Carver: We have to improve

The Magpies finally secured their top-flight status with a 2-0 victory over West Ham at St James' Park on Sunday, their first win since February 28 and just the third of Carver's 19-game league reign.

But their fate remained in the balance until Jonas Gutierrez's 85th-minute strike settled the nerves among a crowd of 52,094 at St James' Park, and head coach Carver knows that is simply not good enough.

He said: "I do know Mike even did an interview beforehand - I didn't see it, but that's the step that we might be taking to bring this football club together, because it has to be one, it has to be one for us to be successful.

"We can't afford to get ourselves in this situation ever again. We all know we have made mistakes, everybody, and we have admitted those mistakes.

"This is a big summer now and I have had assurances that we are going to spend money, so the fans can now go away, have their summer holidays, look forward to players coming through the door, but also look forward to that fixture list coming through."

Carver has presided over a desperate scrap for survival after a solid start to the season under Alan Pardew was frittered away following his departure in January.

The Magpies ran out on the final day having collected just a single point from the previous 30 they had contested and knowing victory for Hull over Manchester United - that game finished 0-0 - would leave them needing to win as well.

But despite enduring that nightmare run, which was punctuated by injuries and suspensions, Carver still wants the job on a permanent basis with Ashley having promised to invest in the team and to attempt to bring a first trophy to the club since 1969.

He said: "It feels like you have just won the cup, that's what it feels like. I actually sit here now feeling like I have won the cup, and wouldn't it be great in the future to be sitting here having won a cup?

"Now I know Mike has come out and said he wants to win things and he is going nowhere. Well that's a good thing, that's a good thing as long as we get everybody together, Mike, (managing director) Lee (Charnley), myself, whoever it is - me, because I want this job, by the way, so there's another story for you.

"I am not going anywhere unless they tell me I am going somewhere else, but I want this job."

While Carver hopes to still be in charge next season it was confirmed shortly after the final whistle that his West Ham counterpart, Sam Allardyce, was going to be leaving the club this summer with his contract not being renewed.

"I thought it was time to leave, I thought it was the right time to leave. For me, four years is a long enough spell. You don't want to over-stay your welcome and like I said, you have to commit your whole life to being a Premier League manager," Allardyce said.

"You are under scrutiny all the time and you have to be totally obsessed with the job to get it right, and particularly your family, you have to ignore that side. They worry for you, they support you. They are down when you're down, they're up when you're up, so it does become a bit of a strain on them, particularly your wide, so it's time to have that break.

"It's leaving on a high for me - not a high today the way we performed in the second half - but leaving on a high, and walking away from a football club that has achieved so much in the last four seasons is something I am very proud of."