THE TEMPERATURE HAS BEEN TURNED up on Graeme Souness. On a day of dark clouds and blizzards on Tyneside, a hot reception was awaiting the troubled manager of Newcastle United, who seemed utterly delighted by the situation. He could hardly be blamed for that: all things considered, it was the perfect inauguration for the heated seats that have been installed in the home dugout at St James’ Park.
The same luxury was not granted to José Mourinho, whose air of invincibility dissipated. There had been echoes of Chelsea’s victory here in the Carling Cup when their Portuguese Midas brought his stellar names off the substitutes’ bench, but there was no repeat yesterday. Mourinho made three changes at half-time, Wayne Bridge was injured immediately and Newcastle realised that fortune was returning to their lives.
For Souness, it meant that judgment was suspended. After his players were jeered in the wake of their 1-1 draw against Charlton Athletic, when chants of “Sack the board” were heard during their Uefa Cup tie away to Heerenveen, momentum had swung towards the dissenters. Souness and Freddy Shepherd, the chairman, must have approached this fixture with trepidation, but their dread was lifted.
Perhaps this was simply a stay of execution. Perhaps it was the moment when a season of mediocrity turned. If nothing else, it was a timely reminder that football at Newcastle need not be a grind, a chore, or a breeding ground for torment, that passion and positive results can co-exist. And, of course, their great dream lives on; they are in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, the trophy that shapes their history.
Where there was a healthy portion of luck — the match ended with Chelsea reduced to nine men, an outfield player in goal and Damien Duff hobbling — there was also balance. Starting only his second match since mid-January, Laurent Robert, Newcastle’s enigma and anti-hero, was restored to the left wing, the team steadied and the crowd responded. The atmosphere was a throw-back and so was the result.
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There could be no disputing the significance. “That was huge,” Alan Shearer, the captain, said. “I said beforehand that this was a massive week for us and we’ve come away with two victories. I can’t stress how important it was.” The centre forward clearly demonstrated his own belief in the cause; Shearer had not trained since the Heerenveen match in Holland and took a fitness test at 11am. Would you tell him not to play? Souness spoke of a “wind of change”, but the reference was a jocular one to the Glasgow derby. If the same is to follow on Gallowgate, there will need to be more occasions like this one, less caution, more days when Titus Bramble resembles, as Souness put it, “one of the best in the business,” when Shearer loses his birth certificate, when Patrick Kluivert remembers to be a footballer.
“I’ve had a great day,” Souness said, “and especially because of the Rangers result (they beat Celtic 2-0 at Celtic Park). You’re always under pressure as the manager of a big club. It only varies by degrees — it’s either tense or incredibly tense — and I’ve been sat here enough times feeling sorry for myself.” It may be a different competition, but this was the first time this season Newcastle have beaten a top-six club from the Barclays Premiership.
It was also Souness’s debut 1-0 victory in charge of Newcastle, a point he has been repeating. He praised Robert’s contribution — “he worked hard throughout and he’s got a real chance of being in the team next time” — as well as that of Bramble. “He had a bit of a stinker in Heerenveen, but for seven of our last eight games he’s been our best player,” Souness said.