FORMER Blackburn striker Matt Jansen is the latest player to put the boot into struggling Newcastle manager Graeme Souness.

The 28-year-old forward, who quit Rovers to join Bolton last week, blames Souness for rushing him back too early after he suffered serious head injuries following a motorbike crash in the summer of 2002.

Jansen spent two days in a coma as a result of a brain haemorrhage but, within seven months of the accident, he was back playing again in Blackburn's first team and, looking back now, he believes Souness was guilty of failing to understand the full depths of his problems.

"It was very difficult at my last club," said Jansen.

"The previous manager (Graeme Souness) did not understand the psychological problem that I had and was not very co-operative with it.

"Apparently, the first thing he said after the accident was: 'What the hell was he doing on a bloody moped?'"

"Once the physical side was okay a new chapter opened for me - psychological baggage.

"I wasn't right. I was struggling and I began to doubt myself and my ability. I wondered if I was suffering from the accident.

"When my progress slowed down, I suddenly started thinking: "Will I get better?"

"I was like a bear with a sore head, asking questions all the time and being short-tempered.

"I wasn't getting flashbacks, because I couldn't remember the accident, but I was having sleepless nights and things.

"I was taken to a sports psychologist but what I really needed was a psychiatrist. Nobody seemed to understand that.

"It was a brain problem, not a sport problem. The psychiatrist helped me find my way."

It's worth pointing out that Jansen has spoken of his gratitude to Souness in previous interviews, and Rovers steadfastly stood by the player throughout his problems, a point he has since acknowledged publicly on a number of occasions.