Sunday 24 May 2015 18:47, UK
Newcastle head coach John Carver has called on the club to invest over the summer to lift them back up the Premier League table.
Carver’s side beat West Ham 2-0 on Sunday to register their first win in 11 games and secure top-flight status for another season.
Newcastle’s campaign has been blighted by discord among fans over the club’s ownership, but Mike Ashley told Sky Sports he wants to win trophies with the club, and Carver – whose contract only ran until the end of the season – says he wants to be there when they do
“The fact he’s saying he wants to win something is fantastic,” he said.
“We’ve seen how good our fans are, we’ve seen what performances we can put in when we get all together, and we all have to be together.
“If Mike’s come forward, fair play to him and credit to him because he wants this club to be united.
“We all want to win things and it’s a big summer for the football club. We have to invest – we know that, Mike knows that, [managing director] Lee Charnley knows that – and hopefully we will.”
He added: “From day one I’ve wanted this job, and I still want the job. To go through what I’ve gone through in four to five months, under the circumstances any manager would’ve found it difficult, experienced or inexperienced.
“But I’ve dealt with it. This week was tough, I’ve got to be honest. I tried not to show it.
“It was a build-up to a cup final and we won the cup final, but it will be really nice at the end of the season to say we’ve actually won something, and I want to be part of that.”
Going into the final day with their fate still uncertain, the Magpies needed a win to ensure their survival. Anything else and they needed Hull to fail to beat Manchester United, otherwise they would have been consigned to the Championship.
Hull ended up playing out a 0-0 draw with Louis van Gaal’s side, and Carver’s side finally took victory with second-half goals from Moussa Sissoko and Jonas Gutierrez.
“It was a proper rollercoaster,” he added. “We were keeping an eye on what was going on at Hull, but I have to say we dealt with our emotions, and I thought we dealt with the game very well.
“It was tight in the first half – there weren’t too many chances – and we said it might take until the last five minutes of the game to break them down.
“[West Ham manager] Sam [Allardyce] put his strongest team out and they came and were resolute, difficult to break down, and credit to Sam for doing that. He had to do it and rightly so.
“But, like I said, it was all about what we were going to do and I think we put in a performance that was worthy of the victory.”
The Newcastle boss also praised the fans for their support, as he also paid an emotional tribute to fans John Alder and Liam Sweeney, who died on a Malaysia Airlines plane crash last August.
“It’s the 12th man – it’s the cliché,” he said.
“It’s like we had eight subs on the bench, and the eighth sub was the crowd. They backed us and got behind us, and it was the most important piece of the jigsaw.
“We started the season with a huge disaster and we lost two of our fans – John and Liam – and I think they were looking down on us today. I’m getting quite emotional – I think they got us over the line.
“Every Newcastle fan gave everything for this football club, including those two lads, so I’m delighted.”
