Souness Full of Surprises?

By GHD
July 16 2005

Message board regular GHD gives his views on Graeme Souness.

Boring? Confrontational? Only wants journeymen and grafters? Can't handle the big name players? Will take us down?

When Souey was unvieled as the manager of Newcastle United after the unceremonious sacking of SBR a few weeks into last season these were only a few of the printable platitudes used to describe the new manager. Indeed myself and one or two others (on this msge board at least) were in a very small minority who said give the guy a chance. I had seen what he did in Scotland during the Rangers revolution as he set them up on their way to 9 championships in a row - although I'm not suggesting for a second that he will achieve anything like that at NUFC, however the turnaround in Rangers was remarkable given their immediate history prior to his arrival.

As last season progressed the doom mongers grew in strength and number with a new crisis hitting the front and back pages every week and NUFC and Souey stuck firmly in the middle, tales of unrest and rebellion in the dressing room attracting more headlines than our achievements - or lack of them - on the pitch. Bellamy dragging the club's (and more specifically the managers) name through the mud for six long months before finally being suitably rewarded for his disgraceful outburst with a transfer to the footballing hotbed that is Blackburn..............

Next up Dyer and Bowyer conspire to sabotage our remaining cup hopes after deciding that a capacity SJP and Sky Sports broadcast is the ideal place to showcase their lack of boxing skills. Lengthy bans followed for both and the Uefa and FA Cup dreams are lying in tatters. In the midst of all of this Laurent Robert once again decides not to play to anywhere near his capability's but decides to publicly slag off his manager, team mates and club on the eve of one of our most important games of the season. Glad to see that he has now found a club comparable to his talents and ambitions...............

The season ends and we are a lowly 14th in the Premiership, the boo boys are having a field day and we await the transfer window with interest. First to go is Aaron Hughes, loyal servant and utility player but not of a standard to take us forward. The fans reaction to this is unbelevable, anyone would have thought we'd sold Shearer or Given against their wishes.PK and Andy 'O' follow and the natives are getting even more restless as no new players are moving to SJP and to make matters worse the players the press are linking us with are not of a calibre most fans want to see at SJP.

Finally, Souey makes his first close season signing - Scott Parker arrives at SJP having snubbed a few minor clubs to join a big club and work with a manager he admires, despite his reputation for being confrontational.........

Further outgoings include Bellamy, Robert and Ambrose and once again the natives grow restless that we aren't signing anymore high calibre players, specifically Strikers. The next one in is Belozoglu 'Dick' Emre, mixed reception from the fans as we buy another midfielder and still no striker on the horizon until this week when out of nowhere Souey confirms we are interested surprisingly in Anelka and moves are being mooted for Boa Morte from Fulham and suddenly the bigger picture is starting to take shape. Finally I'm getting excited about the coming season and the calibre of players we are signing and being linked with.

Parker has to be one of the best potential CM's in the prem, Emre has the skill and flair to excite the fans and terrorise visiting defences to SJP and what of Anelka? I have to admit I didn't see that one coming? He has undoubted talent and even though he's seemingly been around forever he's still only 26 and approaching his prime. If he has matured and Souey can get a team that can play to his and Shearers strengths then surely we will have a forward line that the SJP faithful crave and deserve? Add to that Boa Morte, a good strong player who will not leave gaping holes in the left midfield a' la Robert and that top 4 - 6 finish suddenly doesn't seem so far away.

The players that he has already bought and the 2 current targets can hardly be described as "journeymen". On top of this there's a full 6 weeks of transfer window to attract more players. Of course Souey's job starts for real when the league kicks off, he has to mould them and motivate them to be his team and bring us all the success we crave, however looking now at who he's bought and who he's after I think you can hardly accuse him of going after boring journeymen and building a team that will be playing dour football.

Surprised? Pleasantly so and really looking forward to the new season. Keep up the good work GS.