John Carver meets likely succesor McClaren

Head coach travels with Newcastle reserves to Derby County

Steve McClaren has spoken to John Carver about the difficulties of managing Newcastle United and the depth of the St James’ Park squad.

The Derby manager and his Newcastle counterpart had a long, detailed conversation following a reserve match in the midlands on Tuesday but with McClaren widely expected to take over on Tyneside next month, there was an elephant in the room. “We had a good talk,” said Carver, who saw his second string lose 4-0. “But we didn’t discuss anything other than my situation and what my players are doing on the pitch. It was all about me and how I had to cope with it.”

McClaren, who hopes to secure Derby’s place in the Championship play-offs on Saturday, offered sympathy and understanding to a counterpart on an awful run of seven defeats which have sucked Newcastle into relegation waters while facing a trip to Leicester on Saturday. “He said: ‘It’s been a difficult thing for you, John, I understand that,’” said Carver. “‘But you’ve handled it quite well. You’ve had to cope with it.’ He didn’t mention this job, absolutely 100% not, he just asked how I was dealing with it.”

Carver, McClaren and the Derby manager’s assistants Paul Simpson and Steve Round go back a long way, having all first met when on coaching courses some years ago. “Paul and Steve Round were there too,” said Newcastle’s head coach. “I know them well but there was no talk about all the rumours.”

It is unusual for Premier League managers to make lengthy motorway trips to watch their junior sides play away so there was evidently a subtext. Whether it involved Carver paving the way for possibly working under McClaren or was more a case of marking out his territory remains unclear.

Whatever the agenda, everyone remained scrupulously polite. “They had to give me some respect, let’s be honest,” said Carver. “Whether they’re in for the job or not they had to give me that respect so they were never going to talk about anything like the rumours – and Steve McClaren was interested in what I’m going through because he knows me as a person.”

Despite Newcastle’s losing streak a coach whose hands have been tied by a series of debilitating injuries and suspensions hopes a post he remains anxious to secure is still his to lose. “I’m in pole position at the moment,” he said. “That’s the way I look at it.”

His chances could be hampered should Papiss Cissé lose a race to be fit for the final three games of the season. Newcastle’s leading scorer serves the final match of a seven-game suspension imposed for spitting this weekend but Carver conceded the Senagalese is still to return to training following recent knee surgery.

“I don’t know when Papiss is going to be ready,” he said. “But let’s not write him off yet. It might be we have to use him in the last 20 minutes, coming off the bench, getting in the six-yard box and scoring the winning goal. What we’re not going to do is put Papiss at risk, put his health at risk by doing something stupid.”

On Friday morning two fans who verbally abused Carver during the loss to Swansea will have a cup of tea with him at the training ground. “It’s important to have a chat with them because I’m one of them; I don’t think there’s anybody that can relate to the fans as much as I can,” he said. “I understand their frustrations but I think they’ll understand there’s logical reasons behind what I’m trying to do.”



By Louise Taylor / Guardian