Newsletter

Get your daily update and weekly newsletter by signing up today!

News

Davide Santon challenges John Carver over comments

9 years ago
Share

The latest embarrassing behaviour by John Carver and Mike Ashley has been exposed by Davide Santon.

The minutes of the NUFC Fans Forum had made clear that Ashley was desperate to get rid of the Italian full-back in January, despite it leaving the squad fatally exposed at the back, the club having also sold Mapou Yanga-M’biwa and brought nobody else in during that January window.

However, at the start of this week, John Carver responded to criticism of the club for decimating the defensive options in January, by claiming that it was Davide Santon who had been the driving force behind the transfer and that he’d demanded a place instantly back in the team after seven months out.

Santon has now defended himself and made clear he doesn’t accept that what John Carver has said is the reality of what happened.

This is what John Carver said at the start of this week:

“Let me tell you something about Davide Santon….Davide Santon had been out injured for a long time, seven months I think it was.

“He came back against Leicester in the FA Cup and wasn’t prepared to wait to earn his right to get back into the team – he thought that he could go straight back into the team.

Davide Santon’s fault:

“He drove the situation, not us – not the club, he drove it.

“After the game on the bus, he was onto his agent, saying he wanted to get out, that he wanted to go and play.”

Players who don’t want to hang around:

“I’m not saying anybody has got a divine right and I am not saying he wouldn’t have been in the team within two or three weeks.

“If you have got a player who doesn’t want to hang around and fight for you, then that is an issue for me.”

This is what Davide Santon has said today as reported by the Chronicle:

“I would like to take this opportunity to respond to the comments made recently by John Carver about my move to Inter Milan.

“I want to say that I never thought for one moment, having been out injured for eight months, that I would immediately play again as a regular at Newcastle United.”

No longer in John Carver’s plans:

“I’ve always struggled to carve out a space for myself and I know that it will be the same until the end of my career. I therefore would never refuse to fight for my place in any team.

“It was with deep regret that when I spoke with John Carver after five games on the bench in the Premier League without playing even a single minute, I realised that I was no longer in the first team plans of the coach.”

No longer felt an essential part:

“At that moment, after three and a half years as a Newcastle player, I no longer felt an essential part of the project.”

“It was then I was forced to think about my career and my future. Following this Inter Milan, the club where I was born and bred as a footballer, offered me an opportunity that I could not refuse.”

Always in my heart:

 “I spent three and a half wonderful years in Newcastle, a great club with fantastic fans who have always supported me and showed me their affection.

“That’s why I will never forget them and they’ll always be in my heart.”

Share

If you would like to feature on The Mag, submit your article to contribute@themag.co.uk

Have your say

© 2024 The Mag. All Rights Reserved. Design & Build by Mediaworks