Determined Souness faces tough start

Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd today revealed that new boss Graeme Souness was prepared to “do everything he could” to land the job when Bobby Robson was sacked.

The new Magpies boss started work at St James’ Park on Monday with most predicting he would arrive with the force of Hurricane Ivan – despite the Scot stating each player will be given a chance.

The 51-year-old picked his first side on Thursday night with a 2-0 UEFA Cup win over Israeli minnows Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin which should be enough to ease them to the group stage when they head for Tel Aviv the week after next.

However, his first Barclays Premiership test will come at former club Southampton tomorrow – and Newcastle have not won there for over three decades.

Not since February 1972 have the Magpies won a league game on the South Coast - although they triumphed 3-0 there in the FA Cup last season – and Souness finds himself the 13th man to take charge of the club since Joe Harvey’s men headed back north with a win.

That, however, is unlikely to faze the 51-year-old, whose eagerness to secure his latest management post was one of the main reasons he was appointed.

“I think his determination to get the job,” said chairman Freddy Shepherd when asked why Souness had won the race. “He made it quite clear from the first moment that he was going to get the job, he was going to do everything he could to get the job, and we liked that because we like a winner.

“Everybody and his granny threw his hat into the ring, as you can imagine. It’s one of the top eight clubs in the world and everybody wanted the job.

“The shortlist was there and the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and he’s the winner.”

It was Shepherd who had to take the tough decision to dispense with Robson’s services and Shepherd took the criticism when Souness’ appointment was met with stunned surprise.

But he insists he has little difficulty in being the decision-maker and a fan.

“It’s difficult, but you’ve got to balance it, otherwise how do you go forward?” he said.

“You’ve got to balance it, you’ve got to be able to stand aside and look at it from on high to look down on the whole situation and make the best judgment you can.

“If you look at this club just quickly, the ingredients are there. We’ve got a fantastic training set-up, £10million spent on that. We’ve got a great stadium - in my opinion, the best in the country until Wembley comes along – and we’ve got the greatest supporters.

“And the players, we’ve got a great set of players, so all the ingredients are there. The manager has got all the ingredients, he’s got to gel it together. That’s his job, that’s what these guys get paid for, and you’ve got to make sure you get the right one to do that.

“Under Bobby, we’ve had some great times, but you’ve got to move on. It’s a fresh wind blowing through here – let’s see what happens.”

Thursday’s victory came after Patrick Kluivert scored his first goals at St James’. Nicky Butt is facing a European ban for his sending-off and Kieron Dyer could be on the sidelines for weeks with a hamstring injury.