TONY PULIS expects the Newcastle United hierarchy to hand John Carver the head coach role on a permanent basis this summer.

Pulis, who was touted as a possible candidate to succeed Alan Pardew himself before taking over at the Hawthorns in January, led his West Brom side to a 1-1 draw at St James’ Park at the weekend.

The game came less than a week after Newcastle officials had discussed replacing Carver with Steve McClaren for the final three games of the season, but with the former Middlesbrough and England boss having rebuffed the Magpies’ approach, Pulis expects Mike Ashley to stick with the status quo.

“I don’t think there’ll be any change at this football club,” said the Baggies boss. “I think Mike Ashley is very loyal to the people he appoints, and although I don’t know the politics around the place, the one thing he has done is stick with his managers.

“As to whether John is still in charge next season though, you’ll have to ask him. He’d have a better idea than me because he’ll have spoken to Mike Ashley.”

Pulis watched Carver’s emotional outburst in the wake of Newcastle’s 3-0 defeat at Leicester and could immediately sympathise with his conduct.

The former Stoke boss is no stranger to emotional reactions himself, and claims Carver’s response to his side’s humiliation at the King Power Stadium was an inevitable consequence of having to deal with the pressures that exist in the bottom half of the table.

“Every manager from tenth position downwards has that stress, all the managers down there,” he said. “The great thing about this league, and most of the teams that are down there, is that there’s a lot of British managers fighting down there and those managers all have great spirit.

“You look at what Nigel’s (Pearson) doing, what Steve’s (Bruce) still doing and what Chris (Ramsey) is doing at QPR – they’re all really good strong characters, and no one ever really gives us the credit (they deserve).

“John’s the same here, he’s got good character and he knows that sometimes, you’ve got to roll your sleeves up.

“Yes, Newcastle are up for the fight, and the crowd were up for them and kept with them. I’m just delighted my players turned up and put a lot of effort into the game.”