Carney blasts Blades boss

David Carney has swapped the euphoria of Tashkent for a likely bust-up at Bramall Lane after declaring he doesn't want to play for Sheffield United boss Kevin Blackwell any more because his tactics are 'horrible'.

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After just 13 months with the Blades, Socceroos wideman Carney appears to be heading for the exit door, citing irreconcilable differences with a coach whose methods leave him cold.

Any chance of an unlikely rapprochement all but disappeared when Carney touched down in England after an 18-minute cameo as a replacement for Mark Bresciano in the crucial 1-0 World Cup win over Uzbekistan, and said: "I really don't want to play for him (Blackwell) any more.

"He's a horrible man to play for, tactically he's terrible - it's just all about the long ball.

"I'll have a talk with him this weekend and hopefully get out on loan to a club that suits my style better.

"If I changed my style to suit him then I probably wouldn't get picked for the Socceroos anymore.

"He came and saw me play for the Socceroos and told me he didn't like the way I played for them, so what can you do?

"It's not a good situation. I wanted to leave at the end of last season and told him so.

"And going to the Olympics probably didn't help my cause with the boss."

After making 25 appearances in his debut season for the Championship side, the former Sydney FC flier has been sighted just once in six games so far this term - and that was in a League Cup tie.

And after his no-holds-bared assessment of Blackwell's credentials and methods, it's difficult to see him adding to that tally any time soon.

Just in case there was any ambiguity, Carney added: "I don't think he (Blackwell) will ever take Sheffield United to the Premier League or coach at that level. He doesn't have the brains or the ideas to do it in the top flight.

"He belongs in the lower leagues - but I don't belong there with him."

The technically adept Carney is uncertain which direction the compass might point for him.

"I'd like to stay in England," he added. "But I will have to go somewhere that suits the way I play. I think there will be a few changes for me in the next few months - hopefully anyway."

While desperately unhappy at his club, he is on a high for his country, despite losing his first-team spot to full-back Scott Chipperfield.

"I welcome the competition with Chippers, he has great experience and he's sheer quality," he added.

"I'll just have to bide my time and hopefully learn off him along the way.

"I'm happy with that, I'm still young (24) and hopefully have a few years ahead of me now with the national team."

And Carney's assessment of the victory in Tashkent?

"It was a great win, we would have settled for a draw going into the game," he admitted.

"They are a decent side, second half they came at us and we did well to hold on.

"If we win all our home games and get odd draw away now, we'd be basically through.

"At the back we were excellent, that's what kept us in it."

Carney sees little prospect of a dropping of the guard against Qatar on October 15 at Suncorp Stadium.

"We've beaten them twice already this year (in World Cup qualifying) and I see no reason why we should slip up next month," he added. "I feel we're in pretty good shape, although a lot can still happen over the next seven qualifiers."

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