Extra ban leaves Bowyer in limbo

Lee Bowyer's future at Newcastle United has been thrown into greater doubt after he was given an extra three-game suspension by the Football Association on top of the automatic four-match ban he received for his part in the fight with team-mate Kieron Dyer at St James' Park at the beginning of this month.

The additional suspension means Bowyer is available for only two more games this season, and his manager, Graeme Souness, was unable to give Bowyer the sort of guarantee about his long-term prospects he may have been hoping for.

"I can't assure that anyone's got a future here next year," said Souness. "Lee is a very good player and he would be hard to replace, but you know we are looking to change things and obviously we have to make considerable changes. We will see what the end of the season brings."

Asked if he thought his future was secure at the club, Bowyer replied: "Ask the chairman."

Bowyer was found guilty of "violent conduct" by the FA and will miss seven games for Newcastle, including next Wednesday's potentially explosive Tyne-Tees derby with Middlesbrough at St James' Park.

Bowyer was already suspended for tomorrow's Premiership match at Old Trafford. Newcastle will travel with a squad decimated in terms of injuries and confidence to face a Manchester United side that defeated them 4-1 in the FA Cup semi-final in Cardiff last Sunday.

Ultimately it may be seen that Newcastle's most unsatisfactory end to the season began when Bowyer squared up to Dyer three weeks ago.

In that period Newcastle have also been eliminated from the Uefa Cup, losing the second leg of the quarter-final 4-1 at Sporting Lisbon, a game in which Bowyer played. His ban did not affect European games.

But on the day his confrontation with Dyer occurred, Newcastle lost 3-0 at home to Aston Villa, and Wednesday night's 2-1 defeat at Norwich City means they have lost five of their last six.

The news of Bowyer's extra suspension came on a day when Souness said the on and off the field distractions that have accompanied Newcastle over the past two years are "not sustainable" if the club is to progress.

Souness has been flabbergasted by the number of incidents he has had to cope with, and now has Bowyer and Dyer under investigation by Northumbria police for their fighting.

"It's been a sharp learning curve for me," Souness said. "I've been in the business for 37 years - is it that long, God - and there have been a few firsts for me.

"Things seem to happen every week. I would suggest that if it's to continue, we have no chance of being successful. That is a major issue for me.

"I think that's one of the reasons I was given the job. I think the chairman knew that had to be addressed and I think anybody would tell you that if we can't control that, we'll never be successful. It doesn't happen anywhere else, consistently. We have to address some of the problems we have and we will."

Over the past three seasons Newcastle have tried to impose order via individual letters to players such as Laurent Robert and new collective codes of conduct. Players nevertheless have continued to misbehave, Bowyer and Dyer offering the most glaring example.

"It's not sustainable," Souness said. "You're never going to achieve success, are you - never - if you're constantly dogged by the things we've been dogged with? I don't know what it's been like before, but it's been interesting.

"As a manager, you try to eliminate everything that can possibly take the players' eyes off the ball. That's been a job I've had to tackle nearly every week, trying to eliminate problems before they become bigger problems that cause people to take their eyes off the challenge of winning football matches.

"And that has to end. That has to end and we will end it. Whether that's because of things we introduce or bringing in different personnel, I don't know, but it has to end.

"I'm Scottish and we have a trait of shooting ourselves in the foot. I think we've been guilty, certainly in my time here, of the same, allowing ourselves to concentrate on things other than football."