John Carver interview: “We’ll see how things go”.
Posted on January 20th, 2011 | 84 Comments |
In it, he gave a revealing glimpse into his previous time at the club. An odyssey which started playing with the club’s youth teams in the 1980s. He then rejoined the club as an academy coach under Kevin Keegan, eventually rising to be an assistant manager under Sir Bobby Robson from 1999 to 2004 and was caretaker manager for one game, a 3-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers after Robson was controversially sacked by previous Chairman, Freddy Shepherd. He was then moved back to the academy in a reshuffle under Robson’s successor, Graeme Souness before eventually leaving the club. After having stints at Luton and Leeds, he eventually joined the world of Major League soccer over the pond after being appointed manager of Canadian club, Toronto F.C. in 2008. He then returned to the U.K. in 2009 for spells with Plymouth Argyle and his last club, Sheffield United.
Carver began by revealing the emotion he felt upon his return to the club, and the memories it brought back, saying:
“It was amazing really.
“It was tough going through the gates, but when I stepped through the doors into what used to be his office, there was a lot of emotion.
“There is a massive photograph of him behind the manager’s desk, which I think Chris Hughton put there, but I didn’t know anything about it so it took me by surprise.
“We have a staff meeting in there every day, and it really hit me the first time I went in and saw him looking down from the wall. I have a lot of memories of him and we spent a lot of time together in that room.
“I’m not being funny, but I felt him there on my shoulder at that moment. I know he will be looking down and smiling because he knows how much this club meant to me, and he will be pleased I’m back.”
Touching on the way he left the club after Robson’s successor, Graeme Souness took over from the sacked Robson and brought in his own assistant, moving Carver back down to the Academy, Carver said:
“I always hoped I would come back, but I never believed I would. There was sadness and, if I’m honest, a bit of bitterness about the way I left the Academy. I lost my job through no fault of my own really, but that’s football.
“I’ve come close to returning a few times, without going into too much detail, and I’m really happy I’ve finally done it. You should always expect the unexpected in football and when I got the call it was totally out of the blue.”
Carver then echoed manager, Alan Pardew’s sentiments that both himself and Pardew will be treating the assistant’s current short term appointment (until the end of the season) as a way of getting to know each other, with a potential to extend his contract should both Pardew and Carver find their working relationship to be harmonious.
Carver said on this:
“I’ve only got a contract until the end of the season and that is absolutely the right thing to do, for the club and for me.
“As soon as I walked back into the club I could sense the special atmosphere around the place and there is no point giving me a long-term contract if I’m going to upset the apple cart as it were.
“The manager has got to find out if he can work with me and whether I can work with him. I’d love to have some stability in my life, I’m getting to be known on the circuit as Phileas Fogg as it feels like I’ve been around the world in 80 days.
“But we’ll see how things go over the next few months. Everyone knows the club’s main priority at the moment is survival and stability in the Premier League. Once we have achieved that, then we can start thinking about what the future holds.”
Meanwhile, Pardew himself has been speaking of Carver’s re-appointment at the club, and how he has a key role with the Magpies. He also alluded to Carver’s previous role under Robson, saying:
“You can’t disguise the link with Sir Bobby and JC – and nor would I want to.
“He was here alongside Sir Bobby during those great years. And those are the years that we want to bring back.”
Pardew then continued on the trust Carver has amongst the fanbase, adding:
“The fans can trust him with the team because he is Newcastle United through and through.”
He then concluded:
“I wanted to take my time. But John Carver fits in perfectly with what we have here – I couldn’t think of anybody better.
“He was the first person that we offered the job to, despite all of the names.
“There are various reasons why we did that.
“But once JC left Sheffield United, he was the obvious choice.”
I’m pretty sure that the fans would agree in wanting to wish John Carver every succcess on his return to the club he has supported, and served since his youth.
NUFCBlog Author: workyticket
workyticket has written 1096 articles on this blog.
lets just hope everything works out for the good of NUFC.
Welcome back JC. Now lets get ready to rumble.
HWTL :D