Newcastle names John Carver interim coach for rest of season
Newcastle United has named John Carver as its head coach through the remainder of the 2014-15 season, the club announced on Monday.
Manager Alan Pardew left Newcastle late last month to take over Crystal Palace. According to a report inThe Chronicle earlier this month, Pardew was not under any pressure of being fired.
He was 71-73-41 in a little more than five years with Newcastle since joining the club in December 2010. Crystal Palace has won its first four matches with Pardew at the helm.
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Carver, meanwhile, has been assistant manager at Newcastle since 2011. The 50-year-old coached Toronto FC in Major League Soccer in 2008 and 2009, where his team was 12-16-12 before he was fired in April 2009.
Newcastle is 0-3-1 in four matches under Carver, who also served as a caretaker for the club for one match in 2004. He did interim stints at Leeds United in 2006 (five games) and Sheffield United in 2010 (three games).
Managing director Lee Charnley said the team will re-open its coaching search after the season.
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"Having now explored at some length the options available to us at this time, the decision has been taken to defer the appointment of a permanent head coach until the end of the season.
"The head coach will be a long-term appointment that will play a major role in shaping the future on-field progression of Newcastle United and it is vitally important that we get the right individual."
Newcastle is currently 11th on the English Premier League table with 27 points. The club is 7-6-9 with a goal differential of minus-9 this season.
- Phil Watson
