Souness and Shepherd Set for Row

By Nick Raynor
May 15 2005

Graham Souness and Freddy Shepherd are set for a row over whether Newcastle United should play in the Inter-Toto cup next season.

Shepherd is keen for Newcastle to play in Europe next season after failing to qualify after a disappointing year.

But Manager Graham Souness is not so keen due to the large amount of games that would be played.

Souness said:

"If we were to qualify again for the Uefa Cup quarter finals through the Intertoto Cup, that would be 24 games," said Souness.

"And that's on top of any domestic cup competitions as well as the Premiership. It's not ideal.

"This business is not rocket science. It's no coincidence this club had one of its best seasons four years ago, when they got knocked out by Troyes in the Intertoto Cup.

"They ended up finishing fourth in the Premiership."