Anti-Souness Bandwagon is Ridiculous - We Must Back our Boss and Give him a Chance

One way to answer critics!

Even upon his appointment Graeme Souness was not afforded the undoubted backing of the Toon Army. His arrival was met with claims that the ex-Blackburn boss was indeed the only man who wanted the job and that Freddie Shepherd’s previous attempts to lure Sam Allardyce or Steve Bruce had been unsuccessful. These claims may in fact be correct.

It cannot be argued however that Souness made an impressive start to his Tyneside reign. Imposing Uefa Cup victories that marked Patrick Kluivert’s emergence as a potential Toon hero were coupled with a return of 11 points out of a possible 15 in the league. The team looked solid, together and capable of grinding out results. Our midfield was in some quarters described as ‘steelier’ and 12 goals in 5 league games demonstrated that our attacking options had not been sacrificed. I do realise however that since these much heralded opening five games we have indeed played another 16 league matches. Our form has not been good and our performances anything but attractive.

There is an adage in football that goes by the way of ‘play your best eleven and choose a system or formation from there’. Sir Alf Ramsey subscribed to this notion during the 1966 World Cup. Prior to the tournament there were calls for Ramsey to be sacked – his formations and team selections were not in keeping with press expectations. Faith was however shown towards the England boss, and, faith was, ultimately rewarded. Comparisons of Graeme Souness with the great Alf Ramsey may have some readers jumping out of their seat – believe me, I’m not attempting to do this, it is merely the theory behind it that I am drawing upon.

So, can it not be argued that our boss has not in fact been fielding his strongest eleven in recent weeks? The crux of supporter’s quarrel lies with his midfield selection. I myself have penned many a word bemoaning the decision to play four central midfield players with no width. However, upon closer inspection, I ask you would playing Laurent Robert and a recognised right winger really make a difference? I, personally, do not think so.

Laurent Robert rewarded Souness’ faith at Highbury with a performance that was nothing short of disgraceful – never have I been more annoyed with an individual with regards to laziness and wastefulness. But in Laurent Robert the anti-Souness brigade have their prized weapon. Who can forget the jeers directed towards the winger last season and even as recently as December following his introduction against Portsmouth and subsequent lacklustre display? Laurent Robert is not good enough over ninety minutes – Souness recognises this and so restricts the La Reunion islander’s appearance to the final half an hour. You read some reports that we miss his goals, crosses, set pieces etc. Any supporter who is honest enough will admit that even for the final period of Sir Bobby’s reign the Frenchman was not producing the goods and was fast becoming a liability to the team.

This leads onto our right flank. Who would you play? Milner? The child. James Milner, for all the potential he may or may not have, is at present no where near good enough to perform in the pressure cooker atmosphere that is St.James Park.

Darren Ambrose? Whoever it was who spotted the ex-Ipswich midfielder needs to readdress their scouting criteria. He, like Milner, is not good enough. Graeme Souness recognises this, but, like every player who Souness chooses not to play they are immediately used as a warhead against the Scot.

That leaves Souness with the decision to select any four from his best five midfield players, namely, Butt, Faye, Jenas, Dyer and Bowyer. In the long term the possibility of selecting our midfield from this quintet is not satisfactory. We need wingers. But, please, let us give Graeme Souness the chance to identify this and go and buy two good wingers in the summer. He must be as frustrated as we are playing without any width, but, in reality, the midfield he has selected is a better option than having to accommodate Laurent Robert, James Milner or Darren Ambrose.

Since Souness’ arrival our home form has been poor. The days of 17 wins out of 19 games under Keegan are an all too distant memory. Teams now come to St.James’ with a well defined game plan of contain and frustrate. We, as the fans, also play a part. After an hour and with scores level the inevitable hypocritical calls for Robert’s introduction ring out, individuals are booed, groans emerge at every missed place pass. I am guilty of this. Our frustration is inevitably transmitted to our players. Even under Robson it was the same – who can forget his ‘kitchen sink’ approach during the last twenty minutes of many games at St.James’ Park?

At home you need width, we have already discussed that the selection of our wingers comes at a price. If, for arguments sake, we had picked up the nine points dropped at home that we would have expected to collect (Everton, Portsmouth, Fulham and Charlton), we would be sitting in sixth place. I am sick and tired of hearing this myself, but, ‘next season’ let us hope that Souness addresses the width problem and then, and only then, can we judge the boss if he has failed to rectify our most glaring weakness.

For the last three years our players have appeared on the front pages of most tabloids – motoring issues, sex scandal etc. If the Craig Bellamy saga has one positive outcome then surely it will be that no player at our club is indispensable. Bellamy was our most effective player, no argument, I loved him. We can only hope that the example Souness has set in castigating the Welshman will serve as a warning to our other ‘trouble’ prone young stars.

Kieron Dyer, as much as I loathe to admit, has experienced a resurgence in form of late. With Dyer’s contract due to expire next summer, perhaps this is a canny ploy by the Scot to lure potential summer suitors presenting the sort of cash somewhere near to the £6million Ruud Gullit paid Ipswich Town in 1999.

Whether you agree with the issues I have raised or not, we have to give Graeme Souness a chance. I am not going to name the website that has been constructed that calls for Souness’ head and give it the publicity it doesn’t deserve, but just what can that achieve for Newcastle United? Once again, I’ll reiterate, we have to give Souness a chance, a real chance, to prove whether or not he is good enough to manage our fantastic club.

I do not know, or strongly believe either way, if Souness will be successful. But, with his three signings to date all showing glimpses of promise, he has to be given the opportunity to mould his own team over the next eighteen months, and then we will be able to judge our gaffer. Let us not forget that both our FA and Uefa Cup dreams are still very much alive, how loud would the cries be for Souness’ dismissal if the Scot brought home the long overdue Cup that has eluded our trophy cabinet for almost half a century?

If you have any comment about the article please contact Craig Hope at nufctalk@hotmail.com or through the ‘Contact the editor’ link below. I will respond to all mail.