Souness is STILL a giant of our game
Scottish football salutes a serial winner who revolutionised Rangers
GRAEME SOUNESS arrived in glasgow on sunday to learn of the death, at the age of 79, of Lord of the Rings actor Bernard Hill.
In 1982, Hill made his breakthrough as the Liverpudlian character Yosser Hughes in the BBC drama Boys from the Blackstuff. Together with anfield team-mate sammy Lee, souness made a cameo appearance in a scene which became iconic.
‘Bernard was a wonderful actor and he was very kind to myself and sammy on the times we met him,’ the Mail Sport columnist recalls now. ‘I remember sitting with him and the director in the morning having a coffee and being nice, pally Bernard Hill and, in five seconds, he became Yosser Hughes — which was quite scary…’
It took a lot to put the frighteners on graeme souness. never likely to trouble the BaFTa nominations shortlist, he played the role of the combative, fearless, divisive midfielder to perfection. Presented with a special Merit award from PFa scotland in a city centre hotel on sunday, there could be no disputing his contribution to the drama of British football. Playing for Middlesbrough, Liverpool and sampdoria, souness and legendary countryman sir Kenny Dalglish set a high bar for scottish footballers of the future to reach. Few, if any, have managed to reach the mark.
‘It’s a long time since I was a manager here in scotland and played for scotland,’ he said after taking receipt of his award.
‘so to be recognised after all this time is special. I have been very lucky to play in great teams that won lots of trophies. But individual awards are something else and I am chuffed.’
He returned to scotland as player-manager of Rangers in 1986 and changed the face of the national game. Reversing the club’s fortunes, he won three league titles and four League Cups after signing a raft of highprofile english internationals and persuading Maurice Johnston to snub a return to Celtic to become the club’s first Roman Catholic signing of the modern age. While this endeared him to one half of glasgow, the other half of the city seem less keen.
‘I love coming back to scotland, I love coming back to glasgow,’ he stated. ‘I feel very welcome here, so I don’t come and think: “Oh, I’d better be careful where I go.”
‘While I am from edinburgh, I come to glasgow and I am treated with a lot of warmth. Maybe it’s because I’m an old man now…’
He turned 71 yesterday and the passage of time has done nothing to heal the festering footballing wounds which split the city of glasgow in two.
speaking ahead of his birthday, souness harboured no expectation of cards or warm greetings from supporters of a Celtic persuasion.
‘no, I wouldn’t go that far… but listen, football especially in this city, is something people are really passionate about. I learned to live with that a long, long time ago.’
The day he pitched up at glasgow airport to take the reins at Rangers was transformational. Taking advantage of a ban on english clubs from european club competitions following the Heysel disaster, souness persuaded england starter Terry Butcher to sign for Rangers. On and off the pitch, Celtic’s ruling families found it difficult to keep up.
The passage of time leaves fond memories of Old Firm jousts in those days. He had good days and he had bad, a red card in august 1987 for a late challenge on Billy stark falling firmly in to the latter category.
‘I can remember playing both at Ibrox and at Parkhead and, okay, I was past my best when I came back to play here,’ he recalls now. ‘But they are never easy games to play in. They are tough.’
at the press conference to announce his appointment as Rangers boss he said that he didn’t care if he lost to Celtic so long as the team won the league. The silence in the room told him he’d made his first mistake. a fast learner, he set about making sure Rangers lost to Celtic as rarely as possible.
Richard gough, Trevor steven, gary stevens, Trevor Francis, Mark Hateley and Ray Wilkins all pitched up at Ibrox. To help with the physical side of scottish football he also signed Terry Hurlock.
‘Terry was made for World War One, World War Two and going to
Parkhead’, he says now. ‘He was a really good player, a lovely striker of the ball.
‘He had this image as just a tough guy, but Terry was actually a really good football player.’
There are Rangers fans who would welcome a Hurlock-type into Ibrox with open arms now. The suspicion that Philippe Clement’s players lack the minerals to go to Parkhead and stop Celtic winning a third successive title is proving hard to shift ahead of Saturday’s potential title decider.
‘Celtic will start like a whirlwind and Rangers need to deal with that,’ Souness observes. ‘Rangers winning on Sunday sets it up. Both teams know what they need to do. It’s a derby game, so a hard one to call. Of course Rangers would rather be playing Celtic at Ibrox, but it’s a game where this is how it has panned out.
‘It looks as if it’s going to be down to this game and you just deal with it. If you are a big player and you play for Rangers or Celtic, you are a good player and you’ve got to deal with it. You have to live with the expectation, live with the pressure, and get on with it.
‘Anything can happen in football, but I think this is another big Old Firm game which may ultimately decide the title.’
When the Rangers board were seeking a replacement for Michael Beale, Souness provided his help and expertise during the interview process.
Impressed with the way Clement set about narrowing the gap, he hopes his old team can improve on his last visit to Parkhead when they lost 2-1.
The last time they won a significant, meaningful Old Firm league game was 2021.
‘I think Philippe has handled himself brilliantly in his short time at Rangers,’ reasoned Souness. ‘He’s been to Parkhead already, so he knows the challenges in front of him.
‘Celtic have been the dominant team in the last couple of years since Steven Gerrard won the title.
‘They have the bit between their teeth and you have to say Rangers are underdogs.
‘They have to deal with that and get on with it. They need to focus, not get sidetracked by anything that goes on, and turn up and play on the day.’