John Carver of Lechia Gdansk and (inset) players celebrate the win over Lech Poznan
John Carver of Lechia Gdansk and (inset) players celebrate the win over Lech Poznan
Former Newcastle United chief John Carver has been shortlisted for manager of the year in Poland's top-flight.
Carver was appointed as head coach of Lechia Gdańsk back in December with the Polish Ekstraklasa side facing almost certain relegation as they lay three wins adrift of safety. However, Carver has turned things around and hauled Lechia from the foot of the table to 14th despite having no money to spend and working with a young squad.
At the start of his stint in charge, Carver had told Chronicle Live: "The biggest thing I learned from the Newcastle experience was to try to stay as calm as you can without letting outside noise affect you. You can't let it affect how you sleep, eat and recover for training and games."
Carver has won eight matches, drawn one and lost six from his 15 games in charge so far in Poland. After achieving safety, Lechia and Carver have two games left to bolster their tally with mid-table still a possibility.
The former Newcastle youth team coach has played down talk on his future and said to Polish journalists this week: "I'm thinking about the here and now. Of course, that could change in a day or two and then we can talk about it.
"We have strengthened ourselves in the fact that we do not give in to any distractions. In my head, I'm just thinking about how to win the next match."
Carver will resume his coaching duties with Scotland in June with friendly clashes against Iceland and Liechtenstein ahead of the World Cup qualifying for the 2026 tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico.
Carver's stint at Newcastle is also remembered by some for a "best coach in the Premier League" comment made before the West Brom game 10 years ago - a quote that would go viral. Addressing the comments 10 years on, Carver said: "I was simply telling the players to believe in themselves more. And that I had to believe in who I was. That was: 'The best coach in the Premier League'. It was tongue in cheek, but seriously, what I was essentially saying was: 'What's the point in trying to win games in the Premier League if we didn't believe we were good enough?'
"Remember, the Premier League is the best league in the world, and you are competing against world stars. If you don't have that confidence and belief, you will struggle. The show had to go on."