So: John Carver Wants a Permanent Job?
By Bryan Nelson
I know, most of things I’ve been writing about have been hovering around temporary manager, John Carver. But can you blame me? John Carver is in charge of Newcastle’s players, and if we win, the wins should be attributed to him. But I’m not going to either support, nor put out articles arguing for his removal. It’s not how I do things here at Newcastle Toons. What I do is try to figure out why he deserves it, and why he doesn’t. And there are numerous reasons for both.
Why He Does Deserve the Job
He’s dedicated to Newcastle’s future, and he wants them to succeed. But then again, anyone can say that, and anyone can truly mean it. But Carver seems like the man who is willing to put in as much work as is necessary to ensure Newcastle can come out with a win. We’re all sitting in our seats hoping that yesterday wasn’t a fluke, and that Newcastle can win again, and it will be next week that Carver really shows us what he’s worth it. But right now, there are things that lead me to believe that Carver may be right for the job.
He’s managed clubs before. He managed over at Toronto F.C. and had previously been caretaker of Newcastle United following Bobby Robson’s sacking. He lead the club to a 3-0 victory over the Blackburn Rovers. Even though he had won the game, he was never considered for the job permanently, and had left after Graeme Souness had taken the job and brought in his own staff.
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While Carver only managed the team for a single game, he was with the team for a while as assistant manager, and that itself does mean something, even if he wasn’t in charge of the whole operation. It’s important to see that he worked with the players, and he is responsible for the team’s performance, just as much as the actual manager.
He has managerial experience, and he wants to bring that experience to Newcastle, to show that he has what it takes to manage a winning team.
Why He Doesn’t Deserve the Job
He hasn’t managed a winning team. When he managed Toronto F.C. in MLS, in 40 games, the club won 12, drew 12, and lost 16. If that’s what he’s bringing to Newcastle, he’s not welcome. The Premier League is also a completely different league than MLS, and is much more competitive, and is full of better players. Right now, Carver is working with players that are probably better managers than him.
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He also comes across as a bit of a tool. He’s willing to give Mike Ashley all the major decisions, as long as he gets to manage the club. Sounds like a sweet deal for Ashley, because it allows him to remain pretty cheap. Carver seems like the guy that will let Ashley walk all over him, and bend to whatever Ashley wishes him to do. If Carver really loved the club, he wouldn’t accept those conditions. It’s why Pardew got fed up and left for Crystal Palace, and he’s been quite successful there in the past few weeks.
Carver’s record as a manager has never been positive. Except the one game with Newcastle that he served as the interim manager, Carver has remained a losing manager. If he thinks he can bring the best out in his players, why are they losing all the time? He seems like someone who thinks he has it under control, but really, as he’s smiling in front of the camera, there is chaos going on in the background.
Conclusion
Do I support Carver for the job? My fingers refuse to type “yes” or “no”. All I can say is that Carver has his qualities, but he also has extremely major fallbacks. His lack of true managerial experience worry me. Newcastle doesn’t have time to break in someone new, they need someone with experience who knows exactly what he wants.
In all honesty, whether I support Carver for the job or not, it is quite unlikely that he’ll actually remain in the top position after the season ends. Newcastle management know who they want, and they’re waiting for the season in France to end so they can actually begin some serious discussion with their top choice, Steve McClaren, who I believe is still unlikely to join as he will likely remain committed to Derby County.