Say it ain’t Sou – a brief history of Graeme Souness’ most memorable moments
What is it with Graeme Souness and Paul Pogba? It’s fair to say that the pair don’t seem to see eye-to-eye, with the Scottish pundit having lambasted the Manchester United man on more than one occasion.
For his part, when Pogba was asked about Souness’s criticisms earlier this month the Frenchman said he “didn’t even know who he was really”. So we’re happy to bring PP up to speed – here’s a look back at some of Graeme’s greatest moments.
Incredible Liverpool career
During a glorious stint with Liverpool between the late 70s and mid-eighties, Souness won everything with the Merseyside giants – repeatedly. In seven years he won five league titles, as well as three European Cups, plus a bunch of League Cups too.
Okay, Souness didn’t quite take a clean sweep, with the FA Cup eluding him; still, the hard-tackling midfielder enjoyed incredible success with Liverpool, making 358 appearances for the club and being made club captain by manager Bob Paisley in 1981.
After Paul Pogba’s quote that he didn’t know who Souness was, Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler suggested Pogba should watch Liverpool v Roma in the 1984 Champions League to see the “complete midfield performance”. You can check the highlights for yourself here.
Player-manager with Rangers
After a short spell in Italy with Sampdoria, in 1986 Souness returned to the UK to play for and simultaneously manage Glaswegian giants Rangers.
In his first season he won a League and League Cup double, and in all during a five-year spell with the Gers he won three Premier Division titles and four Scottish League Cups, establishing his side as the dominant force in Scottish football. In all, Souness won 168 of the 261 games he managed for Rangers, a win rate of 64.37%.
During his playing days Souness had a well-deserved reputation for going about his business in an unflinching, robust style. And Souness the manager continued to perform in uncompromising fashion, rebuking the Scottish FA on more than one occasion, and putting a fair few noses out of joint when he signed Mo Johnston from great rivals Celtic.
Still, there was no denying Souness’ accomplishments. With right-hand man Walter Smith, who would go on to establish himself in his own right as a Rangers legend, Souness’ arrival revitalised the Glasgow club in impressive fashion.
Planting a flag
It’s fair to say that Liverpool (when he was a player) and Rangers saw the best of Graeme Souness; after he departed Rangers to manage Liverpool in April 1991, the Scot struggled to live up to expectations at Anfield.
Still, he would depart Liverpool after three years with the club – and when he resurfaced, it was in the somewhat unexpected Turkish Super Lig, taking the reins with Istanbul’s Galatasaray.
The most successful club in Turkish history, at the time of Souness’ appointment the club had won the domestic league some 10 times.
During Souness’s year-long spell with the side, he couldn’t add to that number. but he did steer the club to triumph in the Turkish Cup final over bitter rivals Fenerbahce – a feat that Souness celebrated by taking a Galatasaray flag and placing squarely in the middle of the pitch, setting off scenes of pandemonium in the process. Never change, Graeme.
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