Souness looks beyond Bowyer row as Magpies go for glory

NEWCASTLE manager Graeme Souness will put a traumatic week behind him as he attempts to reach the UEFA Cup semi-finals.

St James’ Park has been the centre of unwanted attention since Saturday’s shocking brawl between team-mates Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer, an incident which has once again has left chairman Freddy Shepherd seething.

However, the Magpies must forget the row as they prepare for a fortnight which will define their season, starting tonight when they face Sporting Lisbon in the first leg of their UEFA Cup quarter-final tie.

The Portuguese arrived with their own disciplinary crisis looming after striker Sa Pinto and defender Rui Jorge each landed 12-day domestic suspensions amid allegations of assault on Boavista director Joao Freitas at the weekend. They could be banned for two years if they are convicted.

Souness has included both Bowyer and Dyer, whose appeal against his dismissal was rejected, in his squad, although it is unlikely that Bowyer will start after being fined six weeks’ wages by the club.

“Like all of us, for anyone who has got an interest in Newcastle United, it is a mixture of anger and deep disappointment,” Souness said. “Everything in the garden was rosy and we have managed to shoot ourselves in the foot.

“I had a chat with the players yesterday and if you ever need a reminder in football, if you think you have cracked it or you think you know all the answers, what has happened to us this week is just a reminder of how unpredictable football is.

“Everything was going really, really well for us, but self-inflicted, we have caused ourselves enormous problems.

“But, we cannot keep talking about it and as I say, the only thing that is important is the future. You get nothing in this business, whether you have had a great result the week before or a miserable one the week before, you get nothing for looking back.

“We are going to be playing Sporting, who are a really good team, a lovely little football team, who will be difficult to play against.

“It has been a difficult week, but we have got to put that behind us and the important thing is to try to get a result against a very good team and remain focussed for the rest of the season.

“We have a squad of players and it is stand-up-and-be-counted time, and we have said that several times this year already. All good football teams are at their most dangerous when they have been hurt.”

Souness declined to comment on suggestions that Bowyer should have been sacked for his latest misdemeanour, but asked if Dyer would now also be fined following the unsuccessful outcome of his club-backed appeal, he added: “Not as far as I am concerned, no.

“I am deeply disappointed. I think the vast majority of the world of professional football felt the way we did; the people who were on that disciplinary committee saw it differently, so we have to live by those rules.”

Souness will again be without Celestine Babayaro, whose knee problem is becoming an increasing concern, Patrick Kluivert and Titus Bramble, while Nicky Butt is a major doubt.