Keith Patterson, a member of Newcastle Consortium Supporters Limited (NCSL), has been speaking on the latest edition of #NUFC Matters with Steve Wraith and Liam Kennedy about all things relating to Newcastle United.
One of the topics briefly discussed was the Toon’s appointment of Graeme Jones and Patterson made an interesting claim on who helped bring him to Tyneside.
Jones was born in Gateshead and has had a long coaching career working for clubs such as Everton and Wigan Athletic as well as a spell as assistant manager for the Belgium national team.
However, now he is back with Newcastle to assist Steve Bruce, and Patterson has heard from his sources that former Newcastle chief scout Graham Carr was involved in bringing Jones into the club and he is back on the scene.
He said: “I have heard the same stories from two trusted sources that he was put in there by Graham Carr and he’s now working with the club.
“Carr is well known to everybody – he brought the French Revolution – but he hasn’t become a non-footballing man overnight.
“Apparently, he’s got the trust of the people at the top, and the story I have had, and it came from two sources, and then a third confirmed, was that he picked Graeme Jones.”
Do you think Carr is back on the scene?
Yes, he could be
No, I doubt it
TIF Thoughts on Carr’s supposed return…
If what Patterson says is true, this is quite intriguing as Carr left the club in 2017 while Rafael Benitez was the manager as he wanted full control of transfers.
Before he left, Carr had been responsible for signing the likes of Yohan Cabaye and Moussa Sissoko and built up a reputation for scouting in Europe.
However, according to Patterson’s sources, he is back, and he was the one who was responsible for appointing Jones.
We will be watching on with interest to see if the club officially confirm the return of Carr or if he hasn’t actually returned and Patterson’s information was wrong.
However, if his information is correct, then what an interesting move by the Toon.