Tim Krul has asked Newcastle United supporters to show some patience and try to understand it will take time for John Carver’s philosophy to be engrained at the club.
The Dutchman was one player believed to have been particularly close to Alan Pardew, and was left disappointed that the former manager left St James’ Park last month.
However, he has thrown his full support behind Carver and first-team coach Steve Stone, and while so far the results have been patchy, the goalkeeper asked that the fans appreciate the new head coach is going to need time.
Newcastle’s last game was a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace, Pardew’s current club, and was a match Krul believes his team should have won having led for much of the second half.
Next up is current champions Manchester City and a run of games which sees Newcastle playing many of the Premier League’s top teams.
Carver needs his team to start picking up points and while the fans turned on him at Selhust Park, albeit it briefly, he retains the backing of the dressing room.
Krul said: “We very much believe in what John and Stoney do, and we have shown that on the pitch.
“We’re three games unbeaten, and we should have won last weekend at Hull. We gave it away.
“We could have won (against Palace), and we could have had nine points and three clean sheets.
“We have to look at the positives. I think there are a few out there maybe giving John a hard time, but we could have had nine points.
“John’s trying to do some different things, so it takes a bit of time. I truly believe we’re on the right track.”
The best result of Newcastle’s season so far was the Capital One Cup victory at Manchester City, which came just as the team strung together their only decent run of victories to date.
United will go back to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday at least in the knowledge that they can give the champions a game - they also ran them close at St James’ Park on the opening fixture of the season.
And Krul believes Newcastle should be able to go there relaxed and confident of taking something.
He said: “It’s a hard place. They have a fantastic team. We’ll go there with no pressure on us.
“If they play well, it’s going to be a hard game, as they’ve got great players.
“But we’ve beaten them once there already this season.”
