John Carver has now been permanently appointed as head coach for Newcastle United. At least to the end of the season. A lot of Toon Army fans are not happy about this turn of events. What change will this bring to the Tyneside club? Well probably not a lot.
Carver is in his second stint at the club, as he has been assistant manager to Alan Pardew since 2011. He was also assistant to Sir Bobby Robson, and worked in the club from 1999 to 2004; it is another reason why Mike Ashley probably considers him the safest solution the club could have gone for. Carver knows the club, the board and the players.
While Carver’s results have hardly been impressive since Pardew’s departure, this is no different from what Newcastle are used to under Pardew. The club had long spells of not winning matches only to be followed by runs of winning several in a row. So, who is to say that will not happen again? Besides, Newcastle are not too far from hitting the 40 points barrier, with 16 games still to go.
Newcastle are unlikely to get relegated this season but they will probably not qualify for European football either. Same as every other season the last couple of years. So who cares what the name of the manager is? Well, the fans do. Carver is not an exciting appointment, and his results after Pardew’s exit have not been good enough. Yet he is a safe appointment for the rest of the season.
The club has already confirmed its new course of a head coach instead of a manager. This means, among other things, that the manager does not have the final say on transfers. But he does have some influence and he will be able to state the names of players he would like to bring in. Then its up to the transfer committee to decide whether the players are the right choice for the club. Keeping an experienced member of staff like Carver might be a smart thing to do, as the man knows the club and their philosophy. At least it is better than bringing in a new manager in the middle of the season with his own ideas and own list of players to fit his style
Several managers have been connected to the job. The fans favourites such as Frank de Boer and Remi Garde would be good picks, but as we know, they are not available at the moment. Neither manager will join a club until the summer, as de Boer will definitely not leave Ajax in the middle of the season and Garde is adamant that he is taking a break from the game.
So if the best picks are not available, should the club appoint their third or fourth choice manager? That would mean appointing someone like Tim Sherwood. Nothing against Sherwood, but he does not seem to be the first choice of the fans or the board.
With this appointment Newcastle have hopefully bought themselves more time to consider the other candidates. However, Carver needs to start winning matches. A defeat against Hull the coming weekend would start the alarm bells ringing but a win would see them at 30 points. That means three more victories would probably be enough to see them safe.
This is not to say that Carver is the number one pick for the long term future. If he does an exceptionally good job, and sends the magpies flying to the top six, then he should be considered for a longer contract, but fans should not expect that to happen.
Please take a moment to follow my Twitter account – @LWOSMagnus. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport & @LastWordFC – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Feel free to discuss this and other footy related articles with thousands of fans at r/football.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?
Main image:
