GRAEME Souness has admitted that he is paying the price for "40 years of failure" as his attempts to turn Newcastle around continue to come in for criticism.

The United boss will lead his side into UEFA Cup action in Heerenveen this evening, knowing that his position will be called into question if they fail to keep their European hopes alive ahead of Sunday's crucial FA Cup fifth-round tie with Chelsea.

Since replacing Sir Bobby Robson in September, Souness has overseen a period of sterility that has seen the Magpies fail to break into the top half of the Premiership.

That spell of under-achievement has been accompanied by an explosive fall-out with crowd favourite Craig Bellamy and a subtle shift of emphasis away from the all-out attacking style of the past towards a more prosaic and gamble-free game plan.

Such a move has courted controversy, and the voices of dissent intensified when the United boss whisked half of his squad on a five-day jaunt to Dubai last week.

While Newcastle's fans have yet to openly challenge Souness' position, failure to see off the challenge of an unfancied Heerenveen side would see the temperature rise considerably despite a record of just eight defeats in 31 games.

But, rather than stressing a need for patience, the Magpies' manager has expressed his sympathy with a Tyneside public who have been starved of success for far too long. It is now almost 36 years since Newcastle last won a major trophy and, while last year's progression to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup was a close call, Newcastle are currently as far away from securing some silverware as ever.

Souness maintains that, after signing three players last month, he is slowly turning things around, and the Scot remains confident that the club's trophy drought will eventually come to an end.

"I can understand the frustration," said Souness, who has guided the Magpies to five wins out of six in European competition. "I can't be critical of anyone who's worked in my job previously, but I think it's hard for supporters of a club like this to accept that they haven't won anything for the best part of 40 years.

"That's a lot of frustration for fans to take. The vast majority of people coming to the stadium have never seen this club win anything.

"That's a real burden for all of us to carry and, whatever form the criticism takes, we have to take it on board. That's the price on the ticket - it's no surprise to me. When Kevin (Keegan) was here, he was getting it in the neck when his side were winning every week.

"But somebody will do it here. Somebody will get the message across and somebody will win something with Newcastle."

If Souness is to be that man in this season's UEFA Cup, he will have to help his side see off a Heerenveen outfit currently lying sixth in the Dutch Eredivisie.

Gertjan Verbeek's side scraped through the group phase in third place, with home wins over Stuttgart and Beveren cancelling out a heavy 4-2 defeat in Benfica's Stadium of Light.

Newcastle have saved some of their best displays of the season for continental soil - November's 4-0 win in Sochaux provided a fleeting glimpse of what was possible - and, while the priority this evening will be establishing a platform for next week's return leg, the Magpies are capable of putting the tie out of reach at the first time of asking.

"We know where Heerenveen are strong," said Souness. "But we also know where we might have some joy against them. The fact that they're in the competition means they're a decent outfit. I would suggest that they'll know more about us than we know about them - the Premier League is watched throughout the world and I'm sure the Dutch players will be excited about the prospect of playing against some of our big names.

"That will turn them on, so we have to make sure that we're as turned on as they are on the night.

"We're looking to go there and make sure that we do the job we have to do. We want to come away with Heerenveen knowing that we're a good team and that they're going to come to our stadium next week and have their hands full."

Souness' plans have been hampered by the unexpected absence of both Nicky Butt and Kieron Dyer from the party that travelled to Holland yesterday morning.

Butt turned his ankle in training at the start of the week and, while Souness is confident he will be fit to face Chelsea in the FA Cup on Sunday, the absence of both Amdy Faye and Lee Bowyer from that game means he is not willing to take any risks with the England international this evening.

Dyer is suffering from a viral infection picked up while on England duty last week and, with Jermaine Jenas also a doubt after pulling out of training last night with the same problem, the United boss faces something of a selection dilemma ahead of tonight's game.

With Patrick Kluivert certain to start, Souness must decide whether to play the Dutchman in the hole behind Alan Shearer and Shola Ameobi or whether to drop Ameobi and hand Laurent Robert a rare start on the left of a central unit that will include Faye and Bowyer.

Jean-Alain Boumsong's ineligibility means that Titus Bramble and Andy O'Brien will continue at the heart of defence, while Celestine Babayaro's lack of European football this season means he is free to make his continental debut for the Magpies in his preferred left-back slot.

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