Sir John Hall On Sir Bobby's Sacking
In an interview with Tyne Tees Television earlier today Sir John Hall
said the following:
"We haven't achieved everything I supposed we might under Bobby. There
were big problems in the dressing room which were well documented.
"The watershed was the Marseille game. Everyone had tremendous
expectations of winning the UEFA Cup. We didn't win it and the team
played diabolically.
"I will always remember it vividly because I came back on the
Thursday night with the fans.
"About five plane-loads had travelled out there and when the
buses brought them back to Marseille Airport they came through the
doors and saw me.
"I have never, never, never been subjected to such criticism
or - I wouldn't say abuse - but strong talk. I felt at that time we
were losing the fans and some of the players weren't playing for Newcastle
and Bobby Robson.
"There were problems in the dressing room and you had to face
up to reality and decide what you are going to do.
"I am 72 now - the same age as Bobby - and I suppose there
comes a time when a lot of us really have to look how far we're going
on.
"Listening to all the fans, my realisation was that it was
a watershed. There was a lot of criticism. I had to stand and agree
with them and I had to say, basically, there was something wrong.
There's got to be change.
"It was a very difficult decision to make. I would guess that
the board thought this particular season Newcastle would finish fourth
and get into the Champions League. But we had a poor start to the
season.
"The problems in the dressing room seemed to continue through
into the season and I can understand Freddy Shepherd, the chairman's
decision.
"It was the right decision, to my mind, and I'm standing by
him. Probably the only thing to be criticised was the timing.
"It might have been better if Bobby had taken an ambassadorial role
at the end of last season."
*Quotes taken from the Sunday Sun
Under 18's: Liverpool 2-4 NUFC
Newcastle's under 18's academy side beat Liverpool 4-2 at Kirkby yesterday,
making it 4 wins from 5. Michael Terrell put United ahead after only
10 minutes with Liverpool equalising on the half hour mark then a
Marc Walton brace made it 3-1. The Scousers pulled one back to make
it 3-2 but Carl Finnigan grabbed a 4th in injury time.
Robbie Elliott Hoping For A New Deal
United's Robbie Elliott has revealed that he is hoping his new boss
Graeme Souness will hand him a new deal. After the defenders 2 year
long stint on the sidelines, he has started 4 of the Toon's opening
6 games and was made Captain for the night against Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin
on Thursday night.
Elliott said: "I'm really enjoying the new regime and my aim is to
stay in the side and win a new contract."
Worth A Read: Souness Interview/Diary
From the Sunday Herald
Mr Nice Guy?
Football: As his players dream of a day off, Graeme Souness insists
he's a changed man. Stewart Fisher reports
Graeme Souness can be hard work. He met his Newcastle United players
for the first time exactly one week ago today, and followed it up
with a combined training and media day on Monday. He then took the
team's workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday, in preparation for their
Uefa Cup first-round match against Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin on Thursday
night, before instructing everyone to turn up at 10.30am sharp on
Friday morning to participate in the first of the club's newly- instituted
next-day warm-down sessions. The squad trained again yesterday, ahead
of today's Premiership visit to Southampton and, of course, tomorrow
morning's subsequent warm-down. Who knows, Tuesday could even see
the squad's first day off. Perhaps after all that time spent in Liverpool,
Eight Days a Week has become Souness's favourite Beatles song.
Such a regime – added to lock-outs and fines for players who are five
minutes late, and random breathalyser tests – conforms to the Souness
stereotype, and the popular perception of the Scot being enlisted
as a chaperone to nudge a young, misbehaving team away from the menaces
of the Quayside.
But, as far as Souness is concerned, that would only be part of the
story. "It is a very easy thing to write, and a very easy headline,
but that's certainly not what I'm all about," Souness said. "I'm like
every other manager – of course you lose your cool at times but that
is quite normal in our business. Everyone here starts afresh. I will
give everyone an opportunity to show what they can do, We have some
excellent players here, some really excellent players."
If the philosopher Hegel had been among the 30,221 people who attended
St James' Park on Thursday night perhaps he might have reflected how
closely these days Souness conforms to his theory of dialectics. The
tension between the thesis of the combative, combustible Souness of
old, and its antithesis in Souness's urbane, sophisticated side is
certainly becoming increasingly fascinating.
If it was the former who plunged a Galatasaray flag into the centre
circle of the stadium of their hated rivals Fenerbahce after a cup-final
win and almost sparked a full-scale riot, it was the latter who has
indulged on more than one occasion in cosmetic surgery and made a
cameo appearance in Boys From The Blackstuff.
Surveillance: St James' Park, Thursday night, 7.45pm; the match starts
without Souness as much as offering a wave to the crowd on his home
debut, despite the fact that those who know him best talk of his insecurities,
his need to feel at the centre of attention at a big club.
8.25pm: Souness prowls the edge of his technical area, pondering seriously
whether to enter the field of play to retrieve the ball which is spinning
exactly on its own axis some 10 metres inside the touchline.
9.03pm: Souness actually makes it on to the field this time to prevent
Nicky Butt and Hapoel captain Abbas Suan from a full-blown rammy after
both men had been sent off.
9.48pm: the manager castigates Butt for getting sent off, despite
admitting "we've all been there … well I have anyway". However deeply
it is hidden, the omnipresent threat of mayhem still lurks somewhere
in Souness's make-up. As opening statements go, Thursday night was
every bit as important as Easter Road and the red card which accompanied
that challenge on George McCluskey all of 17 years ago. Yet his decision
to leave Alan Shearer, Craig Bellamy and Nicky Butt out of his starting
line-up was the act of an assured, mature manager.
Although his appointment at Newcastle may not have exactly had the
locals turning cartwheels, the truth is that Souness has managed to
piece together a cv which could no longer properly be termed patchy.
Despite relative failures at Torino, Benfica and even Galatasaray,
he has still won 27 major honours in his career, with his 11 as a
manager fast catching up on his 16 as a player.
Having inherited a Blackburn Rovers team dwelling in the first division,
promotion was safely won, before taking the club to their second major
trophy in 75 years when they beat Tottenham in the Worthington Cup
final in 2002. A place in Europe followed and the enlisting of young
players such as David Dunn, Damien Duff and Matt Jansen established
his credentials even more firmly as a talent spotter.
"All I can say is that I am a different manager now than I was 17
years ago when I walked through the doors at Ibrox," Souness said.
"As you get older you learn things, you will make mistakes you will
do things the right way and hopefully you will choose the right path
more than the wrong ones. I think I have learned a lot."
One crucial lesson has seen him retain some Geordie influence in the
backroom staff, such as new assistant Alan Murray, while retaining
highly-rated coach John Carver to look after the academy. Ronny Johnsen
has been signed until Christmas, while Celtic goalkeeping coach Terry
Gennoe has been linked with a move south.
Souness even remained blemish-free from a satisfying 10-month spell
at this afternoon's opponents, Southampton, in 1996-97, which included
a 6-3 dismantling of Manchester United .
"I was only there for a year, I had a three-year contract and I didn't
see eye to eye with the new board that was coming in so I resigned,"
Souness said. "We kept them in the Premiership and at that time that
was success for a club like Southampton." Southampton have contrived
to employ seven different managers in the seven years since, but Newcastle
haven't won in the Hampshire town on league business since 1972.
Not all have found the club's policy of regime change entirely negative.
Robbie Elliott, a 30-year-old journeyman centre-half who ended a 20-month
spell out of the first team when he played against Middlesbrough in
the first game of the season, has been mentioned in dispatches along
with Shearer and Shay Given as senior players capable of providing
an example, and deputised as club captain against Hapoel.
"People have been saying that he was going to be ranting and raving
and kicking down chairs and tables, but he is not like that, although
I am sure he could get to that point," Elliott said. "I think you
know where the line is and if you cross it then there is no coming
back, so in that respect you do know what you are getting from him.
"
And what about those days off? "He's got plenty of points to put across
and he can't exactly do that when we are at home and he is somewhere
else," Elliot said. "At the moment we don't know from one day to the
next what is going to happen at this club."
That is Graeme Souness for you.
 |
Newcastle's Record Still Stands For Another Season
Sir Les Ferdinand and Gary Speed helped to ensure Newcastle's six
game winning streak to the start of a Premiership campaign remained
intact yesterday afternoon as the former Magpies Bolton Wanderers
team come back from 2-1 down to snatch a 2-2 draw away at Arsenal.
Ironically our 6th and final win on the spin came at Highbury back
in 1994-95.
The record breaking run of wins at the start of a Premiership campaign
in full:
3-1 Vs Leicester City (a)
4-0 Vs Coventry City (h)
5-1 vs Southampton (h)
3-1 Vs Westham (a)
4-2 Vs Chelsea (h)
3-2 Vs Arsenal (a)
Our run also brought with it the highest number of goals from the
first 6 games - 23 in total, eclipsing that of Arsenal who have so
far only managed to score 21 in 6.
The Gunners are a great team, but they aren't a patch on Keegan's
side. Those were the days. Sadly we don't do good starts these days...
ITV Rebrand Channel To ITV Toon (Serious)
From Digitalspy.co.uk
ITV is to rebrand ITV2 when showing Newcastle United UEFA cup
home matches following the broadcaster purchasing the home rights.
The rebrand will see the channel renamed to ITV TOON on match days
from 9.25am until after the match.
The normal blue and yellow images associated with the ITV channels
will be replaced with the black and white stripes of Newcastle United.
The make-over isn't just limited to the onscreen image - all ITV continuity
announcers will also be supporting the rebrand.
Head of Marketing for ITV Channels and Sport Euan Hudghton says: "We're
the television home of Newcastle United in this year's UEFA Cup and
the re-branding to ITV Toon on match days is designed to firmly establish
this in our viewers' minds."
Newcastle United Chairman Freddy Shepherd says: "We are delighted
to have signed a deal with ITV Sport to broadcast our UEFA Cup matches
this season.
"The fact that the channel are getting behind us in this way [by re-branding
for the day] is a measure of the terrific and long-standing relationship
we have with ITV.
"They are great friends of the club and we are certain the deal will
be of mutual benefit to both parties.
"Let's hope ITV can follow us all the way to Lisbon next May!"
|
Souness To Team Up With Damien Duff Again?
From that bastion of truth the Sunday Mirror:
Damien Duff is a £10million New Year target for Newcastle United.
And the Geordies will launch another bid to land French centre back
Jean-Alain Boumsong from crisis-torn Rangers.
But so keen are Newcastle to land Duff that they could even offer
Kieron Dyer - out of favour with the Geordie fans after his bust-up
with Sir Bobby Robson - as a makeweight.
The club haven't spent any of the £13.5m they banked from the August
sale of Jonathan Woodgate to Real Madrid.
And chairman Freddy Shepherd has given new manager Graeme Souness
the go-ahead to launch a major splash when the transfer window re-opens.
Souness, of course, knows all about the 25-year-old Irishman from
their time together at Blackburn.
And the Toon boss views the fleet-footed Duff as the perfect replacement
for temperamental French star Laurent Robert, whose days on Tyneside
look numbered. There is a feeling at St James' Park that the Irish
winger could be lured from London after failing to start a game since
Jose Mourinho took charge - though he is in contention to make the
line-up against Spurs today.
Earlier Mourinho assured Duff, a £17m buy from Blackburn 15 months
ago, that he had a future at Stamford Bridge despite the signing of
Dutch star Arjen Robben. But, after recovering from two dislocated
shoulders in the space of six months, Duff has become increasingly
frustrated at being repeatedly left on the bench.
The word from Stamford Bridge is that Mourinho doesn't see the talented
Irishman as part of his overall plans and views long-term injury victim
Robben as his natural wide left successor.
Mourinho won't consider letting Duff leave until the young Dutchman
is fit again, but Newcastle are so keen to get their man they are
prepared to wait until next summer. And Newcastle could even ask to
take Duff on loan.
Duff and his long-time friend and adviser Pat Devlin are prepared
to play a stalling game knowing how quickly fortunes can change in
football.
Newcastle are also ready to go back in with a £3m bid for the highly-rated
Boumsong, despite having their initial advances rejected by Rangers
in August.
It seems to me that the Mirror are putting two and two together and
coming up with 5. And why would Chelsea want that waste of space Dire?
The Boumsong rumour I can believe, but Duff? Time will tell... |
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