ON the website of the Dubai Tourist Board, the oil-rich emirate is described as the "perfect place in which to evoke the simplicity of a bygone era".

By taking his under-fire Newcastle squad to the Middle East for a five-day training break yesterday, Graeme Souness will be hoping to inspire some of the freedom and vitality that characterised the last great empire to have held sway on Tyneside. Heaven knows, he needs to.

Saturday marked the 13th anniversary of Kevin Keegan's appointment as Newcastle manager, and it is unlucky for Souness that the club's fans continue to measure the efforts of each of his successors against Keegan's self-styled 'Entertainers'.

By missing out on the Premiership title by just four points in 1996, Keegan established a benchmark that no other United manager has been able to reach.

But it was the style of his side's football that has proved to be the real millstone which has hung around the neck of Kenny Dalglish, Ruud Gullit, Sir Bobby Robson and now Souness.

The relentless attacking of Keegan's side left the Tyneside fans drooling and, by booing the Magpies off at the half-time and full-time whistle of Saturday's soporific 1-1 draw with Charlton, those same supporters provided a damning indictment of how far the entertainment level has dropped at St James' Park.

It is bad enough that Newcastle have won just three of their last 16 league games, picking up a paltry 15 points from a possible 48.

It is far worse, though, that such a dreadful run of results has been accompanied by a general dearth of goalscoring opportunities and an almost total lack of flair.

Souness' response has been to fly his entire first-team squad - or at least those not away on international duty - to the sun.

The omens for such a trip are not good. Robson was roundly pilloried when he took his players on a similar jaunt to La Manga in February 2001, ironically after they had just slumped to a 2-0 defeat to Charlton.

Pictures of Newcastle players sunning themselves on the beach did not sit well with a fan base growing weary of a perceived lack of desire, and similar images this week will leave Souness open to accusations of pampering his under-achieving stars.

But, after watching the club tear itself apart in the last two weeks, the Scot is desperate to foster a belated sense of unity as United's players attempt to salvage something in the final three months of the campaign.

"Some fans will be asking if the players deserve this trip," said Souness. "I can understand that.

"But I think that togetherness is very important. I've been in football for 30 years and I've learnt that you need to stick together.

"It's very easy to be a winner every week when you are winning. You show great team spirit when you're winning - you go in front of the cameras, give your players big hugs, and are all in love with each other.

"But when your backs are against the wall - and this is true of any sphere of life - that's when you find out what people are really like. We're in a team game, and that's what togetherness is all about.

"I don't think there's any big deal about taking the players over there but, if you think there's a big deal about us going on a trip, write about it."

Big deal or not, this week's trip to Dubai is not the only issue forcing Souness to adopt something of a siege mentality.

Saturday's game was hardly terminal - although the home support pointedly failed to shout down the visiting fans when they mockingly linked Souness with the sack in the second half - but the Scot will not have been comforted by the knowledge that United's last home draw with the Addicks marked the end of Kenny Dalglish's reign at the club.

Things should have been different after Kieron Dyer fired the Magpies into a 52nd-minute lead but, after conceding their advantage for the 11th time this season, the home side could only look on aghast as Dennis Rommedahl wasted two great opportunities to steal all three points.

"It was more of the same," admitted Souness.

"I can understand the fans' reaction. That's the price on the ticket when you're playing for a big club.

"The pressure is on when you're not winning every week and that is something that we all have to deal with.

"I thought the players wanted the ball from the first minute to the last, but Charlton came with a game plan to frustrate us and, in the end, that's what they did."

Charlton's plan revolved around playing Shaun Bartlett as a lone striker, allowing Alan Curbishley to pack five men into a heavily congested midfield and haul them all behind the ball whenever Newcastle were in possession.

The result was a dour first half characterised by well-worked passing moves from the players in black and white - often of up to 15 phases - which repeatedly broke down in front of the Charlton back four.

Andy O'Brien provided a rare moment of light relief with an outrageous 40-yard flier that Dean Kiely somehow managed to fumble on to his own crossbar, but the frustration of the crowd was underlined by the chants for substitute Laurent Robert which were evident from the 30th minute onwards.

They disappeared momentarily when Dyer broke the deadlock seven minutes after the break. Alan Shearer headed Titus Bramble's long ball across the face of goal and, after defender Chris Perry had failed to clear, Dyer drilled past Kiely with the aid of a deflection off Talal El Karkouri's boot.

But, after failing to hold onto the lead at Manchester City in midweek, Souness' side shot themselves in the foot again within the space of a minute.

O'Brien's dreadful first touch let Rommedahl steal possession, and the Denmark international produced a rasping drive that flew into the net off the base of the right-hand post.

Souness finally threw Robert into the fray with 20 minutes left but, rather than creating a winner for the Magpies, the Frenchman's defensive indiscipline almost contributed to a Charlton winner.

Suddenly, Newcastle's left flank was an open invitation to goal and, after Rommedahl had seen one chipped effort fly wide and another crash off Given's legs, full-back Luke Young shot over the top after turning inside the increasingly exposed Celestine Babayaro.

"I don't think I need to comment," said Souness, when asked about the effects of the change. Togetherness, it seems, can only stretch so far.

Newcastle United 1 Charlton Athletic 1.

Read more about Newcastle United FC here.