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Opinion

John Carver’s schoolboy error shows he’s no Alan Pardew

9 years ago
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Alan Pardew was magnificent in his four years at St. James’ Park.

Not as a manager of course – but you do have to take your hat off to him for the work he did on behalf of Mike Ashley in front of the media.

The silver fox was never lost for words, a lot of what he said was utter nonsense much of the time but that didn’t matter as he always managed to get himself from one press conference to the next using his charm/smarm.

Whatever John  Carver’s suitability, or not, is to be Head Coach at Newcastle, he’s certainly no Alan Pardew in front of the cameras.

Awkward and licking his lips more times than a toddler eating a 99, it is clearly not part of the job that Carver relishes doing.

I get the feeling that as well as Mike Ashley realising by the summer that John Carver isn’t the front man he needs to be his apologist in front of the cameras, the Geordie Head Coach is also going to have alienated pretty much all of the Newcastle United fanbase with his utterances.

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Asked on Thursday whether his Geordie/Newcastle/working class roots would help him in  tackling the job, John Carver had this to say:

“Yes I think it does because I have come from nothing. Though that doesn’t mean because I have come from where I have, I don’t deserve to be where I am at the moment.

“I think it is important I am a humble person. There is no danger of that.”

Down the golf club;

“I respect everybody because that is how I was brought up. The important thing is making sure there is a relationship and I am trying to get that relationship with the fans.

“I sit down with fans every day –  I was at the golf club with some 10 or 11 year old kids and I was talking about the team – you’re having a forum all the time.”

John Carver isn’t controlling the media the way his former boss did and to an extent you have to wonder why he isn’t getting the same kind of cover from the NUFC press department who appeared to control press conferences so strictly in Pardew’s time, unwelcome questions rarely been asked.

Nothing wrong with going down the golf club but it is surely a schoolboy error to be talking of coming from nothing and your working class roots, then trying to give the impression of not having changed and keeping in touch with the fans by giving the example of chatting down the golf club. Which in reality makes it clear that John Carver is a lot more out of touch with supporters than he realises.

I don’t for one second think that John Carver is any way suitable to be in charge of team affairs at Newcastle but I think it is deliciously ironic that what will sink Carver’s hopes, is the area he is obviously trying so hard in, which is to try and say and do what he thinks the organ grinder  is wanting to hear.

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