John Carver Snapped Playing Golf Despite Banning Newcastle Players From Media Spotlight

The Newcastle United head coach seemed happy to appear in public despite the club's plight...

Newcastle United boss John Carver has found time to relax despite the club's perilous position - by attending a charity golf day, despite claiming the club would attempt to stay out of the media glare this week. The Magpies interim head coach may have led his side to nine losses out of the last 10 but, due to Newcastle's pivotal showdown with West Ham United not being until Sunday, Carver decided to visit Close House Golf Course on Monday. His Newcastle side meekly surrendered a one-goal lead to succumb to a 2-1 defeat at already-relegated Queens Park Rangers on Saturday and Carver was left frustrated by his side's inability to gain a first victory since February 28th. https://twitter.com/collyb1/status/600267062162935808 With Newcastle having taken one point from the last 30 available, they now sit just one position and two points above 18th-placed Hull City heading into the final weekend of the season. And the Magpies boss insisted that his players would remain outside of the media spotlight during the build-up to the crunch clash with West Ham - although Carver himself appears to have ignored his own advice. Of course there is nothing wrong with attending a charity golf event, in fact it is admirable and Carver is in a way doing the correct thing, but it directly opposes the assertion he made over the weekend. Speaking after the loss to QPR, Carver said:

"I'll tell the players to keep away from the TV and going online, to keep them focused on preparation.

"If you take your eye off the ball you get punished, and we've got to keep our focus sharp.

"It's still in our hands, and if you want it enough then you can do something about it.

"We've got a week to get our heads around this situation."
Playing in the Freeman Hospital's CHUF (Children's Heart Unit Fund) Golf Day, Carver appeared at event that featured former footballers Alan Shearer and Robbie Savage in 2014, while Ant & Dec and Jonathan Edwards were also present last year. Ironically, Shearer was the interim manager at the helm when Newcastle were relegated during the 2008-09 season - a feat Carver will hope to avoid repeating this Sunday. For all the latest NUFC News, Views and Transfers make sure to follow WhatCultureNUFC on Twitter and Facebook.
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Contributor

NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.