John Carver admits he feels like Red Adair as he attempts to put out the fires threatening to engulf Newcastle's season.
The Magpies coach and his players will head for Everton on Sunday with the club's hierarchy waiting until the summer to appoint a permanent replacement for Alan Pardew, without leading scorer Papiss Cisse as he begins a seven-game ban for spitting and with a treatment room described by the 50-year-old as "Emergency Ward 10".
Pardew spent much of his four years or so at St James' Park having to deal with the unexpected, but Carver knows from his time working under former manager Sir Bobby Robson that that goes with the job.
He said: "I feel like Red Adair, just call me that. Sir Bobby was the same. But that comes with the package at this football club for some reason, you have to fight fires.
"You have to deal with it, or else you'll get burnt."
For all the difficulties Carver faces this weekend, it is opposite number Roberto Martinez whose problems are more pressing.
Newcastle head into the weekend sitting in 11th place in the Premier League table on 35 points, three places and seven points better off than the Toffees, whose Europa League exploits have taken a toll on domestic affairs.
Carver knows all about that after he and Pardew struggled to manage the competing demands of European and Premier League football during the 2012-13 season, and he believes former Wigan boss Martinez is doing a good job despite the pair locking horns over Callum McManaman's horror challenge on Massadio Haidara during that campaign.
He said: "He's done a good job. He plays the game the right way -- whether Everton fans agree, I don't know.
"I remember the little tussle we had at Wigan when McManaman made that awful tackle on Haidara -- it got a little bit fiery that day. Normally he's very calm and composed and is a nice guy."
Haidara will be missing at Goodison Park as he continues his recovery from a knee injury, and he will be joined on the sidelines by the banned Cisse and midfielder Mehdi Abeid, who has a thigh problem.
Carver will welcome back midfielders Jack Colback and Remy Cabella from suspension and injury respectively, but the main focus will fall upon his strikers as he looks for cover for 11-goal Cisse.
Frenchman Emmanuel Riviere is yet to open his league account for the club, while 21-year-old Ayoze Perez's early flurry has abated somewhat with his last goal coming in the reverse fixture on Dec. 28.
Perez, however, has caught the eye of a series of admirers and the post-match conversation between managers often turns to the former Tenerife frontman.
Carver said: "I'm not surprised. He's a young lad and an exciting talent. I know for a fact there is interest. You go in coaches' rooms after games and have a chat.
"A few people have spoken very highly of him, which is good. I had a good chat with Brian Kidd at Manchester City about him."
But asked if Perez's immediate future lies on Tyneside, Carver added: "Absolutely. He's made the next step in his career and this is a fantastic place to continue that development."
Newcastle's 3-2 victory over Everton three days after Christmas proved to be Pardew's last game at the helm as Crystal Palace made their move for him and less than three months on, Carver still insists he was in the dark even when he was asked to conduct the post-match press conference.
He said: "It's amazing. I never expected Alan to go -- 100 percent I didn't know. I did the press after the game and I still didn't know."