Souness Gets The Boot

Jonno · Post by **Jonno** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 8:45 am

Newcastle boss Graeme Souness has been sacked, with Glenn Roeder installed as caretaker manager and Alan Shearer given the role of his assistant.

The Magpies have won only one point in six Premiership matches and are only six points above the relegation zone.

A statement on the club's website read: "The employment of Graeme Souness has been terminated with immediate effect."

Souness, 52, took charge of Newcastle in September 2004 after Sir Bobby Robson was sacked.

His 16-month tenure at St James' Park was a rollercoaster ride.

With only 36 victories in his 83 matches, the pressure was almost always on Souness - and the 3-0 defeat by Manchester City on Wednesday proved the final straw.

Magpies fans protested at the match by displaying a 'Souness Out' banner during their side's woeful display at Eastlands.

But Souness vowed to stay on, saying: "I am not a quitter and will not quit."

For much of his reign, Souness was hampered by injuries to key players - but he also spent over Ã‚Â£47m on players.

The biggest arrival was that of England striker Michael Owen. However, he also became another player on the club's treatment table.

It will now - at least in the immediate future - be up to former West Ham boss Roeder to try and revive the struggling Tyneside giants.

He will be helped by Magpies' skipper Shearer, who is playing his last season before retiring.

Former England striker Shearer has made no secret of his desire to one day take over as Newcastle boss.

Also in the frame is Bolton manager Sam Allardyce, who turned down the job before it was offered to Souness but has continued to be linked with the post.

A spokesman for Bolton said: "We've got no comment to make. Sam has got a job to do here and is under contract."

the-mole · Post by **the-mole** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:00 am

Could never understand why he was ever given the job in all honesty!!!

Still looks as though shearer will be in charge next season whatever now!!

toby · Post by **toby** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:12 am

Newcastle, as a club, are rotten to the core, right from the boardroom to the players, and until someone comes in a clears the whole club out from top to bottom they will never be serious challengers for any silverware.

All the players they buy go backwards as they settle into the culture of laziness and supreme arrogance that has festered at St James's Park for far too long.

When you have a useless piece of excrement like Dyer (show us your medals Kieran!) getting paid Ã‚Â£80,000 a week (for doing what exactly?) then the club is never going to go anywhere.

Robson was the only manager who has even come close to turning them into a decent side in recent years and look how the club and the players (yes Kieran I mean you again!) treated him!

Until Sheppard, Dyer, Boumsong and all the other freeloaders and skivvers at the club are kicked out they'll never achieve what the fans think they deserve.

Although to be honest the fans are also part of the problem, 50,000+ (or however many it is nowadays) of them turning up every week to see that pile of overpaid cack isn't helping them in the long term.

Anglo-Saxon · Post by **Anglo-Saxon** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:12 am

the-mole wrote:Could never understand why he was ever given the job in all honesty!!!

Still looks as though shearer will be in charge next season whatever now!!

I think that has been their plan for a while now, not that I care, I hate them with a passion since they got rid of Sir Bobby the way they did LOL

rainman · Post by **rainman** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:19 am

I agree with Toby about some of the players attitudes (both past and present) and the reason Souness was brought in was to sort out the dressing room and clamp down on some of these "characters".

However, for all his discipline he is tactically inept and it was only a matter of time until he went.

Handing the reins over to Shearer is not the answer. I would like to see someone like Martin O'Neill take over and stabilise things.

Hearts_Ipswich · Post by **Hearts_Ipswich** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 12:48 pm

Its about time, They've been crap for months and should have sacked him ages ago.

Some of his buys have been absolute shockers, especially 8million for Boumsong

Shouldn't have sacked Bobby Robson, They went from 4th to relegation material

Shearer seems to have far too much say as well, He thinks he's undroppable and that what he says goes. Is he even any good any more? How manys he scored this season?

Phil · Post by **Phil** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 2:12 pm

they'll be a championship side within 3 seasons at the rate their going.

Jonno · Post by **Jonno** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 2:39 pm

Shearer and Roeder til the end of the season, Then Ericsson in the summer

TODD66 · Post by **TODD66** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 4:02 pm

Jonno wrote:Shearer and Roeder til the end of the season, Then Ericsson in the summer

Good point - I had forgotten all about Sven needing a job in the summer and Newcastle are just the team to offer him the stupid amount of money he would want.