Tuesday 5 May 2015 00:32, UK
Newcastle boss John Carver is finding out about management the hard way, writes Adam Bate.
The list of problems at Newcastle pre-dates John Carver’s appointment but if there was one thing that should have troubled supporters when the club turned to their erstwhile assistant manager as Alan Pardew’s replacement, it was perhaps there in the way that the players addressed him.
“Obviously, JC has been around for hundreds of years at Newcastle,” said Sammy Ameobi soon after the appointment. As points continued to elude them and the mood darkened, Jack Colback soon acknowledged the challenge facing the interim boss. “It’s been a difficult situation for JC,” he said.
The fact that the players publicly refer to Carver as ‘JC’ is not only indicative of the lack of distance that might be expected following the appointment of a long-time staff member, but it also brought to mind memories of another faithful assistant who’d been unsuccessfully promoted to the top job.
“The big advantage with TC is that he knows us all inside out,” said Kevin Doyle when Wolves named Terry Connor as Mick McCarthy’s Molineux replacement. Connor duly failed to win any of his 13 games in charge – the most anyone has endured without tasting Premier League victory as a manager.
Carver hasn’t quite plumbed those depths but he’s increasingly floundering. Newcastle are currently on a run of eight consecutive defeats for the first time in 38 years. It’s the worst run of any Premier League team this season. Moreover, it’s been accompanied by an injury crisis and a complete loss of discipline from those who remain.
Newcastle appear to have neglected the basics of defending set-pieces and also suffered red cards aplenty, including two of them in Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Leicester. Carver has seen his side receive twice as many red cards as any other Premier League coach has overseen since he took charge.
The lack of leadership at St James’ Park is palpable and while any suggestion Pardew will be missed on Tyneside fails to grasp the scale of the antipathy towards the man, it’s becoming abundantly clear that the truly remarkable thing about Newcastle’s house of cards was that it didn’t collapse earlier.
Management can be tough and Carver has discovered the chasm between words and action can be a painful one. “Any team of mine playing against a Sunderland side will never lack for effort or enthusiasm,” he said before the derby only for an abject performance to leave him looking foolish.
Frustration
Continuing to warm to his theme, there were more sentiments of frustration following the team’s surrender at Leicester. “I just wish some people had as much fight and determination as what I’ve got,” he told reporters. “We need more people who have got the desire I have got to be successful.”
Few would try to suggest Carver is anything but genuine in his passion for Newcastle, but his attempts to distance himself from the performances of his players risk undermining the principle justification for him being in the job – the bond he has with the team.
“You feel like you are getting somewhere, get a bit of stability, and then I get kicked in the teeth again. Maybe one or two of the players are not having me for whatever reason, because I am too strong and I am quite aggressive with them and I do care. Maybe people don’t like that.”
I just wish some people had as much fight and determination as what I’ve got
Players certainly don’t like being hung out to dry as Mike Williamson was at the weekend, no matter how deserved the supporters feel it might be. There would be little shock if some are working on an exit strategy. As a result, in this situation, appealing for loyalty and passion can be a fool’s errand.
Player power creates a delicate situation that requires a more subtle approach. Effectively, it’s a confidence trick. “It's not about looking for adversity or for opportunities to prove power,” Sir Alex Ferguson once said. “It's about having control and being authoritative when issues do arise.”
Carver's proximity to the players makes having that authority very difficult and, worryingly, results and performances suggest he appears to no longer have the requisite control. The situation makes a mockery of the theory that he was a safe pair of hands and, more pertinently for Mike Ashley, the logic behind the cheap option of appointing Carver now looks dangerously flawed.
Expensive slump
Premier League merit money under the current television deal awards teams £1.2million per place. Given that Newcastle have dropped five places since Carver took over and are threatening to fall further, it seems likely that the club will surrender at least £6m in prize money even if they stay up.
As a result, Carver’s appointment could cost around £200,000 per week on top of his salary in terms of merit money alone. Of course, with Newcastle only two points clear of the drop zone, it could yet prove rather more costly than that if the club’s Premier League status is lost.
With three winnable games remaining, there is still time to turn arrest the slide. However, the catalyst for any turnaround might have to come from the players not from John Carver. “We have to wake up because we are in a fight,” says skipper Fabricio Coloccini. In truth, it’s a fight they signed up for some time ago. They just didn’t know it yet.
