Newcastle United: Time to back Souness?

By Groundhogdaze
May 1 2005

I remember where I was the day KK resigned and how bad I felt. I hoped it was just him spitting his dummy out and and that Sir John would do the usual and talk him out of it. Sadly it wasn't to be. I also remember the foreboding feeling i had when I heard that Dalglish had been given the job.

Having been a fan through the really bad years following our Fairs cup win and having to put up with Lee, Dinnis, McGarry, Smith, McFaul, Ardiles etc the KK era was almost fan utopia for me. The only thing KK failed to do was win that elusive trophy, then as suddenly as he arrived he was gone and Kenny arrived. I had a horrible gut feeling that Dalglish was going to take us spectacularly backwards and so it happened.

I wasn't surprised to see him go but I was even more horrified to see the arrival of Gullit and watching him systematically dismantle our team and it's spirit. Luckily FF realised early on what a mistake it was having him here and SBR was called to rescue the club. After an unspectacular start SBR restored some pride and produced a team that managed to punch above it's weight and get us into europe and a top four finish in consecutive seasons. However in doing so he succumbed to player power, the overpaid ego's running the dressing room, allowing the brat pack to slowly but surely shame our clubs name in that dressing room and with their regular off field antics. By the end of his tenure the rot had already set in and a (squad) team with so much promise was starting to self destruct.

Inevitably SBR was sacked, not I believe as a result of our (by now regular) bad start to the season, most certainly because FF could see the effect the brat pack were having on the club. Who to find as a replacement? Bruce - he said thanks but no thanks (Thank god) Allardyce? No he'd rather stay with a small squad, small budget, small town team? M'O'N? No chance - in the comfort zone with Celtic and only needing to win 4 games a season? O' Leary? No - he'd rather work with deadly Doug than take on the "brat pack" and finally Souness our 5th choice manager.................

Souness wasn't my first choice of manager but it say's so much about the state our club was in that we couldn't attract a higher calibre of manager.

However, even given the position we are in I don't have that sense of doom that I did when Dalglish arrived and Gullit was destroying us from the inside. Unlike those two, Souness didn't have the luxury of a 12 month transfer window when he arrived. As good as our squad was when he arrived I don't think it was as good in comparison to our main rivals as the team Dalglish inherited from Keegan - specifically in terms of attacking flair and our league position at the time and finally the stranglehold of the brat pack on the club.....................

This time around Souey inherited a team of ego's that would play where, how and when they decided. There antics off the field making more headlines than their performances on it. Since then he's sorted out dyer's form. Bellamy sacrificed himself and got everything he deserved, Robert has elevated himself to some kind of fans hero because Souey can't stand having the obnoxious lazy b@stad on the team. This is the same player the fans berated over and over again for his lack lustre performances under SBR. Bowyer and Dyer, brawling on the field - hardly Souness fault. Butt, injured then disinterested. PK - world class but lacking the desire? Add to that our genuine injuries and suspensions and it's easy to see why we are where we are.

Now for the positives, Boumsong - bought by Souey to shore up our defence and when he's played I think he's done well. Faye - bought at short notice because we lacked a DM after Butt's injuries - solid and starting to find his way - I think he will come good. Babayaro - was doing well but seems to have inherited Bellamy's injury's? Zog - will be a very good player if he continues to improve so quickly. Taylor - outstanding, Ramage has done well in the handful of games he's started. Finally he got Shearer to stay on for another year.

With all the myths surrounding Shearer's influence at the club he's only once thought about putting himself before the club and that was when Gullit went the wrong way about proving who was boss, playing politics with him, Rob Lee and Drunken Duncan. Yes Shearer's slower than he used to be - given his age and injuries that's hardly surprising, but with the possible exceptions of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manure there isn't another club in the prem that wouldn't jump at signing him............ He is still up there with the best, he still carries us, even when he isn't scoring his mear presence on the field lifts the team. Until we sign better then for me he stays.

Back to Souey. I'm not happy with our current position, I was not happy to spend all that money to go to Cardiff and stand there watching our fans sing their hearts out while we were being humiliated 4 - 1. Do I blame Souness for that? No. I blame Bellamy for what he did, Dyer and Bowyer for getting themselves banned at the most important time of the season. Robert for being unbeleavably arrogant and lazy and bleating to the press on the eve of our 2 biggest games of the season. Those players and their behaviour is the reason we are where we are, they are also the reason why we need a Souness type manager. The fact that Shearer agreed to sign on for another year speaks volumes to me about what Souey is doing behind the scenes.

I don't know how good or bad Souness will prove to be as I don't have a crystal ball, however I'm prepared to give him a chance for now to buy in his players and fashion his team. If you seriously think that sacking Souey now is good for the business or the club or you can't see the cancer he is cutting out then you really don't have a grasp of what has been going on at SJP for the last couple of years. Like it or not he's here for another 12 months. Support him and the team and lets see where he can take us before we condemn a man who has had to handle so much sh*t that lesser managers would have crumbled months ago. Look again at the list who turned us down and ask yourself seriously if they could have handled NUFC as well as Souey has givne the situations he's had to face. They all bottled it, he didn't and IMO is to be applauded for how he has handled it. He's clearing the****out. Let's see what he brings in.

Be a fan. Support the team instead of this knee jerk screaming for sacking the manager and booing the team.