John Carver has revealed he is sleeping for around only four hours a night as his Newcastle United side prepare for their biggest game in six years on Sunday
In 2009 Alan Shearer’s then team were relegated at Aston Villa on the final day of the season and now Newcastle may need to beat West Ham at home to retain their Premier League status.
After presiding over the collection of one point from 10 games the responsibility is weighing heavily on Carver. “I’m only sleeping about four or four and a half hours a night,” he said. “I’ve thought about turning my phone off. You get so many messages; good messages, but it can wear you down. Mentally you’ve got to be bright and ready.”
Accordingly he has asked his players to stay away from social and mainstream media this week. “If you have a Twitter account and someone starts giving you abuse on that it can affect your mental status,” said Alan Pardew’s successor. “I’ve had a chat with the guys to say keep off the internet and social media and watch wrestling on television – not football because that can fatigue you mentally. Stay away from TV as much as you can.”
On Tuesday Carver invited non-playing club staff to a squad meeting. The idea was to remind Newcastle’s players that they would be responsible for backroom personnel losing their jobs in the event of relegation. “There’s an awful lot of good local people who’ve been here a long time and a lot of their friends lost their jobs here last time,” said Carver. “That’s one of the reasons I brought all of the staff into the meeting with the players. Sometimes that can be a motivation for players.
“I gave the players an opportunity if they didn’t fancy it to leave the room and nobody left the room – that tells me they’re up for the fight. There’s going to be pressure on them, they’ve got to play the game not the occasion. They’ve got to stay composed, as I have, and not fear wanting to get on the ball and play. If we do that I’m fairly confident.”
Carver was annoyed at the criticism he received on Twitter and in certain newspapers for giving the players two days off on Sunday and Monday and taking part in a charity golf day for the children’s heart unit at the city’s Freeman hospital.
“We made over £500,000 for the heart foundation to buy at least five scanners to save children’s lives and I’m proud of that,” said a 50-year-old furious at being condemned by fans for being pictured smiling at the event. “It didn’t affect our preparations and I’ve spoken to quite a lot of managers, and they weren’t in on Sunday and Monday either. I have a clear conscience.
“We pulled out of this charity day two years ago and were criticised so you’re dammed if you do and your dammed if you don’t. It’s a tough time but you have to relax as well to get yourself ready for the challenge ahead. I can’t believe it’s come to this but I’m not even thinking about relegation. It would be unbearable if it happened. I don’t know how long it would take to get over it. There’s no second chances. This is our big cup final.”
Meanwhile Mike Ashley, the club’s owner, is looking for a new finance director after John Irvine announced he would be leaving to take up a post at Newcastle airport.
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