Carver: I'm best coach in Prem
ESPN FC’s Shaka Hislop explains Newcastle United are playing up to standards, which he feels comes down to ownership.
ESPN FC’s Paul Mariner believes Michael Williamson’s challenge was intentional in their 3-0 defeat to Leicester City, where he feels Williamson did not act professionally at all.
John Carver has said he believes he is the best coach in the Premier League despite leading Newcastle to eight successive defeats and into the thick of a relegation fight.
Carver, who held talks with managing director Lee Charnley on Sunday after a disastrous 3-0 defeat at Leicester, has just three games remaining to steer the club away from the drop zone, starting with Saturday’s showdown with West Brom at St James’ Park.
He told a news conference ahead of that match that he feels he is the best at his job in the division but suggested his ability to succeed had been hampered.
“I still think I’m the best coach in the Premier League,” Carver said. “That’s what I think. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, but I still do.
“If I have the right tools, I can do the job. I’m doing the job to the best of my ability at the moment and I’ll continue doing that for the next three weeks.”
Carver has won just two of the 16 league games for which he has been in charge after replacing Alan Pardew in January, and his team has collected only nine points from a possible 48 in the process.
John Carver has come under heavy pressure after a dismal run of results since Alan Pardew’s exit in January.
Newcastle approach the weekend only two points clear of the drop zone, but their head coach is refusing to throw in the towel and is confident he has the continued support of Charnley and owner Mike Ashley.
The club issued a statement on Monday indicating that Carver would remain in charge for the final three games of the season after reportedly seeing Derby boss Steve McClaren turn the job down.
Asked if his job is safe, Carver said: “It’s safe because the statement went out and what the statement said was true, so I don’t really want to go into too much detail.
“I never offered to resign, I never offered to walk away, I never offered to step aside, so contrary to what was in the media and on Twitter and different sources, once I’d had a conversation with Lee and knew what my position was — and they never asked me to resign, nothing came into the equation — I was clear in my head on Monday morning that I was in this for the next three games to challenge the fight in front of us.”
Carver found himself the focus of attention at the King Power Stadium after suggesting that defender Mike Williamson might have deliberately got himself sent off, but the pair have since resolved their differences.
The former Toronto boss said: “Me and Mike have had a good discussion — and, again, that’s going to stay private. Maybe I have learnt my lesson, but that’s going to stay private.
“At the end of the conversation, we stood up, shook each other’s hand, and Mike has been fantastic in training this week. All right, he’s not available for the next two games, but he certainly will be for the last one.
“There are no hard feelings. Every morning, we have come in, we have shaken hands, looked each other in the eye and just got on with it because we are professional.”
Newcastle captain Fabricio Coloccini had issued an open letter to the fans through the club’s media channels this week asking them to put their anger to one side and cheer the team on against West Brom.
Carver used the news conference to dismiss suggestions it had been a PR stunt and brandished a copy of Coloccini’s letter for the assembled media.
John Carver on Coloccini’s letter, not resigning and being the top flight’s best coach http://t.co/a2EIdLknAM pic.twitter.com/PmmTw8u8kB
– Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) May 7, 2015
“I’ve heard one or two people say it was a PR stunt,” he said. “I have brought the letter with me, in his handwriting, in Spanish, signed by him at the bottom.
“This was the third draft he put together because of his grammar. That is the genuine letter, from his heart. The pleasing thing from my point of view, because people will question if we are up for the fight, is the fact he wrote that letter proves to me he is up for the fight.”
Carver also echoed Coloccini’s call for the fans to show their support.
He said: “Forget what people think of me or the footballers: Get behind the football club. Get behind the team. Forget about what you think of Mike and Lee and everybody. Get behind the football club because we want to be in the Premier League next year.
“When we get to the summer, we’ll have a post-mortem and then say what you want to say. For now, for the next three games, get behind the football team to keep this club in the Premier League.”
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