Ex-Leeds United, Newcastle and Sheffield United caretaker boss reunited with Elland Road colleague in European top-flight
A Leeds United reunion is on the cards across the continent.
Former Leeds United caretaker boss John Carver has been appointed to take charge of Polish side Lechia Gdansk - where he will be working under Kevin Blackwell.
Carver has put pen to paper on a deal running until the end of this season, with the option for a further year, having been confirmed as incoming head coach over the weekend. Lechia Gdansk currently sit second bottom of Poland’s Ekstraklasa with just two wins in 17, having won promotion last term.
In moving to Poland, the 59-year-old is set to reunite with the man he worked with and then succeeded in the dugout at Leeds. Carver was assistant to Blackwell at Elland Road before taking interim charge in 2006, with the latter now enjoying a spell as Lechia Gdansk’s technical director.
A statement from the Polish club read: “John Carver is the new manager of Lechia Gdansk. The 59-year-old coach from England has taken over as first-team coach. The contract runs until the end of the 2024/25 season with the option to extend it for another year.
“Lechia has reached an agreement with the Scottish Federation for John Carver to start working for the club immediately. At the same time, the club and the federation have agreed that during the international break in March 2025, coach Carver will be present in the Scotland team's staff for the play-off double-header with Greece.”
Carver has been assistant coach with the Scotland national team since 2020 and will return to that role for March’s UEFA Nations League fixtures, but until that point will look to turn his new club’s fortunes around. His last managerial role was with Cypriot outfit Omonia Nicosia and lasted just eight months of the 2016/17 campaign.
Much of Carver’s post-playing career has been spent working under managers, with the former defender assisting the likes of Blackwell, Bobby Robson and Gary Speed. In all three job posts, at Leeds, Newcastle United and Sheffield United respectively, he would take charge on an interim basis after managerial sackings.
Carver joined Blackwell’s staff at Leeds in 2005, replacing Aidy Boothroyd who had taken the managerial job at Watford. And he played his part as the Whites came within 90 minutes of promotion to the Premier League, falling short in the cruellest of fashion.
Leeds looked set for automatic promotion but collapsed in the season’s final weeks, eventually having to settle for the play-offs. Blackwell and Carver oversaw a two-legged win over Preston North End but fell to a 3-0 defeat in the final against Boothroyd’s Watford.
Blackwell was sacked the following season and Carver took interim charge, but won just one of his five games before leaving a month later. The Newcastle-born coach briefly managed Canadian side Toronto before coaching spells at Sheffield United, Newcastle and West Brom.