Softly-softly for Souness in Magpie hotseat

NEWCASTLE boss Graeme Souness will not bombard his players with lectures as he attempts to get their season back on track.

The no-nonsense Scot was handed the task of restoring unity in the St James’ Park dressing room when he succeeded Bobby Robson on Monday, and will lead the club for the first time when they entertain Israeli minnows Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin in the opening game of their UEFA Cup campaign tonight.

Souness announced on his arrival that he would try to talk skipper Alan Shearer out of his planned retirement as long as he keeps scoring goals, and he would wipe the slate clean with the dissenting Kieron Dyer and the so-called Toon brat-pack.

However, he has admitted he is not one for lengthy discussions.

“I’ve spoken to some of them individually and collectively, just on the training ground really,” he said.

“But I’m not one for lengthy meetings. I don’t think players like lengthy meetings either. I think after 10 minutes, they’re looking at their shoes and looking at the ceiling, so it’s lots of short, sharp ones.

“I’ve spoken to Alan several times, not specifically, just about his thoughts and the players’ thoughts, and told him what our intentions were in the next couple of weeks.

Souness got an early chance to cast an eye over his new charges from the stands on Saturday when they secured a resounding 3-0 Premiership victory over his former club, Blackburn.

However, the strengths and weaknesses of the squad he inherited from Robson are no secret, and he admits Sakhnin coach Eyal Lahmin will be equally aware of them.

“It’s no secret, I think it’s standard procedure for a small team coming to a big club to try to get the fans nervous and to make it difficult for us,” he said.

“For our part, we must just be concerned with starting right, getting them on the backfoot and keeping them there.”

United will look to hit Sakhnin with everything they have got in a bid to kill off the tie before they head for the Middle East in a fortnight’s time, but not at the expense of giving anything away.

“Our type of football is ‘let’s get after them’, but that can be dangerous in European football because, as you know, away goals are important.

“When I was a player at Liverpool and we were doing very well in Europe, it was ‘get after them, but with caution’, and that’s how we have to be.”