FORMER Dell boss Graeme Souness yesterday took a barely concealed verbal swipe at Saints' style of football.

The Newcastle manager guided his team to a 2-1 victory at St Mary's and then accused Steve Wigley's team of having an old-fashioned approach.

"It's difficult football to play against," he said. "It was an extremely direct approach, launching it from anywhere on the park.

"But my back four deserve special credit because they dealt with Crouch when he came on and another big striker in James Beattie.

"It was a bit of a throw-back to some years ago with certain teams but we dealt with it very well and that's all you can ask.

"We were solid against difficult opposition."

Wigley refused to engage in a war of words with Souness - who spent one season in charge of Saints in 1996/97 - but said that his team DID try to play attractive football early in the match.

He said: "I've got no opinion on Graeme or his team. I've just got to concern myself with Southampton Football Club.

"He has had a lot of opinions on Southampton in the past and I'm just going to take that with a pinch of salt.

"We tried to pass the ball, but I don't care what level of football you are, even in the World Cup, when you get to the last 20 minutes people tend to be a little bit more direct.

"That is the same the world around. We got a lot of set-pieces from it, but didn't really execute them that well."

It was Newcastle's first away win in the league since last November and also their first victory at Saints in the league for 19 games - since 1972.

Souness, in charge of Newcastle for the first time in a league match, added: "We played some decent stuff in the first half and in the second half our backs were against the wall. The players were determined. We tried to be a bit more solid.

"At Newcastle we have to get what Arsenal and Manchester United have had for a number of years where the cause is all important.

"We can't be a soft touch at the other end.

"The priority for me is the defending because there is nothing to coach going forward.

"The biggest thing for me was that we were gritty and determined."

Souness singled out Jermaine Jenas for special praise at the way he kept dangerman Fabrice Fernandes quiet on Saints' right flank.

He added: "We asked Jenas to do a specific job. Fernandes drags it down the line and checks back on his left-foot and swings it in for James Beattie. He didn't do that once in 90 minutes and that is a big part of their football."