AFTER a week when Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher have both criticised Newcastle United, John Carver has hinted that he does not respect the former England internationals’ opinions.

Owen frustrated the Magpies temporary head coach when he suggested Newcastle might not get another point this season.

That would mean Newcastle’s six-match losing run is extended to 11 before the end of the campaign, which would cast serious doubt over their Premier League future.

The former Newcastle striker, a £16m flop during four injury-ravaged years on Tyneside, spoke just days after Carragher had also criticised the club when he said Mike Ashley must be ‘bored’ watching the team he owns.

But Carver does not think every ex-player is in a good enough position to criticise, saying: “I could be nasty about Michael because let’s not forget what happened when he was here.”

And then Carver added: “I don’t have a problem with anyone having an opinion. Where I have the problem is when there’s people that have an opinion who have never been in this situation; never been in my situation.

“They have never had to sit here and pick a team when you have got so many injuries, suspensions, or dealing with situations on the training ground or having to deal with things coming from left field that you think ‘where’s that come from?’

“When I see someone like Peter Reid go on TV, who has been in this situation, he has managed in this region, he understands what it feels like. When he starts to say things I listen to what he says. I respect what he says.

“Let’s not start a war here because I accept that the likes of Michael Owen, Jamie Carragher, whoever, have played hundreds of Premier League football matches and I haven’t. I understand that. I don’t have an issue with that.

“But sometimes there has to be a little bit of sympathy with the people doing this job. When you have never gone in and put your little foot in the water and tested it then it is a little different. There are a lot of people out there who don’t do it because they can’t do it. It is a difficult situation.”

Carver aims to guide Newcastle to a much-needed victory over Swansea today to bring an end to a six-match losing streak which has left them seven points above the drop zone.

He is boosted by the return to the squad of Dutch playmaker Siem De Jong, although he is unlikely to start after recovering from surgery on a collapsed lung.

“Siem has not played a Premier League game yet, what he has got is such a sharp brain, he is technically very good and we can put him into a system where he might not put in the ground work but we could fill a team around him,” said Carver.

“We have to wait and see how he develops and the proof will be in the pudding over the next couple of years with him, we see he is a talent and I know he is. I remember sitting watching him play against Man City in the Champions League. He scored two and it was 2-2. I thought what a player he is.

“If I see anything like that then I will be delighted. He is a super lad and is a talented footballer. We just have to be patient with him. I would love to think that we would have more points on the board if he had been fit.”