Classic Carr drive gives Souness an early Toon-up
Souness, whose Toon Army boys have had three wins in-a-row since he quit Blackburn and arrived at St James’ Park, accused Saints - where he was manager in 1996-97 - of a “direct, in-your-face approach, with a throw-back style to the way some teams used to play.”
And Souness, who has signed former Manchester United veteran defender Ronny Johnsen, added: “With James Beattie and Peter Crouch they have two big lumps up front, two very big boys who can give you problems.
“But I thought we handled it very well. Our two centre-backs were outstanding. Robbie Elliott showed he has a great deal of experience and Andy O’Brien was very good as well.
“The Newcastle record is not good here but records are there to be broken. What we need at Newcastle is what Arsenal and Manchester United have had for a few years, people who are prepared to play their best out of position at times.
“I need people in wide positions and played Craig Bellamy and Jermaine Jenas there. I had a word with Bellamy telling him that’s what I would do and he’s committed to the club. There was not one objection from him.
“We also need to defend properly and be solid away from home. There’s still lots of work to be done but we know we have to dig in and try to give nothing away.”
Souness admitted he took no credit for last week’s 3-0 win over his former club Blackburn when former assistant coach John Carver picked the Magpies’ team.
But he picked the side that faced Bnei Sakhnin of Israel in the UEFA Cup on Thursday, winning 2-0 with a Patrick Kluivert double.
And asked how much credit he took for the win at Saints, settled by Stephen Carr’s superb long-range goal in the second-half, he had his tongue in his cheek when he answered “Everything.”
His remarks clearly stung Southampton’s novice head coach Steve Wigley who said: “I don’t have any opinions on Graeme’s sides. He’s always had a lot of opinions about Southampton since he left but I take what he says with a pinch of salt.”
But Wigley admitted: “We forced a lot of set-pieces in the end but little else.
“I think we could have got something from the game but we should have made Shay Given work a bit more. The quality into the box wasn’t good enough. We try to pass the ball but you have to be more direct when time is running out.
“I think that even in the World Cup you will see teams being a bit more direct if they are behind in the last 20 minutes.”
Wigley added: “We must soldier on. We’ve had four defeats but now we prepare for Northampton in the Carling Cup on Wednesday night and we’ll give them as much respect as Newcastle.”
News of Kieron Dyer’s hamstring injury marred Newcastle’s day. He will be out four to six weeks with hamstring damage incurred in training.
Striker Shola Ameobi should make a quick return after a hip injury kept him out at St Mary’s.
: Niemi, Nilsson, Lundekvam, Jakobsson, Le Saux, Fernandes, Prutton, Delap, Anders Svensson (Best 76), Phillips (Crouch 67), Beattie.
: Given, Carr, Elliott, O’Brien, Bernard, Bellamy, Butt, Bowyer, Jenas, Kluivert (Milner 67), Shearer.
: C Foy (Merseyside).
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