Newcastle have again been hit with injuries over the last week, and John Carver talked about it in his press conference yesterday, before the game at Everton tomorrow.
John Carver – I don’t like making excuses but ..
Mehdi Abeid is out for two or three weeks with a thigh muscle strain – but with Newcastle’s limited games – we have only 10 league games to play through May 24th – over two months – that means he may only miss two games at Everton tomorrow and at home to Arsenal next Saturday.
Mehdi could be available for the next game at Sunderland on Sunday 5th April.
That’s what happens when you field weakened teams in the local Cup competitions and do not participate in European competition.
You basically play only Premier League games and somebody could even work out that’s the only priority at Newcastle these days!
😀
John Carver doesn’t like to make excuses, and one reason for that is he knows it doesn’t wash too well with Newcastle fans.
This is how the interim head coach addressed the injury situation in his press conference yesterday:
“I don’t like sitting here making excuses, but it’s like ‘Emergency – Ward 10’ at the training ground at the moment.”
“I’ve never seen so many players on crutches. Cheick Tiote came in for the first time since his surgery, and all I could hear was the crutches coming down the corridor.”
“We’ve got a tough run of games, and we’ve just got to deal with it. We’re not down to the bare bones, but we’re down to a small number of players.”
We have 10 games left in the season and we are catching Everton tomorrow between Europa League ties and they don’t have a big squad either, and the Toffees have suffered from injuries to key players this season.
We need a win, but another defeat, which would be the 6th in 11 games for John Carver, could bring some creeping anxiety back to Newcastle fans.
The last thing we want to see is what happened last season, when we went on a six game losing streak towards the end of the season, and lost seven of the last eight games.
After 28 games played last season we had 43 points so we could afford those losses so to speak – but that’s not so true this season, and we have only 35 points from our 28 games.
We need a couple of wins to be safe and get the club over 40 points for the season, but nothing is ever easy at Newcastle.
We know that through past experience.
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15 comments so far
BandB
Mar 14, 2015 at 7:57 AM
Comment #1John’s right though. The pressure is all on Everton. We can afford to express ourselves, and not getting something from the game would be a bit disappointing really.
mindshaft
Mar 14, 2015 at 8:06 AM
Comment #2Something is surely wrong with our training methods – how can any team have so many injuries – sadly Carver is like a rabbit in headlights and can’t see the reality of the bus that is going to hit him
Ian Toon
Mar 14, 2015 at 8:07 AM
Comment #3See few mins ago.
jesperfuglsang - capt'n awesome of the lemon crew
Mar 14, 2015 at 8:07 AM
Comment #4What are we going to express? Some poor defending and problems finding the goal?
…I hope JC will play Obertan so I at least can have a bit of a laugh 😉
Ibizatoon
Mar 14, 2015 at 8:10 AM
Comment #5“Click, Clack, Click, Clack”
“OoOoOoOo….We’re coming down the corridor Johnny Boy”
So, are any other players actually on crutches, or is he saying Tiote is the first person he’s seen using crutches?
This is actually one of my favourite Carver quotes now.
“We’re not down to the bare bones, but we’re down to a small number of players.”
Lovely.
BandB
Mar 14, 2015 at 8:13 AM
Comment #6John’s not man who likes making excuses. He’s not even going to use the rotten luck with injuries as an excuse.
Good. Tomorrow is a winnable game.
jesperfuglsang - capt'n awesome of the lemon crew
Mar 14, 2015 at 8:15 AM
Comment #7Ibiza…you need a University degree in bollocks to talk like JC
…he has been studying under AP for a long time 😉
BandB
Mar 14, 2015 at 8:16 AM
Comment #8He says he’s never seen so many players on crutches, Ibiza.
So must be stating facts, because he doesn’t like making excuses.
So let’s see the three points then. One will do. Hand ’em over.
No excuses.
Rotonda heights
Mar 14, 2015 at 8:16 AM
Comment #9The only joy we’ve had this season is when forced to play some youngsters.
All this ” careful not to scar them” is an incredibly negative standpoint, as is ” we’re all to blame, not just 1 person”, before you’ve even played a game!
We’ve had nothing to play for all season and the only tangible successes have been Perez, Aarons and Abeid, so with still nothing to play for, I say give the kids a go.
Not knowing a player can take free kicks after coaching him for 4 years kind of shows Carver’s limitations and yet more training ground injuries shows how desperately 52000 need proper 21st century coaches in place.
Ian Toon
Mar 14, 2015 at 8:22 AM
Comment #10I still remember Jesper having a massive with Tads over how badly we had played against ManCity only for him to disclose that he had not watched the game .
I used to think it was an attempt at humour but I now conclude that he’s in a permanent state of confusion and a fog bubble.
Am I being unkind?
Not when he constantly mischievously involves me in his childish games with The blog bully- who’s old enough to know better.
I believe in a free press and blog. Within the usual limits.
BandB
Mar 14, 2015 at 8:23 AM
Comment #11Hi Ian,
The enforcer thing wasn’t “my take.”
It happened. To me.
My sides didn’t exactly split, at the time, I have to say.
But I don’t want to get all politically correct about it.
I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
England.
Anyway, no-one wants to be making political points on a football blog, as I know you’ll agree.
Ibizatoon
Mar 14, 2015 at 8:24 AM
Comment #12BandB & Jesper…I wish I didn’t care so much, then it may actually be amusing to watch unfold. The guy is priceless, but on a hiding to nothing.
I’d say 3 points are basically in the bag.
jesperfuglsang - capt'n awesome of the lemon crew
Mar 14, 2015 at 8:26 AM
Comment #13Ian…We don’t know what you are, maybe being in two places at one time! Am I being too straight forward?
…maybe you could write that in Danish 😉
Rotonda heights
Mar 14, 2015 at 8:29 AM
Comment #14Ed
”John doesn’t like to make excuses” hahahahahahaha
He’s just like any manager with only a 20% win ratio and is straight out of the Pardew book of excuses, although he hasn’t blamed science yet to be fair.
Says he doesn’t like making excuses and then wades right into a load!!!
Surely with all the sports science available, training should be more passive and more emphasis placed on technique and fitness , ie swimming, cycling etc. That as well as introducing other coaching methods from Spain, Brazil, Holland etc.
Do we really deserve a guy in charge who offers the fans outside and like his predecessor seems to have no awareness of pass and move football.
NEWEXPATMAGPIE
Mar 14, 2015 at 9:42 AM
Comment #15My Anziety began in 2008 When Ashley took over the Ownership !
Look what he,s done to the Club since then, his business empire, “Spotting Dick” has been built up partly with Profits acquired from TV rights, Free Advertising in St JAMES and the sale of Players in January over the last few years !
The only exception was when there was a risk of taking the drop and he bought on the cheap to stop us taking the drop to the Championship !