text: John Carver says he would walk away from Newcastle United if the club’s hierarchy had not given him assurances of serious summer investment. Supporters are threatening to boycott the next home match against Spurs in protest at Mike Ashley’s running of the club and a perceived lack of ambition. Newcastle have lost the last five Tyne-Wear derbies and, in the wake of Sunday’ s 1-0 defeat at Sunderland, the owner, head coach and players have come in for strong criticism. John Carver would walk away from Newcastle  if the club’s hierarchy had not given him reassurances . Fans are threatening to boycott the next home game in protest at Mike Ashley’s running of the club . But Carver said: ‘I can understand that their (fans) concern, but we’re already addressing it behind the scenes. ‘Mike and Lee Charnley (managing director) know what they have to do. And I’m telling you now, if I was sitting here and I thought they were giving me lip service I would say “thanks very much, I’m off - I’m walking away from this”. ‘If I didn’t have enough belief in what they were trying to do and the promises that they’ve said about the summer, then I would. But I’m not because I know what they’re saying to me is right. They’ve said that we need to bring players into this football club, first of all to boost the size of the squad, but also to improve the quality, to take us on. ‘We can’t stand still because other clubs are not standing still and they know that. We have to go with them. And if we don’t, you get left behind.' He added: ‘We’ve had different managers but the same group of players (keep getting beat in derbies). There is something in the DNA. Newcastle players train at the club's training complex on Thursday ahead of Monday's clash with Liverpool . Newcastle trio Moussa Sissoko, Vurnon Anita and Massaido Haidara take a breather during training . Ryan Taylor attemps to bend the ball around some dummies and hit the target during Thursday's session . ‘It’s something we need to look at. We struggle when we have to compete. We have talked about addressing that in the summer.’ Carver concedes that his side – on the back of four straight defeats – still need more than the 35 points they currently sit on to be assured of safety. They travel to Liverpool on Monday before entertaining Spurs a week on Sunday. And Carver has urged fans to get behind the team. ‘Supporters go to work, pay their money and they’re entitled to do whatever they want to,’ he said in response to news of a proposed boycott. ‘But we’re at the business end of the season now and I’m pleading, “get behind the team, give us your support, because it makes a difference”. ‘Especially the situation we’re in at the moment, we need as much help and support as we can get.’ Jermain Defoe (centre) connects beautifully with a left-footed volley to score the winner for Sunderland . Newcastle players look dejected following Sunday's 1-0 defeat to rivals Sunderland at the Stadium of Light .
target: John Carver insists he would leave the club if they had not backed him .
  'If I was sitting here and I thought they were giving me lip service I would say “thanks very much, I’m off - I’m walking away from this”,' Carver said .
  Fans are threatening to boycott the next home match against Tottenham Hotspur in protest at Mike Ashley’s running of the club .
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