Anfield legend Tommy Smith has weighed into the debate over Jamie Carragher's refusal to agree an extension on his current Liverpool deal without assurances of first-team football.
Last weekend, it emerged that the 32-year-old had stalled on negotiations and revealed in an interview with a Sunday newspaper that he would leave the Reds if he did not play regularly.
Smith, 64, sees similarities between the predicament he faced before leaving Anfield in the summer of 1978 and the one Carragher finds himself in, with only a year remaining on his current contract.
During a 16-year spell with his hometown club Smith, dubbed 'the Anfield Iron', was a similar kind of player to the Bootle-born defender and has backed Carragher's decision to secure regular first-team action.
"At the end of the day I think Jamie just wants to play football. There's no certainty that you're going to be playing at Liverpool," he told City Sport.
"The manager does some strange things, like putting some players on and others on the bench. I think Jamie should be playing week in, week out.
"It's a bit like when I was at Liverpool. I was 33 and got offers [to stay] but I went to Swansea City for a few years because all I wanted to do was play football.
"I think possibly what Jamie is trying to do is say to the manager - Look, I want to play football. don't just give me a new contract for another 12 months if you're going to put me on the bench."
Smith won a glittering array of trophies with Liverpool between 1962 and 1978, and believes that his former club would be foolish not to offer Carragher a new deal.
He added: "At this present moment he's one of, if not the best defender we've got. If they don't [offer him a new deal] they're being a bit silly, let's put it that way.
"Jamie is as fit as a fiddle. He can probably outrun everybody in the
team, he doesn't stop when going into tackles and he's just a great
player.
"They'd be missing someone [if he left] who loves a game of football, doesn't take any prisoners and, at the same time, is a great player.
"If you can go out and pay £1.5 million for [Sotirios] Kyrgiakos, I would say Jamie's in a different class to him. He's the best player defensive-wise we've got."
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khu siew leong, Malaysia around 1 year, 11 months ago