James Carragher opens up on long-standing connection with Inverness Caley Thistle manager Duncan Ferguson – and reveals when dad Jamie will come to watch him in action in the Highlands
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Despite having only just signed for Inverness Caledonian Thistle, James Carragher is more familiar than most of his teammates with manager Duncan Ferguson.
The 21-year-old defender has only played two games for the Caley Jags – against Dundee United and Broomhill – but he grew up around Ferguson having gone to school with the Inverness boss' son Cameron.
Ferguson had alluded after the defender's debut to having a long-standing connection with the Carragher family, but did not go into any more detail.
Carragher himself, though, has opened up about his familiarity with the Ferguson clan, and why that helped his transition from Wigan Athletic into Scottish football.
"I went to school with the gaffer's son in Liverpool," Carragher explained.
"I was good mates with him for a while and played in the same school team, and then he moved up to Newcastle, but that's where the link comes in.
"I've known the gaffer for a while, and obviously as soon as he knew I was available he got me up here as quickly as possible.
"It's like anyone – if you go into a new job and you know who the boss is, it makes it a lot easier when you're not walking into the unknown.
"To be fair, when I was mates with Cameron as a kid, I used to go round to his house. He's my manager now, but he has always liked a laugh and a joke outside of training, even when I knew him going back 10 years ago.
"He doesn't treat me any differently to anyone else though, if I do something wrong on the pitch he shouts at me just the same. I've had a few telling offs on the pitch. It's hard when you come from a team who play a different style, you just naturally fall back into some old habits.
"I'm getting to grips now with how he really wants me to play here, but he keeps me on my toes a little bit."
The son of Liverpool legend Jamie, Carragher is no stranger to growing up around big names in football.
With his lineage, there could have been the risk of pressure being placed on the younger defender's shoulders to live up to his family name, but that is not how the ICT man sees it at all – even with the prospect of the Sky Sports pundit coming up to the Highland to watch him in action soon.
"It doesn't really challenge me – it might challenge other people, because they are judging me against my dad," Carragher reasoned.
"Being honest, I just play my own game. I'm my own person, but he obviously helps me a lot and I wouldn't be where I am today without him.
"I don't go on to a pitch thinking people are going to judge me, I just go and play my own game. It doesn't really affect me.
"Especially as you get older, people they like to have a bit of banter on the pitch, and that's just something you've got to get over. In terms of how I play, who my dad is doesn't enter my mind.
"He was going to come up for the Broomhill game but he was working on TV. He's planning to come up for the Queen's Park game on Feb 3, and the Hibs cup game. Whenever he gets the chance to come and watch me, he does.
"My grandad Philly is the same – even moreso than my dad really, because when my dad was playing my grandad took me everywhere. Whenever they get the chance to come and watch me they're always there, no matter where it is.
"You'll know my grandad straight away, he's just a loud Scouse voice shouting in the crowd. When he's home, he will be at every game.
"I think he was at Liverpool up until under-14s, then he had a bad injury or something and it just didn't quite develop. He has managed Sunday league teams since he was about 20, and he played at an amateur level, so he knows what he's talking about.
"We don't have to go into what my dad has done in the game, but we're a good footballing family."
