God only knows what it will take to Graeme Souness out, but he is still in charge at St James' Park after a brief meeting with chairman Freddy Shepherd on Monday. The whole deal took all of TEN minutes, and the ex-Rangers manager says everything is "honky dory".
The 52-year-old Souness was expected to be summoned to the stadium in the morning but eventually held talks with Shepherd in the afternoon.
He left with his name still on the door of the manager's office and ready to continue preparations for Saturday's FA Cup fourth-round clash with Cheltenham.
Souness, who was driven to and from the ground by coach Dean Saunders with Alan Murray from his backroom staff also in attendance, revealed he had spent around 10 minutes with the chairman and their conversation had been "upbeat".