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John Carver says Newcastle fans have the right to protest

John Carver: A frustrated Newcastle manager on the touch-line at Sunderland
Image: John Carver: Newcastle fans will get behind their team this Sunday

Interim manager John Carver has nothing but praise for Newcastle fans, including those who may decide to join this Sunday’s planned protest ahead of the match against Tottenham.

A section of Newcastle’s famed Toon Army have organised a protest this weekend when they will vent their frustration at the club's inactivity in the transfer market, despite recent financial news from the City showing they enjoyed record profits during the last financial year.

The team is currently 13th in the Premier League table on the back of five straight defeats, and they have just two wins from the last 13.

The low point was yet another defeat at the hands of local rivals Sunderland, earlier this month, which made it five losses in a row to the Black Cats who themselves are caught up in a relegation battle.

The club’s accounts show they have over £34m in the coffers and, when asked whether he understood why the fans are disgruntled at the team’s current plight, bearing in mind they made a hefty profit in the last financial year, Carver said: “They are entitled to do what they want to do.

“At the start of the season they pay for the season ticket, and they are entitled to go to the game if they want to go and if they don’t want to go that’s their prerogative too.

“The fans have always been attached to this football club and the vast majority will be there on Sunday supporting the team, even those who don’t have season tickets will go and watch it in the pubs and be behind the team.

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“But I know everyone who comes through that turnstile at the weekend will be right behind the team because they want the team to win.”

When it was suggested that the current run of poor form may spell an end to his tenure as interim boss, the 50-year-old added: “To be honest, and I’d have said this even if we’d been on a winning run, I’m not looking that far ahead.

“I’m just looking at this weekend. This weekend is important and it’s not about me. This is about the team, the club and getting the right results.

“To be honest, I’m not that bothered about my future at the moment. The one thing I will say: I’m giving every single inch and ounce to get the right results.”

But Carver is not planning to use the passion of the fans as part of his team-talk to inspire the players ahead of the Spurs match, citing he had done this already only for it to backfire.

He went on: “I won’t talk about the fans' closeness to the club to the players, because I did it before we played Sunderland. It’s just an extra distraction.”

Watch Newcastle v Tottenham on Sky Sports 1 HD this Sunday – kick-off 4pm

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