John Carver will remain in charge of Newcastle United for the remaining three games of the season after Steve McClaren declined to fast-track his proposed move to St James’ Park and it became apparent no other suitable short-term replacements were available.
With eight straight defeats having sucked Newcastle into a relegation fight and it looking increasingly as if several senior professionals had “downed tools” under Carver, club executives made discreet approaches to McClaren’s representatives on Sunday.
With the Derby County manager strongly resistant to that idea, Newcastle’s board debated and then abandoned the idea of replacing Carver with a short-term firefighter. Accordingly three-way “conflict resolution” talks between the club’s hierarchy, Carver and senior players began on Sunday but, when the manager arrived for a meeting at the training ground on Monday with Lee Charnley, the managing director, he still feared he could be sacked.
Yet, alarmed as Mike Ashley, Newcastle’s owner, is understood to be about the head coach’s naive public outbursts – after Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Leicester he accused Mike Williamson of deliberately getting himself sent off (denied by the defender) and, last month, had suggested Fabricio Coloccini should be stripped of the captaincy – the lack of appropriate interim alternatives, either internal or external, ensured that Carver remains in charge.
This was confirmed early on Monday afternoon when Newcastle released a statement indicating a rapprochement had been reached and that blame was being shared before three vital games at home to West Brom and West Ham and away at QPR. “Following the result at Leicester City on Saturday there has been two days of frank dialogue with John Carver and senior players,” it read. “The outcome of those discussions is that John Carver, his staff and players are absolutely focused on our current situation and the three hugely important fixtures that remain.
“All parties accept responsibility for the current situation but are determined together to ensure this club – your club – retains Premier League status. This is the only focus at this time.”
Although torn by his ties at Derby, McClaren, whose side have narrowly missed out on the Championship play-offs, is understood to be seriously interested in taking over at Newcastle this summer. While Derby sources are insistent that he will stay at the iPro Stadium next season, the Newcastle board remain confident of securing their No1 target in the summer. McLaren, though, will demand assurances over transfer budgets, player signing and spheres of autonomy before agreeing a switch.
The former England and Middlesbrough manager knows he will need to win over the Newcastle crowd and felt this week was not an appropriate time to take over. Moreover, if the team are relegated, he may need to think long and hard about returning to the north-east.
For the moment at least Coloccini will retain the Newcastle captaincy. Although the risks of leaving Carver in temporary charge for so long in the wake of Alan Pardew’s new-year defection to Crystal Palace have now been fully highlighted, there is a recognition that the head coach has been dealt an extremely difficult hand. Not only was the squad understrength in January but subsequent injuries and suspensions have left Carver with a team unfit for Premier League purposes.
Carver has made mistakes. Reports that he discussed the limitations of Williamson’s game with two dissenting fans invited to the training ground on Friday who promptly tweeted what they stated were his comments are understood to have upset the defender and may have contributed to his sending-off at Leicester. But there is a sense that even a much more experienced, lauded manager could easily have struggled in similar circumstances. Whereas certain senior professionals are underachieving, others are simply not good enough for this level and have been shorn of confidence.
Ashley and Charnley took an immense gamble in not finding an external replacement for Pardew in January and all they can do now is pray the delicate truce between the manager and the players holds.
