GRAEME Souness has revealed a radical reversal of the St James' Park transfer policy by claiming that a troop of teenage arrivals this summer could cost him his job.

The Magpies manager, who has already spoken of making six new signings before the start of next season, is under increasing pressure after successive cup defeats to Sporting Lisbon and Manchester United brought the current campaign to a shuddering halt.

But, while previous boss Sir Bobby Robson sought to secure Newcastle's future by signing a host of untried youngsters, Souness is much more interested in bringing in established stars to provide the instant fix that would reverse the club's current slide and, consequently, safeguard his own job.

Robson spent more than £18m on Jermaine Jenas, Hugo Viana, James Milner and Darren Ambrose. The former has been a qualified success - although his form this season has undeniably dipped - but the other three have been massive disappointments, with Viana in particular failing to justify his £8.5m fee.

Instead of a gloriously bright future, Newcastle have been left with a squad that lacks both experience and depth and, despite signing the unproven Jon Stead for Blackburn last season, Souness has maintained that he cannot afford to take any more long-term gambles this summer.

"I'd love to be here for a long time," said the Scot, who is expected to be given a transfer kitty of more than £20m provided he can move on the likes of Viana, Patrick Kluivert and Craig Bellamy.

"But I don't see myself being here a long time if I go down the road of buying a team of James Milners.

"That's not a criticism of James Milner - I'm talking about anybody who's 18 or 19 - that's not going to keep me in a job.

"Look at us in the last few weeks - how many youngsters do our supporters want to see?

"We've played in the quarter-final of the UEFA Cup with two 18-year-olds and a boy who had just turned 19 a fortnight ago, and we played the semi-final in Cardiff with exactly the same players.

"You don't win trophies with 18-year-olds on the pitch. I know Alan Hansen got slated for saying 'You can't with anything with kids' - but I'm a believer in that. That was certainly the way we were brought up at Liverpool."

By turning his attention away from youth, Souness is heading down a route that has already been plotted by a number of Premiership clubs, including Middlesbrough and Bolton.

Boro boss Steve McClaren signed five experienced internationals in the summer, and the Teessiders looked to be heading for their best-ever Premiership finish before a succession of injuries hit them hard.

Bolton are on track for their most successful season in decades, with a squad that includes four outfield players - Gary Speed, Jay-Jay Okocha, Ivan Campo and Fernando Hierro - that are all well into their 30s.

Souness has already admitted an interest in Real Madrid striker Michael Owen but, while he is understood to have also watched Feyenoord frontman Dirk Kuyt, he has hinted that he will adopt a policy of buying British this summer.

Most of the players on his current shopping list are understood to be British and, of those that aren't, the large majority are believed to be plying their trade in the Premiership.

"The chairman and the staff have spoken about what we need on a weekly basis," said Souness. "We've all given our opinion of what players we need to strengthen and we've come up with names

"The chairman is actively speaking to football clubs about new players joining us next year.

"This is a big football club and the ideal scenario is that you eliminate all risks when you bring players in.

"So, ideally, you go out and buy two or three from Chelsea, two or three from Arsenal and two or three from Manchester United. Of course, you can't do that.

"But I want a British team and, if not a British team, then a team with foreigners who have played in this country. If you've got that, you know it's not going to take them six months to pick the pace up.

"We're aware of what we want, but to go out and buy a ready-made team that's going to win the Premiership will cost £100m not £20m."

Souness' transfer kitty is partly dependent on how well his side perform in their remaining seven games this season.

Newcastle are currently 13th in the Premiership but, in theory, they could yet finish as high as fourth were they to win every game between now and the end of May.

With every place being worth £500,000, Souness' side are playing for more than £5m in the next month so, despite his current injury problems, the United boss is not about to throw caution to the wind.

"I don't think the Premier League is league in which you can experiment," he said. "Look at how many players we've got available. With the injuries we have at times, we don't have a choice.

"But even if we didn't have those injuries, I don't think you can afford to experiment.

"I can remember a couple of seasons ago, Blackburn played Tottenham on the last day of the season and moved up four places to finish sixth. That was worth £2m on the day.

"Every position is worth half a million pounds, so no club today can say we can only finish eighth, ninth or tenth so we'll blood a few youngsters.

"The chairman is on to you straight away, reminding you that it's half a million quid a spot."