JOHN CARVER has called for the authorities to come down hard on a fan who threw a coin at captain Fabricio Coloccini during Newcastle United's 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park.

Coloccini was struck in the head as he celebrated Papiss Cisse’s opening goal three minutes before half-time as the Magpies threatened to overcome Alan Pardew’s rejuvenated Crystal Palace.

Stewards quickly moved in to address the situation and Carver, who was backed to become a permanent Premier League boss by Pardew afterwards, condemned the actions of a supporter.

Newcastle’s head coach said: “What’s disappointing from a Palace point of view is that they have a fantastic crowd, an unbelievable atmosphere, and it takes one idiot to throw a coin. It missed Coloccini’s eye by an inch. If it is another inch it could blind him. It should be dealt with. Let’s find out who it was.”

Pardew, who has been given a wonderful reception from Palace fans since moving south from Tyneside last month, was also unimpressed.

He said: “I saw the referee come over to the linesman and hand him something. It would be a shame if that was an incident – a random fan acting poorly if that is the case. And that is unusual for this club if that is the case because we have a great record of behaviour so I am sure we will look into it.”

Other than that flashpoint it was a pretty straight forward first meeting with Newcastle for Pardew following his decision to leave St James’ Park.

There was the occasional derogatory chant directed his way from the travelling supporters who watched him lead Newcastle for a little more than four years, but otherwise it was a pretty low-key reunion.

Pardew said: “It was normal crowd banter. I have walked away and come here and I enjoyed myself here. I had a brilliant reception from the fans again and hopefully we can give them a result to cheer about in the FA Cup on Saturday.”

By full-time Carver, who has won one and drawn two since he was appointed head coach until the end of the season, was the man under the most fire. Newcastle fans criticised him for being overly negative, particularly when he introduced Paul Dummett for Remy Cabella with five minutes remaining.

“I bring Dummett on because I know Yannick Bolasie ... I worked with him every single day at Plymouth,” said Carver, whose side allowed Fraizer Campbell to equalise 19 minutes before the end.

“You saw with Bolasie’s first touch, how he shifted the ball in the box and they scored from it, how good he is and I was concerned he would do that again. Sometimes you have to take off a flair player and that’s why I brought Dummett on, I wanted to nullify it.”

He added: “We have seen how difficult it is to win games in the Premier League. I have had six games and we have lost two out of six (including as caretaker). When you consider we lost two, to possibly the champions Chelsea and third placed Southampton ... I am really positive.

“We have a little break now. The focus and concentration has been first class. You can see here that there is a group of players working for the badge. I will give them a few days to recharge their batteries. They had one day less recovery from Sunday, I made a couple of changes. I will give them time to recover.”

And Pardew is certainly predicting big things for Carver as a frontline boss. The Palace chief said: “I think John has got the credentials to be a Premier League manager. I look at other Premier League managers and see no difference in the qualities that John possesses.

“I wish him all the best. I love him as a guy and as a colleague and as a friend and that will never change. I think he has conducted himself superbly so far.”

Newcastle defender Dummett, meanwhile, suffered a knock to his knee cap and will be assessed over the next few days.

And it is understood that Newcastle do not expect to offload Cisse to Al-Ahli before the Middle East transfer window closes today. Al-Ahli have been in contact but time is running out to strike a deal.