John Carver is his own man at Newcastle United

Carver will again be in charge for tomorrow’s Premier League home game against Southampton.

And he is determined to give the job is all – and “live by the sword and die by the sword”.

Carver – who turned 50 today – is keen to succeed departed manager Alan Pardew at St James’s Park.

The club, which has held talks with Remi Garde among others about the vacant post, is still assessing its options.

Some fans, keen for a change of direction at United, have questioned whether Carver is the right man for the job given that he was Pardew’s No2.

But Carver said: “If that’s what they’ve been saying, I can understand that because I’ve been working with Alan.

“But I’ve set the team up slightly different on the pitch, certainly against Chelsea you saw a slightly different performance.

“I’ve done some things different on the team meetings, how I’ve worked with the players is slightly different.

“I am my own man. How I look at it is you live by the sword, you die by the sword.

“If I don’t do it my way and I don’t get the job, then I’ll think ‘why didn’t I do it like that?’. I’m going to do it my way, and if I don’t do the job then at least I know I’ve done it my way.”

Carver – who managed in his own right at Toronto FC earlier in his coaching career – says the past fortnight as “whetted his appetite” for the job.

“I have had two of the best weeks of my life. I’ve been able to get on with the football and not worry about anything else,” he said.

“I’ve been able to work with a group of players who have been absolutely outstanding.

“They’ve listened to what I’ve said and they’ve bought into what I’ve tried to do.

“When you’ve had two weeks like I’ve had, it gives you that hunger to want to do it for the rest of your life. It has absolutely whetted my appetite for it.”

Carver is drawing on his experiences in Major League Soccer with Toronto FC.

“When I was managing in Toronto, one of the reasons why I came back was because I was trying to do it my way,” he said.

“I was head coach looking after the football side of it – trying to progress the technical side and the match analysis – and unfortunately they weren’t moving as quickly as I wanted them to.

“I got very frustrated. I will do it my way, because I think that’s best.”

Carver last week spoke of the need for a quick appointment so as not to allow the club to “drift”, and his comments have been echoed by a number of players.

He will speak to Newcastle managing director Lee Charnley before he and his players leave for a training camp in Dubai on Sunday.

“I will