Two dissenting Newcastle United season-ticket holders appear to have been won over by John Carver the man, if not the manager, after accepting an invitation to tea with Newcastle United’s head coach on Friday morning.
Carver was upset by incessant abuse from Allen O’Connell and Thomas Concannon during last Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at home to Swansea, Newcastle’s seventh straight loss.
Anxious to explain what he had been trying to do heinvited the pair to the training ground before Newcastle left for their flight south ahead of Saturday’s game at Leicester.
“We told him he wasn’t good enough as a manager, we didn’t say the actual words because that would be disrespectful, but we said the club wasn’t doing well and that’s down to the manager,” O’Connell a 22-year-old hotel receptionist told the Evening Chronicle.
“He took everything we said on the chin and was good about it but we told him how unhappy we are with the club, so he knows.
“We didn’t hold anything back, we told him what we thought. He admitted his team aren’t good enough because of injuries. He said he had money to spend [next season] but would walk if they couldn’t buy any new players. He said he sympathised with us.
“He didn’t actually say that he wanted to be manager next season but you could just tell that he wants it. But he did say he would still be at the club in some capacity - no matter what.”
He and Concannon, also 22 and a leisure assistant, subsequently met assorted players including Jonas Gutiérrez and Jack Colback but were not allowed to join them on the practice pitch.
“I always have my football boots in the car and I asked Carver if I could put them on and join the lads on the pitch at training,” said Allen.“That didn’t go down well. But I had my picture taken with Jack Colback as he has done well this season. Then we had lunch.”
Later on Twitter, O’Connell revealed the pair had made their feelings plain about Mike Williamson, Newcastle’s centre-half. “He [Carver] told us he tells Williamson not to play long balls but he keeps doing it,” he tweeted. “Told him I’m a better player than Williamson and he didn’t reply.”
No one at Newcastle was available to comment on the visit but it is understood to have been regarded as a success. Allen’s tweets included a thank-you. “We must thank NUFC and Wendy Taylor (the club’s head of communications) for the opportunity they gave us,” he wrote. “It meant a lot to both of us.”
