John Carver has not been involved in any transfer meetings at Newcastle this year or last year, and it’s not surprising that he doesn’t know if any players will be signed by the club by next Monday – because that’s not his job – his job is to coach the players on the training field and prepare them for the upcoming games.
John Carver wants the job – happy to work under these conditions
So John doesn’t seem to know if Lee Charnley and Graham Carr plus Mike Ashley (of course) are planning to bring in Cristiano Ronaldo and/or Lionel Messi in the summer – and it seems the caretaker manager doesn’t care either.
Newcastle have been linked with MK Dons midfielder Dele Alli since the beginning of the season, and reports are that we have just agreed a £5M fee for him.
John was asked during his press conference today, if he thought that Newcastle would be bringing in players before Monday ( I had Money in place of Monday initially – a Freudian slip):
“I wouldn’t have thought so, no. I don’t get involved in it. I haven’t had any conversations about it.” “I haven’t got involved, and I won’t get involved in it. We’ve got people behind the scenes to deal with that.”
“I’m happy to work under these conditions.” “My job is to work with the guys on the pitch and deal with what’s put in front of me.”
“I’m so proud and honoured to be the head coach of a club like this. You can see the smile on my face – and I don’t smile too often, trust me.”
“In fact, the lads call me the miserable one, not the chosen one, but even I’ve got a smile on my face now!” “It was definitely a relief to get it sorted out.
Some people will point to John’s first sentence and say that Dele Alli cannot therefore be coming to Newcastle – but John has never ever been involved in transfers at Newcastle, and it looks like that will not change while he’s caretaker manager.
Alan Pardew was the only one involved with Lee Charnley, Graham Carr and Mike Ashley over the last few years.
One thought we have had is that if top choice Steve McClaren doesn’t want the Newcastle job in the summer, because for example he gets Derby County promoted, John may be handed the job.
That’s always assuming the caretaker manager doesn’t do too bad in the final 16 games of the season – he has two defeats and one draw so far in the three league games he’s managed – but it really wouldn’t surprise us if they give him the job full time.
I had a dream about that last night – or was it a nightmare? 😀
And as John hints in his comments above, he would be no bother to Lee or Mike – he’s just not concerned about the transfers into and out of the club.
One top requirement for the new head coach, whoever he turns out to be, is to accept the way the club conducts their transfers, with the head coach only one of four people on the transfer committee, and the coach does not have the final say.
And if an offer comes in for any player that meets Mike Ashley’s valuation they will be sold – immediately – whether or not they can be replaced in the transfer window that is active at the time.
John Carver meets all hose requirements – by his own admission.
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234 comments so far
magscar
Jan 29, 2015 at 11:34 PM
Comment #201Canny
That’s one herculean task you set yourself but you get my vote 🙂
firebug666
Jan 29, 2015 at 11:38 PM
Comment #202Canny & Magscar
I have to say though, I don’t think we will be looking for another Head Coach, I think that if Carver meets whatever targets have been set for him then he has the job.
He has already proved that he will be compliant to their every whim and wish, he won’t create a fuss anywhere so that’s job done.
Sad but true me thinks.
Average_Contents
Jan 29, 2015 at 11:43 PM
Comment #203Canny
Not me chick.
Mine would involve long, painstaking hours tracking his movements to the second. That’s all I’m willing to divulge at this time 😀
Canny in Canberra
Jan 29, 2015 at 11:43 PM
Comment #204Scar,
Nowt’s fun if it’s too easy mate. 🙂
magscar
Jan 29, 2015 at 11:44 PM
Comment #205Firebugg
You are very lucky if in your working life you have never had the misfortune to have to work for someone you can’t abide but haven’t the luxury of walking away.
Carver probably thinks he can maneuver his way round a club he has been at for years including under this regime. It’s little like managers thinking they are the one to get the best out of the likes of Balotelli despite others failing before it blows up in their face!
Canny would probably confirm it’s similar to lasses thinking they are the one to tame the neighbourhood bad boy before getting their fingers burnt as well. It’s thecircle of life
firebug666
Jan 29, 2015 at 11:46 PM
Comment #206Well lads & lasses, I’m off to my pit now as I have to be up a six, But I would like to say I have enjoyed the chat tonight so thank you for that, and have a good night, or day.
Canny in Canberra
Jan 29, 2015 at 11:46 PM
Comment #207Average,
that sniper rifle came off Ebay then?
I’d offer to help out in a honey pot capacity but I don’t think I’m his type. Not docile enough!!
Canny in Canberra
Jan 29, 2015 at 11:49 PM
Comment #208Spot on Scar,
Telling my lasses already “if he’s not what you want when you get with him, move on because they rarely change. Just gonna cry a load more tears than you need to.”
Jeff from Benwell
Jan 29, 2015 at 11:51 PM
Comment #209I’ll be very surprised if Carver makes a fist of it , but the guys got a 16 match gig and surely the best response is not to be on his back straightaway , but to shut up and see how he does. I’ve said it before , he`s really lucky the first game of the 16 is away.
jimmysmith
Jan 29, 2015 at 11:52 PM
Comment #210Yeah, we are miles behind the senior clubs, but I do see the club inching forward and better now at absorbing setbacks. Winning trophies is not easy of course. My most realistic hope under Ashley is that the squad will continue to develop and we’ll have a serious tilt at the cups. That’s the hardest part to swallow. The lack of desire to have a go, although you might have seen a better fist of that had we not been so undermined by injury this season. The cost of competing out of the EPL is immense in modern football though. You have to recognize that.
magscar
Jan 29, 2015 at 11:52 PM
Comment #211Firebugg
I’m off myself but just to say I hope you’re wrong at 201 but notwithstanding my optimistic nature I fear you are indeed right. Roeder all over again and then next season wasted on more searching for new Coach. Now I’ve depressed myself 🙁
Night all
Canny in Canberra
Jan 29, 2015 at 11:53 PM
Comment #212On a less melancholy note.
I’m looking forward to a great weekend of football.
Australia gonna do for the Koreans and then We’ll roll Hull.
Just for the record Reyantoon if you floating about, Australia is not my country but it was very nice to be cheering on the winning side for a change!
Canny in Canberra
Jan 29, 2015 at 11:55 PM
Comment #213G’night bugs and Scar, dream big kids!!
Average_Contents
Jan 29, 2015 at 11:57 PM
Comment #214So he is alive then. Clean slate? Wonder what happened.
http://mobile.newsnow.co.uk/A/755942606?-11058:809
magscar
Jan 30, 2015 at 12:03 AM
Comment #215Jimmy
Just seen yours at 209 and totally agree. You always give a balanced post and I feel the better for reading them.
Canny in Canberra
Jan 30, 2015 at 12:03 AM
Comment #216Well, he’s in a Newcastle shirt in that picture so he played at least one game then. Didn’t even know what he looked like till just then.
At least JC is popping out some info on what the injury is etc. That’s new!! Although certainly sanctioned and screened prior to release or am I just being paranoid?
Average_Contents
Jan 30, 2015 at 12:03 AM
Comment #217Sniper rifle. What ever gave you that idea 😉
You must of read my “previous” about fashioning a gilly suit to blend in with the giant SD signage above the gallowgate lmfao. Unfortunately rifles aren’t available on eBay.
I’m off too before the troglodytes appear.
magscar
Jan 30, 2015 at 12:04 AM
Comment #218Canny
Who you calling a big kid 🙂
Night
Canny in Canberra
Jan 30, 2015 at 12:23 AM
Comment #219I’m sure you are Scar but in fact what I said was Dream Big, Kids. Punctuation error on my part and shouldn’t you be in bed young ‘un.
Average – don’t Wallmart or somewhere of that sort have internet shopping? you can always borrow the resin Glock I made on my 3D printer. doesn’t set the detectors off. 🙂
jimmysmith
Jan 30, 2015 at 12:24 AM
Comment #220Ha, thanks Magscar, pleased to hear it, but I’m pretty sure I’m just an old windbag overly fixated on the Toon. Do very much appreciate your stuff though.
Goodnight.
lesh
Jan 30, 2015 at 3:37 AM
Comment #221Frank de Boer, currently the Head Coach of Ajax, and used to being responsible to a Technical Direction team that set everything from the team’s style and philosophy down to transfer dealings.
The key words being ‘responsible to a Technical Direction team that set everything from the team’s style and philosophy down to transfer dealings’
And what would de Boer have as a technical direction team at SJP? A Chief Executive whose forte is administration and Carr, who no doubt has an eye for talent and a network of contacts.
And they would define the teams direction and style? Don’t make me laugh – they couldn’t set a mousetrap!
It’s about time that Ashley stopped trying to do things on the cheap and realise that if he wants to implement a major change to the Club, he should employ the right people to do it – properly!
Canny in Canberra
Jan 30, 2015 at 4:00 AM
Comment #222Lesh,
your post ” if he wants to implement a major change to the Club”gives the impression that you are still working to the delusion that he give a F@CK. He does not.
He wants the coin, a free advertising vechicle, notoriety, something to pass the time, All of the above, hell I don’t know what he wants but is clear Greatness for our beloved Club is not on the list.
sorry, rant over. Hey how are ya! 🙂
Santon03
Jan 30, 2015 at 4:40 AM
Comment #223I don’t understand why are you guys saying that we intended to sell our stars, we sold Ba because of his contract clause, we sold Cabaye because he was pushing for it and go on a strike, we sol Carroll because the fools bite the huge price tag, other than that we sold players that we didn’t need and most here happy to see them gone. MA put price tag of 25mil for Sisso, a lot of the club who can afford him are under close monitoring by FIFA for FFP and Sisso is the who do the whoring not the club. I’m happy with our transfer policy, we find the next superstars with good price instead insane spending. Players come and go, why is it so special here? it happens everywhere, you made a special case out of nothing.
Santon03
Jan 30, 2015 at 4:48 AM
Comment #224constant b1tching and moaning everyday non stop, bunch of drama queens.
p
Jan 30, 2015 at 5:07 AM
Comment #225Santon, no doubt always drama queens on here crying about big mean Mike ashley.
The strategy is long term and is sound. Execution has been poor as well as some inexplicable decision making but I really do not see this regime being worse than any other.
Mistakes of the past do seemed to be learned from (janmaat was an example of that) and as you say, I think know any club would have sold the players we sold in the circumstances.
For sure replacements were not forthcoming but, The strategy was not to panic but.
A lot of people are asking for seasoned pros but that is what we had a lot of when we were relegated, no better than these French lads who use the club as a stepping stone.
p
Jan 30, 2015 at 5:12 AM
Comment #226And many of these people who are crying about selling sissoko or tiote, are the same ones saying we would sell all our best players in summer and sign no one.
Also, predicting Perez would be sold in January as well. At the end of the, selling one player a year is not that much.
lesh
Jan 30, 2015 at 5:30 AM
Comment #227Canny in Canberra
You’re right – I am a deluded fart, maybe living in a dream-world where Ashley actually wants to make NUFC a force to challenge the best.
Hey ho, dream on
Jail for Ashley
Jan 30, 2015 at 6:18 AM
Comment #228P,
I don’t think anyone said we wouldn’t buy anyone in the summer we simply had to. There were still more out than in. How is deliberately exiting the cups a long term strategy for success.
Jail for Ashley
Jan 30, 2015 at 6:22 AM
Comment #229The strategy is long term and sound ?? We were very nearly relegated two seasons ago, last season had a complete and utter demoralising collapse that carried on in to this season and are in no way guaranteed safety this year. How the fcuk is that a sound strategy.
Jail for Ashley
Jan 30, 2015 at 6:25 AM
Comment #230Mistakes of the past seemed to be learned from ??
They have made no secret whatsoever that if a bid comes in for Sissoko that he’s off, most likely sparking the demoralising collapse of last season.
Lilongwe Geordie
Jan 30, 2015 at 7:40 AM
Comment #231P,
I agree, the strategy as initially outlined was sound. I still think that if we were to continue with the blueprint, with a bit of minor tweaking we could look forward. However, you say execution has been poor, I say it has been deliberate and calculated.
The club have little intention of sticking to their blueprint as stated when we returned to the top flight. It was a 5 year plan of progression and development. At best, we have stood still. Patly due to other clubs moving forward, and partly due to the damaging decision making from those in power. Once again our stated target for the season was a top ten finish, a position we achieved in our first season back up, and our target ever since.
Yes, with the Janmaat and Debuchy transfer you could claim that it was evidence of the club learning from past mistakes, however 1 swallow does not make a summer. The club failed to bring in players in key positions because they were not prepared to deviate from their stringent plan. I get that this is fine the majority of the time, but every now and then you have to do a little more. We still do not do this.
Lilongwe Geordie
Jan 30, 2015 at 7:42 AM
Comment #232Jail,
You reckon if we sell Sissoko we will have a demoralising collapse?? Do we not need to have been in some sort of form at some stage to have a collapse. A collapse like last season would pretty much just be the continuation of our form this season, bar a all to brief patch.
Jail for Ashley
Jan 30, 2015 at 7:59 AM
Comment #233Lil,
A collapse where the players might just give up all together, if they think they’re safe already they might not even adopt that survival mentality that the other clubs out of the cups will have to give them something to play for.
BoyDoneGood
Jan 30, 2015 at 11:27 AM
Comment #234P
Agreed – financial stability has to be the basis of progress, or a club eventually self-destructs like Leeds or Rangers. And there’s FFP – sooner or later we’ll see Man City or Chelsea, title-buyers, picking up a 10 point penalty.
Anyway, the Ashley rants assume some malign attitude on his part coupled with a skill for squeezing the last penny out of the football club. But history tells a different story. He took on this club being totally naive about the way debts are hidden in this business, and got his fingers burned. (Everybody knows the stories of the financial attitudes of the previous three regimes, Hall 1 and 2 and Shephard, who make Ashley look like a white knight.) He appointed Kinnear, who had clearly lost it (used to be a good coach), and that saga shows how loyalty to a friend proved to be financially costly. He brought in Pardew, many here thinking that was a yes-man appointment… but Pardew had been uncooperative with the boards at most of his previous clubs, so that’s not a valid theory.
Ashley made the effort to sit with the fans, and that is viewed as cynical. Personally I prefer to see a family man with that kind of attitude in charge rather than sleazy Freddie. I don’t get it.
Now he has appointed Carver (a Pardew re-import) on a caretaker basis: well, who else? That’s what happens all the way from Assistant Coaches to American Vice Presidents.
Attitude to the domestic cups… Disappointing, but basically down to Sky. The finances of Premier League soccer are havily weighted in favour of the Prem itself. Somebody cleverer than me can no doubt suggest how to make the cups bigger advertising opportunities.
So am I pro-Ashley? No, nor anti. We have to wait and see – short term, I wish we had an exciting new head coach in place, but that’s because I wanted to see attractive – and winning – football now, not some time in the indefinite future. But in the real world, I’d rather (in the short term) we won ugly than lost beautifully, sitting back a bit more instead of frantically tracking back, and using the long ball more to compensate. I love digging out the old videos: Liverpool 4, Newcastle 3. But 3 points are more important than 3 goals. We don’t have a strong back 4, so they must be reinforced – that was Garde’s problem, and his solution, at Lyon.