Newcastle United fans may not look back on John Carver’s time in management in a positive light.
The successor to Alan Pardew, former Newcastle United boss John Carver’s record was amongst the worst of any manager in the club’s history.
The Newcastle-born former defender won just three of his 20 games at the helm during a time when the club was under the rule of Mike Ashley.
Things had not been going well for Carver and on the final day of the season they needed a good result against West Ham to ensure they stayed in the Premier League. Ahead of the game, Ashley confirmed Newcastle was not for sale in a rare yet bizarre interview with Sky Sports.
Newcastle won the game 2-0 thanks to a Moussa Sissoko goal and a memorable strike from Jonas Gutierrez. However, Carver left the club upon the appointment of Steve McClaren.
While fans believed Carver left on his own accord, the former Toon boss revealed why he truly left in a 2023 interview.
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Why John Carver left Newcastle United
While Carver may not be remembered for it, he was also Sir Bobby Robson’s assistant manager during his time at the club.
Carver helped Robson’s Newcastle to an 8-0 win against Sheffield Wednesday, his first home game in charge of the Magpies in 1999 and helped the club return to the Champions League and to a UEFA Cup semi-final in 2004.
In a 2023 interview with the Chronicle, Carver publicised a conversation he had with Ashley regarding his future after the 2014/15 season and even claimed that Ashley wanted him to stay at the club despite his poor win record.
“I was asked at the end of the 2014/15 season if I wanted to stay. And I still had a long contract so it would have been easy.
“I said yes if it was under my conditions. I knew if Steve McClaren was going to get the job then it was a no. If it was an overseas manager it was somebody from a different league I was quite happy to stay.”
Carver also revealed that he has had opportunities to rejoin the Magpies but ultimately decided against it.
“Not only could I have stayed in 2015 but I have had a couple of opportunities to go back to Newcastle. I was asked to work with the younger players but I felt that it was for a younger coach than me, somebody who would develop themselves in the job rather than me taking it and moving on for something else potentially.
“I was asked about it, I won’t go into too many details, but my first question was could I continue with Scotland and the answer was yes. But I could have went back and I could have been back twice.”
During his time at Newcastle, Carver also famously claimed that he was the “best coach in the Premier League” despite the club’s dreadful league position at the time.
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John Carver’s career after Newcastle United exit
Carver compared his time at Newcastle to Eddie Howe’s citing a slew of injury problems being the main reason they struggled so much.
Howe may be without Dan Burn and Sven Botman for the Magpies visit to Manchester City on Saturday as the injuries pile up at a difficult time in the season.
While things did not work out for him as Newcastle boss, Carver has made a name for himself at other clubs across Europe and on the international stage.
Carver spent 10 months at Cypriot club Omonia but was sacked despite winning 17 of his 30 games. He briefly reunited with Pardew at West Bromwich Albion before leaving after just five months.
In 2020, it was announced that he had joined Steve Clarke’s coaching team with the Scotland national team, helping them to back-to-back European Championships.
In November 2024, Carver was appointed manager of Polish side Lechia Gdansk but has been given permission to work with Scotland alongside his managerial duties.
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