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I have seen John Carver at close hand working with the players at Newcastle United and I have to say it’s impressive to see.

The players are 100% behind him and you won’t meet a man with more passion for the club than John.

That’s why I don’t understand why some people are giving him a hard time at the moment.

John has taken over at the club during a difficult time because of injuries, and the Papiss Cisse incident has ended up being a disaster.

None of those factors are down to John Carver who is working with an injury-hit squad.

Now I don’t know what will happen at the end of the season – I guess that will be all down to results between now and then.

However, between now and then I still think Newcastle are in safe hands with John Carver.

People ask me why Newcastle have not appointed a new head coach, and I always say back: ‘Who would you appoint that is available now?’

And it’s difficult because there is not a host of obvious appointments to be made at this moment in time.

Then there are people who like the idea of a big name in charge, but I think Newcastle have been down that route before.

(Image: 2015 Getty Images)

You don’t get bigger names in football than Ruud Gullit, Graeme Souness, Kenny Dalglish or Ossie Ardiles for example, but none of them ended the club’s long trophy drought.

There is no guarantee of success out there. In the short-term I think John is ideal for the club, and for me he has the team well organised and the players behind him.

Against Man United they were in a position to win the game until the closing stages when a slip up at the end cost Newcastle dear.

People will say Man United are not the team they were and most teams would do OK against them, but they are still in the top four.

I thought Newcastle’s tactics were first class and the team was set up to attack. With better finishing from Manu Riviere and Papiss Cisse the game could even have been won.

As I say things might change by the end of the season, but for now it’s time to get behind John and the team and finish the season in the best possible shape.

Although I do have sympathy for John because of the restrictions he has at the moment with all of those injured players.

And if he does lead the team to a top-10 finish I think that would be a job very well done because of the injuries around him.

If the players continue to show the same commitment they did against Aston Villa and Man United he will have a chance of achieving that.

I see where people are coming from in that perhaps John does not have the worldwide fame to attract players. But he is so passionate about the cub he can still sell the club to them and that makes up for it.

One thing is for sure he fits in with what the club are looking for.

He would work well with Lee Charnley and Graham Carr and I think three heads are better than one with transfers. Anybody who has managed knows how much pressure is on the shoulders of one man making the decisions.

I remember in my days as Carlisle United manager and being told I had a budget of £60,000 for signing players. I wanted to sign Mick Tait from Oxford United and we eventually thrashed out a £59,950 fee!

Taity proved to be a good signing and we sold him to Hull for more than twice that price, but not every deal works out and it’s often the manager that takes the blame when they go wrong.

So for me, the system works well.

JC already understands those rules, and if he did get that top-10 place he would deserve a crack at the job on a full-time basis.