John Carver has warned Newcastle United’s board they need to make a decision regarding Alan Pardew’s successor soon.
“You can’t just let it drift,” the caretaker manager said. “The dressing room is settled but the longer this goes on it could become unsettled. I’ve been in this situation before and it can affect people. If you don’t do something about it, in a short space of time, you can end up drifting. So a decision has to be made – for everybody’s benefit.”
Carver, who takes his team to Chelsea on Saturday, wants the job himself and would be delighted to remain in charge until the end of the season in order to prove his credentials.
With Lee Charnley, the club’s managing director, understood to have opened talks with Rémi Garde regarding the former Lyon coach and Arsenal midfielder taking over at St James’ Park that may not happen.
With other names on the shortlist including Saint-Étienne’s Christophe Galtier, the former Mainz coach Thomas Tuchel, Ajax’s Frank de Boer and Derby’s Steve McClaren not available until the summer, if at all, difficult decisions must be taken. On Friday bookmakers added to the confusion by slashing the odds on Tim Sherwood – a name not believed to have been on the list – taking over. “It’s a circus,” Carver said.
Part of the problem is Newcastle were caught cold by Pardew’s defection to Crystal Palace and had no replacement waiting in the wings. Although the interest in McClaren was genuine, the delay in making a move resulted in the Derby manager deciding his loyalties lay with the Championship club.
If the chances of Charnley changing McClaren’s mind in the summer appear remote, others may be much more receptive come June. Carver appreciates the problems but is adamant Mike Ashley, Newcastle’s owner cannot let the hiatus continue for much longer.
“When I had that conversation with Lee where I said: ‘I want to throw my hat in the ring’, I told him: ‘You want the right coach but you can’t allow this to go on and on and on,’” he said. “They understand that. What they’re not going to do, and rightly so, is make a rash decision and say ‘we’ll take him.’ They need time to think and I understand that. Lee trusts me to do the job while they can have their thinking time and do their due diligence. I understand that but a decision needs to be made sooner rather than later.”
Carver is confident he could be the right man. “Why not,” said the former Toronto manager. “I’ve got the pro licence. I’ve worked with some of the best people in the game – Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish, Ruud Gullit, Sir Bobby Robson – top people with different styles of management.”
After his first two games in charge ended in a home draw with Burnley and an FA Cup defeat at Leicester, Carver knows he could do with a victory in the remaining pair of fixtures Charnley has booked him in for. “Not many teams go to Chelsea and win,” Carver said, “but I definitely might have to beat Southampton at home.”
Whoever ends up at the helm saw their chances of working with Moussa Sissoko enhanced on Friday when Laurent Blanc, the Paris St-Germain coach, said he was not interested in signing Newcastle’s best midfielder.
“Moussa Sissoko does not fit the profile we are looking for,” he said. “And we must not forget we are still subject to the rules of financial fair play.” Shortly after Blanc spoke to the French media, Sissoko issued a tweet. “I’m a professional player and I stay focused on my team, NUFC,” he wrote. “Don’t listen to rumours.”
PSG had been strongly linked with an attempt to recruit Sissoko this month but now Arsenal appear his only remaining serious suitors. Whether they would meet Newcastle’s £25m asking price remains a moot point.
