John Carver believes Steve McClaren remains the right man to lead Newcastle United, and has urged the club to give him time to get it right.
McClaren was appointed Carver’s successor in the summer, and was given £50million to spend on the likes of Georginio Wijnaldum, Florian Thauvin, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Chancel Mbemba. However, it has been a difficult start for the Magpies, who are yet to win a Premier League game and have also been knocked out of the League Cup by Championship side Sheffield Wednesday.
This leaves Newcastle second-bottom of the table and three points from safety, with only Sunderland sitting below them. This has already resulted in the pressure mounting on McClaren, who endured a miserable end to his time at Derby County last term when he failed to lead them to the playoffs, but Carver believes it will take time for the new recruits to settle into life at St James’ Park.
“It might take time for these guys to bed in,” Carver told Sky Sports News HQ. “Steve is coming into a football club and he needs to get to know his players. It does take time to get to know everyone’s personality, how they play and what their best position is. I know he is searching for his first win in the Premier League and the longer that goes the more the pressure mount, as I know.
“But there is a good group of players in there and after the performance against Chelsea, certainly in the first half at the weekend, that was an encouraging sign but they need to take it onto the next game at Manchester City, which is obviously another tough game. So it will take time and people will have to be patient with the guys. Give them the opportunity and see what happens.”
The draw Carver refers to against Chelsea was perhaps a bit of a let-down for the Toon fans considering they held a 2-0 lead and looked set for maximum points, before the visitors staged a late comeback and almost snatched victory. The coming weekend sees a trip to the Etihad Stadium to face a City side who have lost their last two league games but remain favourites for the title.
