Charlie Adam

Charles Graham "Charlie" Adam (born 10 December 1985) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liverpool and the Scotland national football team.

Before having a youth career at Rangers, Adam was part of the Dundee youth set up between 1999 and 2000. He signed for Alex McLeish's Rangers in December 2000, and became a product of their youth system. He spent much of his early senior career on loan to other clubs. While on loan to St. Mirren during season 2005–06, Adam was part of the team that won both the Scottish Challenge Cup and First Division, playing in over thirty matches for the Saints. Upon returning to Rangers at the end of the 2006 season, he became a regular under managers Paul Le Guen and Walter Smith. Adam was also part of the Rangers team that reached the 2008 UEFA Cup Final.

After falling out of favour at Rangers during season 2008–09, Adam was loaned out to English Championship side Blackpool. The loan was made permanent at the start of the 2009–10 season, and Adam became an integral part of the Blackpool side, captaining the team to a play off victory over Cardiff City which resulted in their promotion to the Premier League. Adam shone in his first season in the English Premier League, his performances being recognised with a nomination for the PFA Players' Player of the Year in April 2011. As a result, he transferred to Liverpool in July 2011.

Rangers

Dundee-born Adam joined Rangers on his fifteenth birthday, 15 December 2000. He made his debut appearance on 14 April 2004 against Livingston and played sporadically thereafter but did not become a first-team regular until the management of Paul Le Guen.

He made an appearance at the start of the 2004–05 season, and then joined First Division club Ross County on loan for the rest of that campaign. While in Dingwall, Adam made fifteen appearances, scoring twice, against Raith Rovers and St. Mirren. He also played in the 2004 Scottish Challenge Cup Final against Falkirk. County were ahead courtesy of David Winters 56th minute goal. Adam was substituted in the 60th minute as was team mate Sean Higgins six minutes later. Neil Scally and Darryl Duffy then scored in 70 and 75 minutes respectfully for Falkirk to come back to lift the trophy.

Blackpool

In August 2009 Adam signed a two-year contract with Blackpool with the option of a further year, in a club-record transfer fee of £500,000. His competitive debut as a permanent Blackpool player was in a 1–1 draw with Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road later that month. His first goal came on 26 August in a 4–1 home win over Wigan Athletic in the League Cup.In January 2010 he was named in the Press Association's Championship "Team of the Week", along with team-mate Neal Eardley following his performance two days before in the 3–2 home victory over Watford. That same month Adam won the Championship Player of the Month award and was voted the PFA Championship Fans’ Player of the Month for January 2010. In March, Adam scored in his 50th league appearance for Blackpool, a 2–0 win at Plymouth Argyle. Just under a month later, Adam was named in the PFA "Championship Team of the Year".

Blackpool qualified for that season's play-offs. Adam scored a match-winning penalty against Nottingham Forest in the semi-final first leg,and Blackpool won the tie on aggregate. In the play-off final Adam scored a free-kick as Blackpool beat Cardiff City 3–2 at Wembley Stadium and gained promotion to the Premier League. the fourth week of the 2010–11 Premier League season, Adam was named in the official Team of the Week. He was named again in week seven, alongside teammate Luke Varney. In early December, a tribunal ruled in favour of Adam in a dispute over unpaid bonuses from the previous season. They found that Blackpool were required to pay the player £25,000 for successfully avoiding relegation to League 1. The club had argued that the promotion bonus (which had been stipulated in Adam's contract) superseded the 'survival bonus.' The panel upheld Adam's complaint, but did not agree with his second argument that the failure to pay the amount constituted a breach of contract on the club's part. As a result, both parties were responsible for their own legal fees - leaving Adam with a very small net gain from the venture. In January 2011 Blackpool rejected a £4.5 million bid to buy Adam from Liverpool, an amount described by manager Ian Holloway as "disgraceful". Blackpool then rejected a transfer request that Adam had made to the club. He was one of seven nominees for the 2010–11 PFA Players' Player of the Year. However, Adam and his Blackpool team mates were relegated at the season's end.
In May 2011, Blackpool activated an option to increase Adam's contract by a further twelve months.

Liverpool

In July 2011 Liverpool signed Adam from Blackpool for a fee of £7 million. He played the second half of Liverpool's friendly against Guangdong Sunray Cave in a 4–3 win on 13 July. He scored his first goal for the club via the penalty spot in the 6–3 win vs Malaysia XI. On 13 August 2011, Adam made his debut in Liverpool's first game of the 2011–12 Premier League, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1-1 draw against Sunderland at Anfield. There, he assisted the opening goal from Luis Suárez from a free kick outside the area. On Saturday 20 August 2011, he started and played the full 90 minutes against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in a 2-0 away victory. On 24 August 2011, Adam started Liverpool's Carling Cup 2nd round tie with Exeter which finished 3-1 to the Reds. On 27 August 2011, Adam scored his first Premier League goal for Liverpool in a match against Bolton Wanderers which Liverpool went on to win 3-1.. Adam was shown a second yellow card for a challenge on Scott Parker at a 4-0 away loss against Tottenham Hotspur.

 

International Career

Adam was called up by national manager Alex McLeish to the Scotland squad for the first time on 11 May 2007 for a friendly against Austria and a Euro 2008 qualifying Group B match against the Faroe Islands.He made his debut at the Gerhard Hanappi Stadium in Vienna on 30 May as a 67th-minute substitute, in a 1–0 victory. He then made his competitive debut as a 77th-minute substitute in a 2–0 win over the Faroe Islands at the Svangaskarð stadium in Toftir on 6 June.
Adam was recalled to the Scotland squad by manager George Burley for a friendly against Japan on 10 October 2009 at the Nissan Stadium, Yokohama, Japan. Scotland lost the game 0–2, with Adam earning his third cap, and in doing so became the first Blackpool player to represent Scotland since Tony Green in 1971.
On 10 November 2009, Adam was drafted into the Scotland squad for the friendly against Wales four days later. He replaced his former Rangers teammate Kevin Thomson, who pulled out due to illness. George Burley said of Adam: "He scored a cracking goal for Blackpool last weekend. He is a very good replacement. He has been playing consistently, is a quality player, and is getting a real benefit from playing regularly."