Newcastle United fired manager Graeme Souness on Thursday after a 3-0 loss at Manchester City left the Magpies in 15th place in the Premier League.
Glenn Roeder and team captain Alan Shearer will take charge of the team for Saturday’s game against Portsmouth.
Newcastle fans chanted ”Souness out” after Wednesday night’s one-sided loss at City. Owner Freddie Shepherd reacted by dismissing the former Liverpool and Glasgow Rangers manager, who had been at St James Park since September 2004.
Newcastle have collected only one point in their past six Premier League games and are only six points above the relegation zone.
”Newcastle United today announced that the employment of Graeme Souness has been terminated with immediate effect,” said a statement on the Newcastle website. ”Glenn Roeder will be assisted by captain Alan Shearer and will be caretaker manager for Saturday’s home Premiership game against Portsmouth.”
Souness’s departure, which had been expected for several weeks, seemed inevitable after the loss to City. The Scot had been hampered by a long injury list, however.
Michael Owen, a £17-million capture from Real Madrid, is sidelined until April with a broken foot. Kieron Dyer, Steven Taylor and Craig Moore have been missing for much of the season.
Souness, who also had spells with Blackburn, Southampton, Torino, Benfica and Galatasaray, has had plenty of money to spend but has never gotten the best out of the players.
As well as spending a club record fee for Owen, he spent more than £20-million on defender Jean-Alain Boumsong, midfielders Scott Parker and Emre Belozoglu and forward Albert Luque. — Sapa-AP