes of glory. That’s the easy part, the hard part is maintaining it.”
The Town manager says his two first team teenage protégés are very different characters: "Josh is more outgoing than Connor. Connor’s very quiet. It’s not that I think Josh isn’t level-headed, he’s just a bit more up and at you.
"Connor’s a laidback person, which in a way is a huge strength with all the headlines he’s had to deal with.
"The way he deals with it is terrific, he doesn’t let it affect him at all and he’s a really good kid. Josh is a bit more of a cheeky chappy.”
Returning to Carson’s now famed boot-cleaning duties, Jewell says Sunday’s AWOL incident led to an improvement on that front: "The boots were done yesterday. He wanted to see me three times to apologise but I refused and told him I was busy.
"He came back and I was busier, and he came back again and I was busier again. I let him sweat last night, so he’ll probably be mooching around the office now.”