Come home John, please!The Daily Mail is reporting that John Carver could be set to return to Newcastle and complete Alan Pardew’s backroom staff setup by becoming our new number two.
Carver has been is temporary charge of Sheffield United since the departure of Gary Speed, but any hopes of him getting the job full time at Bramall Lane have been dashed by the fact that Port Vale have given The Blades permision to talk with their manager, Micky Adams about the vacancy.
If that does go ahead then I expect that Adams will want to bring in his own man, just like Pardew is doing, and much like many managers do when they get a new job. That would put Carver out of work and would mean that no compensation would be payable for his services, and we all know that would be to the liking of the club!
Carver is a local lad who was assistant to Sir Bobby Robson when we were flirting with the Champions League. Carver knows Newcastle like the back of his hand, and is respected by a lot of fans. Now whilst it may be a cheap move on behalf of the club, it would also be a very popular move amongst fans who are still perplexed and angry over the sacking of Chris Hughton. (more…)
Fancy coming home, John?I think all in all it’s fair to say that yesterday was a rather busy day with regard to activity around the club.
First there was the matter of Andy Carroll having to face court in the morning, then there was the revelation of his strange bail conditions whereby he must live with club captain, Kevin Nolan.
The final piece of action on Tyneside came yesterday when Colin Calderwood called time on his Newcastle career as assistant manager in favour of a move north of the border to manage Hibernian. Personally, I’m not so sure just what Calderwood used to do at Newcastle though. By that I mean I am unsure just how important he has been. It has been Hughton has taken the plaudits whilst Calderwood just got on with things quietly in the background. Nonetheless, Newcastle must act quickly to find a replacement, but just who is that going to be? (more…)
Carver - Back in Toon?Since our Championship winning season drew to a close a few weeks back, Newcastle United have had more coaches departing than the local bus station.
The latest one to break rank was Alan Thompson, who relinquishes his role as reserve-team coach in favour of a move up to Celtic where he will become Neil Lennon’s new less than glamorous assistant.
Thompson’s departure follows hot on the heels of another one of our backroom staff, Kenny Wharton, and that leaves us with only a manager, an assitant manager and a goalkeeping coach working behind the scenes with the players. So is this little backroom reshuffle Hughton’s chance to get his own men in? Something he didn’t have a chance to do when he first took on the role as manager. (more…)
'Road to Wembley' slightly longer now...John Anderson probably summed it up nicely towards the end of his Radio Newcastle commentary, that both managers would have been happy with a draw before this game. But as the referee blew the final whistle with the score at 0-0, it will surely be Plymouth boss Paul Mariner who will be happier than his Newcastle counterpart Chris Hughton. Obviously this despite the inconvenience for their fans of another 800-mile-round-trip to St James’ for the replay, a week on Wednesday.
The FA Cup throws the form book out of the window, and even though Plymouth have improved in recent games, that suited them due to their lowly position. Newcastle, conversely at the summit of the Championship, made several changes to protect the squad from a demanding run-in ahead. And so if anything, with home advantage, you’d have been excused for putting Plymouth as favourites. However, Hughton still fielded a strong team, and but for some good goalkeeping and wayward finishing, we did enough to win this game. (more…)
Tricky tie at Home Park!Cup fever hits Tyneside for the first time in the new decade, as Newcastle visit Plymouth in today’s FA Cup 3rd Round tie at Home Park! As the last few have been relatively successful, here’s another link you can just use for the match banter. Unfortunately, my better half changed our holiday plans, so as we’re not in the area, ‘wor lass’ frowned on the idea of me going.
Like yours truly, not all Toon fans are lucky enough to be there (if lucky is the right word to embark on a such a hike!). With the game not being beamed out live anywhere, it’s probably not going to be possible to watch directly, as I’m not sure how the ITV links will work abroad. But if anyone can find radio, video links etc to the game for people who don’t have it, I’m sure that would be appreciated. As ever, this can be the place to come together during the match and p*ss and moan, as we usually do.
There’s no probable teams news [UPDATED BELOW], as Hughton has suggested a much changed side, and it’s likely to be anyone’s guess who plays, although Deb has done a preview article and both have strong squads to choose from. Hopefully we’ll get line-ups on here before the start. (more…)
