Newcastle assistant John Carver signs new contract
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew secured the services of assistant John Carver for five and a half years by handing him a new deal.
The 46-year-old, who served at Sir Bobby Robson's number two at St James' Park, has impressed since returning to Tyneside on a short-term contract in January, and has been rewarded for his efforts with an extended stay.
Confirmation of his new deal arrived just hours after the club announced that midfielder Cheick Tiote had signed a six-and-a-half-year contract.
Carver said: "It is great to get this sorted. It was right for the manager to give me a short-term deal at the time because I didn't know him and a lot of the players had changed too.
"But it's been a great month or so, and when he gave me the long-term deal I was delighted.
"I've been around the world over the last few years and need to settle down now, and where better than my home town club?"
Carver worked alongside Robson during the Magpies' second Champions League campaign in 2002-03, and had spells at Plymouth and Sheffield United as well as a head coach role with Toronto FC in Major League Soccer before returning to Newcastle.
Pardew said: "John returned here in January on a short-term contract to allow us to work together and get to know each other.
"It has been without doubt a huge success. I've really enjoyed working with John and I am delighted he has signed a new deal to make this a long-term partnership."
Pardew's predecessor Chris Hughton spent the final two months of his reign working without a number two following Colin Calderwood's departure for the manager's job at Hibernian in October, and his successor had to wait several weeks before he was able to bring in Carver to share the workload.
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