A three-game stadium ban will cramp Newcastles style but the managers well-regarded assistant John Carver will step into the breach and be continually briefedAlan Pardew is the type of man who prides himself on spotting solutions to situations others see as insurmountable problems.Inconvenient as a three-game stadium ban is, with four from the touchline to follow, the Newcastle Uniteds manager desire to remain in control of matchday events on the pitch has involved the club briefing a team of video analysts who will sit alongside Pardew in a hotel suite during games.Quite apart from watching a live feed, the 52-year-old will be provided with a stream of Prozone-type statistical information of the sort he usually receives in post-match debriefs.In theory no direct contact with his staff on the bench is allowed but armed with such knowledge there would be nothing to prevent him using intermediaries to contact John Carver, his assistant, and issue those instructions via mobile phone.Despite the existence of such elaborate contingency plans, Pardew trusts Carver implicitly. After hiring him as his No2 on an initial four-month contract in January 2011, Newcastles manager took only a few weeks to extend that term to five-and-a-half years.Pardew had seen the coaching talent which, back in 1998, persuaded Ruud Gullit, then Newcastles manager, to prompt astonishment by promoting Carver from a lowly youth-coaching role to first-team coach.If he owes his career to Gullit, the 49-year-old Geordie soon came to regard the Dutchmans successor, Sir Bobby Robson, as a key mentor before leaving St James Park for coaching stints at Plymouth, Sheffield United and Leeds as well as a spell in charge of Toronto in the MLS.We get on very well, says Carver of Pardew, a man he had not met before his job interview at Slaley Hall hotel in Northumberland three years ago. At the time, Newcastles manager had been rebuffed by a series of people including Peter Taylor and Phil Parkinson and seemed to turn to Carver almost in desperation.It was to prove the start of a highly productive relationship, facilitated partly by Pardews new-found ability to share the workload. The reason weve got such a good working relationship is because one of Alans qualities is delegation, says Carver. We all know hes the boss because he has the final say but he likes you to have an opinion.Even so the coming weeks are likely to provide Pardew with quite a test of the control-freak aspect of his character that he concedes can be a bit OCD. Newcastles manager freely acknowledges learning to delegate has not come easily to him.Football management is the kind of job where perhaps you interfere too much and dont delegate enough, says Pardew. But as you get more experienced you realise you need to delegate. You dont have to be a perfectionist. Early on in my managerial career I was worrying about things like the [club] wallpaper as well as everything else. Im still a bit like that, Ive got that kind of OCD going on but now I know I have to reel myself back.No stranger to the need to rein himself in, Carver can be almost as combustible as Pardew but a man who famously once wrestled with Craig Bellamy in a lounge at Newcastle airport after a row over parking will be on his best behaviour during the coming weeks.Described as one of my best signings by Pardew, he is part of a close-knit backroom quartet completed by their fellow Geordie first-team coach Steve Stone and the managers former Crystal Palace team-mate turned goalkeeping coach, Andy Woodman. Uber loyal to each other, all four share a strong sense of humour which has frequently helped them cope with the idiosyncrasies of Mike Ashley, Newcastles owner.Stone and Woodman will be alongside Carver in the technical area on matchdays and are unlikely to underestimate the sense of frustration brewing in Pardews hotel.In training Alan constantly runs through every scenario of where players should be when the ball is in certain positions, says Stone, the former Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa winger. Tactically hes as good as anyone; Alan really understands the game. During matches some managers dither on the sidelines, which can cost you, but Alan will change things because he believes in his decision-making ability.It is said that come matchdays, Pardew likes to see himself as the king and the technical area as his castle. It perhaps explains why David Meylers incursion into this sacred territory met with such an extreme, inexcusable reaction.As he paces his London hotel room on Saturday when his team visit Fulham, Newcastles manager will have ample time to reflect on how much better things would be if only he had taken himself less seriously. If only he had seen the funny side and laughed at the Hull midfielders impudence. If only …Alan PardewNewcastle UnitedLouise Taylortheguardian © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 17:04:36 +0000
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