Graeme Souness

Graeme Souness

File:Graeme souness 1207323c.jpg
Personal information
Full name	Graeme James Souness
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Tynecastle Boys Club
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1970–1972	Tottenham Hotspur	0	(0)
1972	→ Montreal Olympique (loan)	10	(2)
1972–1978	Middlesbrough	176	(22)
1978	→ West Adelaide (loan)	6	(1)
1978–1984	Liverpool	247	(38)
1984–1986	Sampdoria	56	(8)
1986–1991	Rangers	50	(3)
Total		539	(73)
International career
1974–1986	Scotland	54	(4)
Managerial career
1986–1991	Rangers
1991–1994	Liverpool
1995–1996	Galatasaray
1996–1997	Southampton
1997	Torino
1997–1999	Benfica
2000–2004	Blackburn Rovers
2004–2006	Newcastle United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Graeme James Souness (Template:Pron-en; born 6 May 1953 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager.

Souness is perhaps best known as the former captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s. He also played for Tottenham Hotspur, Middlesbrough and Sampdoria in a long career. Following his retirement he worked as a manager, notably with Rangers, Liverpool, Benfica, Galatasaray, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United.

Souness now does media work and divides his time working for RTE in Ireland, ESPN, Sky Sports and Al Jazeera Sports.

Club career

Early career

Souness was brought up in the Saughton Mains area of Edinburgh, and supported local side Hearts. As with other tough-tackling Scottish midfielders such as Dave Mackay and Billy Bremner, journalists have regularly attributed Souness's rumbustious playing style to his modest upbringing. As a teenager Souness played for local boys' club North Merchiston.

Souness's career began as an apprentice at Tottenham Hotspur under Bill Nicholson. He signed professional forms as a 15 year-old in 1968. Frustrated at a lack of first team opportunities, the teenage Souness reputedly informed Nicholson that he was the best player at the club. Souness made one solitary appearance for Spurs in the UEFA cup as a substitute.

During the summer of 1972, Souness played in the North American Soccer League for the Montreal Olympique. He appeared in 10 of his team’s 14 games, and was named in the league’s All-Star team for that season.

Back in England, Souness had played just once for Spurs prior to a £30,000 move to Middlesbrough in 1972. His debut came on 6 January 1973 in a 2–1 league defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage. His first goal came on 11 December 1973 in a 3–0 league victory over Preston North End at Ayresome Park.

Souness's tenacious style began to garner increasing acclaim during his time at Middlesbrough. His first season saw Middlesbrough finish fourth, two places and 14 points short of promotion. In May 1973, the recently retired Jack Charlton was appointed to his first managerial post. Promotion as champions of the Second Division followed. Souness's growing influence was demonstrated in a hat-trick in the season's final fixture, an 8–0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday.

Liverpool

Souness's playing career is best remembered for his seven seasons at Liverpool, where he won five League Championships, three European Cups and four League Cups.

His time at Anfield began in 1978 as a replacement for veteran Ian Callaghan. After winning his first European Cup in 1977, Liverpool manager Bob Paisley sought reinforcements by signing three Scottish players, all of whom were to contribute substantially to further success. Central defender Alan Hansen arrived from Partick Thistle for £110,000. Kenny Dalglish – an established Scottish international – signed from Celtic for a then British record fee of £440,000. Souness formed the final part of the Scottish triumvirate, leaving Middlesbrough in acrimonious circumstances for a club-record fee of £350,000 on 10 January 1978.

Souness's Liverpool debut came in a 1–0 league victory over West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns on 14 January 1978. His first goal – a characteristic volley just inside the penalty box, eventually awarded fans' goal of the season – came in a 3–1 win over bitter rivals Manchester United at Anfield on 25 February 1978.

Souness played a critical role in Liverpool's retention of the European Cup against FC Bruges at Wembley, providing the pass for Dalglish to score the game's only goal.

Sustained success followed. Souness's first League title medals were won in seasons 1978–79 and 1979–80. A second European Cup medal for Souness arrived in 1981 with a 1–0 victory over Real Madrid – the culmination of a campaign in which Souness scored a hat-trick in the quarter-final against CSKA Sofia.

This burst of success prompted Paisley to award Souness the club captaincy for season 1981–82, to the chagrin of the incumbent Phil Thompson. Under Souness's captaincy, two trophies followed as Liverpool regained the League championship and retained the League Cup – trophies that were successfully defended in season 1982–83. Souness relinquished his right as captain to lift the League Cup at Wembley after the 2–1 win over Manchester United in 1983, insisting that Paisley collected the trophy in his retirement season.

In 1983–84, Souness lifted three trophies as Liverpool again retained the League title and League Cup, with Souness scoring the winning goal in the replayed final of the latter against rivals Everton. The European Cup was regained after a penalty shoot-out win over AS Roma, with Souness scoring one of the penalties in the shootout.

Souness's Liverpool career ended in 1984 after 358 appearances and 56 goals.

Career in Italy

Souness left Liverpool in 1984, joining Sampdoria for a fee of £650,000. Souness and England international Trevor Francis – a player at the Genoa-based club since 1982 – added experience to an emerging group of future Italian internationals, including Roberto Mancini, Pietro Vierchowod and Gianluca Vialli. In his first season, Sampdoria won the Coppa Italia with a 3–1 victory over Serie A rivals AC Milan, securing the trophy for the first time in the club's history.

Souness's career in Italy ended in 1986 as he took up the position of player-manager at Rangers, making a further 50 league appearances before retiring as a player in 1991 at the age of 38.

International career

While a Middlesbrough player, Souness received his first international cap for Scotland on 30 October 1974 in a 3–0 friendly victory over East Germany at Hampden Park. By the time Souness was selected by manager Ally McLeod for the Scotland squad for the World Cup in Argentina in 1978, however, he had been awarded only six caps. His move to Liverpool, and a greatly increased profile, saw growing demands for the award of regular place.

A defeat and a draw in Scotland's first two World Cup group games against Peru and Iran saw calls for Souness, recovered from injury, to play in the critical final group match against the Netherlands. Replacing an established midfield, Souness contributed to a 3–2 victory that nevertheless saw Scotland eliminated from the tournament on goal difference.

Souness played in two further World Cups. The first, in 1982 in Spain, saw Souness play all three group games. His first international goal arrived in the final match prior to elimination, a 2–2 draw with the Soviet Union in Malaga.

A final World Cup appearance came in 1986 in Mexico, at a time when Souness had already been appointed Rangers player-manager. Souness played in defeats to Denmark and West Germany. He was omitted by caretaker manager Alex Ferguson for Scotland's final game against Uruguay.

Souness's Scotland career ended after the World Cup after 54 appearances and four goals in almost 12 years.

Club career statistics

Template:Football player club statistics 1 Template:Football player club statistics 2 |- |1971/72||Tottenham Hotspur||First Division||0||0|||||||||||||||| Template:Football player club statistics 2 |- |1972||Montreal Olympique||NASL||10||2|||||||||||||||| Template:Football player club statistics 2 |- |1972/73||rowspan="6"|Middlesbrough||rowspan="2"|Second Division||9||0|||||||||||||||| |- |1973/74||35||7|||||||||||||||| |- |1974/75||rowspan="4"|First Division||38||7|||||||||||||||| |- |1975/76||35||3|||||||||||||||| |- |1976/77||38||2|||||||||||||||| |- |1977/78||19||3|||||||||||||||| |- |1977/78||rowspan="7"|Liverpool||rowspan="7"|First Division||15||2|||||||||||||||| |- |1978/79||41||8|||||||||||||||| |- |1979/80||41||1|||||||||||||||| |- |1980/81||37||6|||||||||||||||| |- |1981/82||35||5|||||||||||||||| |- |1982/83||41||9|||||||||||||||| |- |1983/84||37||7|||||||||||||||| Template:Football player club statistics 2 |- |1984/85||rowspan="2"|Sampdoria||rowspan="2"|Serie A||28||5|||||||||||||||| |- |1985/86||28||3|||||||||||||||| Template:Football player club statistics 2 |- |1986/87||rowspan="4"|Rangers||rowspan="4"|Premier Division||25||1|||||||||||||||| |- |1987/88||18||2|||||||||||||||| |- |1988/89||6||0|||||||||||||||| |- |1989/90||1||0|||||||||||||||| Template:Football player club statistics 3421||60|||||||||||||||| Template:Football player club statistics 410||2|||||||||||||||| Template:Football player club statistics 456||8|||||||||||||||| Template:Football player club statistics 450||3|||||||||||||||| Template:Football player club statistics 5537||73|||||||||||||||| |}

International career statistics

Template:Football player national team statistics |- |1974||2||0 |- |1975||1||0 |- |1976||0||0 |- |1977||0||0 |- |1978||6||0 |- |1979||6||0 |- |1980||3||0 |- |1981||4||0 |- |1982||9||1 |- |1983||8||1 |- |1984||4||1 |- |1985||7||0 |- |1986||4||1 |- !Total||54||4 |}

Managerial career

Rangers

Souness was appointed Rangers' first player-manager in April 1986, signing from Sampdoria for a fee of £300,000 and succeeding Jock Wallace. Financed initially by the club's then owner, Lawrence Marlborough, Souness and club chairman David Holmes embarked upon a bold strategy of reclaiming the footballing ascendancy that Rangers had been desperately seeking in Scotland after years in the wilderness dues to the dominance of Jock Steins inspired Celtic followed by the emergance of the New Firm (ABERDEEN AND DUNDEE UNITED) led by the legendary Managers Sir Alex Ferguson And Jim McClean. Souness's appointment came after several years of under-performance. The league championship had last been won in season 1977–78, and the early 1980s saw Scottish football dominated by the 'New Firm' of Aberdeen and Dundee United, together with Celtic.

What came popularly to be termed the 'Souness Revolution' began with a slew of major signings from English clubs. Significantly, this reversed the historic pattern of Scotland's most able footballers playing in England. Souness's first season saw the arrival of players such as Terry Butcher, captain of Ipswich Town and an established England international, and Chris Woods of Norwich City, England's second-choice goalkeeper. Subsequent seasons saw the arrival of other English internationals, such as Trevor Steven, Gary Stevens, Trevor Francis and Ray Wilkins. Souness was able to offer the lure of European club competition, at a time – 1985–90 – when English clubs were banned from Europe in the wake of the Heysel Stadium disaster. Rangers profited from this by embarking upon a signing policy which drew on their relative wealth to compete, for the first time, directly with England's most powerful clubs.

Souness's revitalised Rangers quickly began to dominate Scottish football. In his first season, 1986–87 they won the Championship and the League Cup, beating Celtic 2–1 in the final. Two more Championships were to follow, this time in successive seasons (1988–89 and 1989–90), and a further two League Cup victories, over Aberdeen 3–2 in 1988–89 and Celtic 2–1 in 1990–91. Souness left Rangers, to take over as manager of Liverpool, in 1991, replaced by his assistant, Walter Smith, four games prior to the end of what was to become another championship-winning season.

Souness's time at Ibrox was marked by persistent controversy. His most noteworthy act was the controversial signing of Mo Johnston in 1989. Rangers – historically a team supported by Protestants – were widely held to have implemented for most of the 20th century a policy of refusing to sign Roman Catholics. Although several previous Rangers players came from Catholic backgrounds (including, at the time of Johnston's signing, John Spencer), their religious background was not made public and none of them were high-profile players. Johnston's arrival at Ibrox was significant because it signaled a very public end to a discriminatory signing policy. It was also significant because Johnston, a former Celtic player and coveted Scottish international, had days earlier at a press conference at Celtic Park publicly announced his decision to return to his former club.

Further controversy centred on Souness's dealings with the Scottish Football Association and Scottish League hierarchies. A succession of confrontational after-match comments pitched Souness regularly at loggerheads with both organisations, prompting touchline bans which Souness circumvented in characteristically provocative fashion by naming himself as a substitute, allowing access as a player to the dugout. Souness was later to claim that conflict with officialdom was one of the principal factors precipitating his departure from Ibrox.

Souness's appointment as Rangers' manager garnered most attention, but his arrival as a player was also of significance. Souness arrived at Ibrox with a reputation as one of Europe's leading midfielders – a view evidenced by his success at Liverpool and, to a lesser extent, with Sampdoria. His signing was unusual in that Scottish clubs had rarely been able to sign top-quality internationals, including Scots, from other leagues.

Souness's playing career at Ibrox began inauspiciously. His competitive debut – in the opening game of the 1986–87 season, against Hibernian in his hometown of Edinburgh – saw him sent off after two yellow cards in the first 34 minutes. Souness later self-deprecatingly argued that his second booking, for a foul on George McCluskey, had been awarded because "my boot ran up his leg!" Disciplinary problems – something that had recurred periodically throughout Souness's career – resurfaced on a number of occasions during his time as a player at Rangers.

Souness made 49 appearances for Rangers. Much of his time as player was blighted by injury. His final appearance as a player was at Ibrox in a 2–0 victory over Dunfermline Athletic in Rangers' last home game of the 1989–90 season, when he brought himself on for the final 20 minutes.

In 1990, when Rangers visited McDiarmid Park to take on St. Johnstone, the Glasgow club left their dressing room in such a state that St. Johnstone tea-lady Aggie Moffat was moved to ask, "Would you leave your home like that?" This led to Souness enquiring as to Moffat's ability to tidy up. A verbal ear-bashing from Moffat ensued.

Liverpool

The three years which followed were uneventful for Souness and relatively disastrous for Liverpool. There was little success on the field, with only a 2–0 victory in the 1992 FA Cup final over Second Division Sunderland, but poor tactics, ill-judged transfer dealings and poor man management brought one of the bleakest spells in the history of one of Europe's most successful clubs of all time.

His appointment came just before Liverpool finished second to Arsenal in the race for the 1990–91 league title. He made a major reorganisation of the squad for the following season, bringing in Dean Saunders for a national record of £2.9million as well as defenders Mark Wright and Rob Jones and midfielder Mark Walters. He also gave a regular place in the team to 19-year-old midfielder Steve McManaman, whose debut had come under Kenny Dalglish in December 1990, and near the end of that campaign he gave a professional contract to a highly promising youth team striker called Robbie Fowler. During the first stages of the 1991–92 season, Liverpool were looking like serious title contenders, but it soon became an effective two-horse race between Manchester United and Leeds United, eventually being won by the team from West Yorkshire, while Liverpool came sixth – the FA Cup win being their consolation. They also returned to European competition that season after six years of isolation following the Heysel disaster of 1985, and reached the UEFA Cup quarter finals where they were eliminated by Genoa of Italy.

Rumours about squabbles in the dressing room between the players and Souness were rife, with Ian Rush famously telling a Sky Sports interviewer that 'teacups being thrown' were nothing new. One of the few successes, barring the FA Cup triumph, that Souness enjoyed while manager of Liverpool was the fact that he had blooded several new prodigious young talents like Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler allowing them to play and develop in the first team. Both went on to be highly successful for both club and country.

Souness had major heart surgery in 1992, and led his players out at Wembley for the FA Cup final just days after leaving hospital. But there had been controversy over the semi-final against Portsmouth, which Liverpool needed a replay and penalties to win.

In the event of a victory for Liverpool, an interview was due to be published in the Sun, a British tabloid, with Souness celebrating the win and his own successful surgery. The photograph which accompanied the interview was of Souness, in his hospital ward, kissing his girlfriend with joy at his own recovery and his team's win.

The interview was due to go in alongside the match report on 14 April 1992 but the late end to the game meant that the deadline for publication was missed and the report, with interview and photograph, went in on 15 April instead – the third anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.

Liverpool fans reacted with fury after seeing that the interview was conducted with the Sun – a newspaper which had been boycotted by many people on Merseyside for the intervening years over its reporting of the events at Hillsborough. Although he apologised profusely at the time, Souness has since said that he probably should have resigned.

1992–93 was even more frustrating. Just after the start of the season, he sold Dean Saunders to Aston Villa. While Saunders was a key player in Villa's near-successful title challenge, his successor Paul Stewart proved to be perhaps the biggest flop to play under Souness at Liverpool, scoring just one league goal from 32 appearances over the next two seasons and missing countless games through injury. Ian Rush was having a torrid time in front of goal, and Liverpool spent most of the season in the bottom half of the table. They entered March still only in 15th place, but an excellent final quarter of the season – in which Rush scored 11 Premier League goals – saw them finish sixth.

The fans were running out of patience with Souness, but he made one last attempt at revitalising Liverpool by signing defender Julian Dicks and striker Nigel Clough during the 1993 close season. The season began well enough, but a dismal run of form in early winter effectively ended hopes of the Premier League title and Souness was sacked at the end of January 1994 when Liverpool had suffered a shock FA Cup exit at the hands of Bristol City. He was succeeded by coach Roy Evans.

Souness's reign as Liverpool manager was not remembered with fondness by the club's fans, though there were some positive events. Apart from guiding them to FA Cup glory in 1992, he also oversaw the breakthrough of three young players who would go on to be a key part in Liverpool's better performances over the next five years – Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler and Jamie Redknapp. In 1992, he had also brought in David James as an eventual successor to Bruce Grobbelaar (who finally left in 1994) and although the player's fortunes at Anfield were mixed, he later went on to enjoy better fortunes elsewhere and was still keeping goal for England at the end of the following decade as he approached his 40th birthday.

Galatasaray

He went to manage Galatasaray in Turkey, and again managed to court controversy with local issues – nearly sparking a riot after placing a large Galatasaray flag into the centre circle of the pitch of arch rivals Fenerbahçe after Galatasaray had beaten them in the Turkish Cup final on 24 April 1996. The iconic image of the victor planting the flag drew comparisons with Turkish hero Ulubatli Hasan, who was killed as he planted the Ottoman flag at the end of the Siege of Constantinople. This earned Souness the nickname 'Ulubatlı Souness'.

Southampton

Souness then returned to England to manage Southampton, but after one season he resigned, citing differences with chairman Rupert Lowe. Probably his most memorable moment with the Saints was signing Senegalese player Ali Dia, supposedly on the recommendation of former FIFA World Player of the Year and former Liberian striker George Weah. Souness did not check any of Dia's supposed credentials, and this subsequently proved to be a hoax, instigated by Dia's agent (who had made the initial call). When Dia played his only game in the Premier League as a substitute for Matt Le Tissier, he performed amazingly poorly, and was later substituted himself after only 20 minutes on the field.

Torino

After his stint at Southampton, Souness went back to Italy to become the coach at Torino. When he arrived it was clear he would have no say in what players he could buy or sell, as the club's owner made those decisions. Souness lasted just four months before being dismissed.

Benfica

In 1997, Souness was signed by S.L. Benfica's new chairman Vale e Azevedo, who promised to return the club to its old glories. The Scottish manager brought several British players from the Premier League (defenders Steve Harkness and Gary Charles, midfielders Michael Thomas and Mark Pembridge and forwards Dean Saunders and Brian Deane) as well as refusing to sign emerging talent Deco. After two unsuccessful seasons, Souness was sacked. All of Benfica's British footballers (including the previously signed left-back Scott Minto) also left the club.

Blackburn Rovers

He then became manager of Blackburn Rovers, earning promotion back to the Premier League in his first full season. During his four year spell at Blackburn he initially got the very best out of talented youngsters such as Damien Duff, David Dunn and Matt Jansen; brought Henning Berg back to the club and signed big name players like Andy Cole, Tugay Kerimoğlu, Brad Friedel and Dwight Yorke. Cole and Jansen scored in Blackburn's 2–1 League Cup victory over Tottenham Hotspur in 2002.

He then guided Blackburn to a top 6 finish before a disappointing final season in 2003–04 in which the club struggled, although they avoided relegation. After less than one month of the following season many Blackburn fans had begun to express grave doubts in Souness' handling of the club. His authoritarian methods had led to the alienation or departure of Yorke, Cole, Dunn, Gillespie and Berg. He could not be blamed for the long term loss of Matt Jansen to a motorbike accident or Damien Duff's departure to Chelsea. None of these players however were sufficiently replaced. Vratislav Gresko, Lorenzo Amoruso and Corrado Grabbi were all flops, whilst Steven Reid and Brett Emerton were also disappointing – although both shone for Blackburn after Souness' departure.

Newcastle United

Souness left Blackburn in 2004 to become manager of Newcastle United.

Despite a promising start to his role with results back to back, Souness quickly fell out with a number of players including Welsh international Craig Bellamy who left the club to join Souness's former employers, Blackburn, after being farmed out on loan to Celtic. Laurent Robert, Olivier Bernard and Jermaine Jenas are also believed to have left the club on bad terms with Souness. The team finished 14th in the league and despite making it to the quarter-final of the UEFA Cup and the semi-final of the FA Cup, Souness found himself under mounting pressure from Toon supporters.

Newcastle began the 2005–06 season in poor form but Souness was hoping that the purchase of Michael Owen from Real Madrid on 30 August for an estimated club-record fee of £17 million would help to turn the club's fortunes around. Newcastle recorded a win in the Tyne-Wear derby against Sunderland (3–2), and went on to win their next three games keeping three clean sheets. Souness seemed to be tightening-up Newcastle in defence, with six clean sheets in Newcastle's first 12 games of the season (as many as the whole of the preceding campaign). His decision to reform the former England striker duo Alan Shearer and Michael Owen initially appeared shrewd. But to Souness's and the club's misfortune, Michael Owen cracked the fifth metatarsal of his right foot when he clashed with England team-mate Paul Robinson during a 2–0 defeat at Tottenham on 30 December 2005 and was out of action for three months, adding to the club's injury woes.

Criticism of Souness's apparent lack of long term planning centred on a threadbare squad and a consequent vulnerability to injury. Expensive signings such as Jean-Alain Boumsong for £8 million and Albert Luque for £10 million failed to make an impression. By the end of his reign as Newcastle boss, Souness was deeply unpopular with the Newcastle fans, as evidenced by the frequency and vociferousness of "Souness Out" chants. By the beginning of February 2006, Newcastle United were placed 15th in the Premier League table and sliding dangerously towards a relegation battle, despite the spending of £50m since Souness's arrival. Results were not going in United's favour and sports media consistently questioned his position at the club. On 2 February 2006, Souness was sacked as manager by Chairman Freddy Shepard and replaced by United's Youth Academy Director Glenn Roeder.

In the club's DVD season review for the 2005–06 season, goalkeeper Shay Given and defender Robbie Elliott, acknowledged that Souness was under pressure at the club as a result of injuries to the squad and admitted that some players were to blame for their lack of all round effort, but also admitted there was a bad atmosphere at the training ground, with Souness seeming to favour some players over others. Alan Shearer acknowledged that the fans never really accepted Souness, as well as several injuries being instrumental in damaging the team's confidence. Chairman Freddy Shepard declared that it was the team's formation and loss against Manchester City F.C. that promoted his decision to sack Souness.

In May 2008, Souness was named by Observer Sport Monthly as the 'Worst Football Manager', citing his failings at Newcastle and Liverpool as the main reasons.

Stevens inquiry

In the report of the Stevens inquiry into football corruption published in June 2007, Souness was criticised for an apparent lack of consistency:

There remains inconsistencies in evidence provided by Graeme Souness – a former manager of the club – and Kenneth Shepherd – apparently acting in an undefined role but not as a club official – as to their respective roles in transfer negotiations.

Souness issued a statement denying any wrong-doing:

"I cannot understand why my name features in this report. I volunteered full information to Quest as a witness and I have heard nothing further from them."

The Stevens inquiry then issued a clarification:

We wish to make it clear that inconsistencies did not exist within the evidence given by Graeme Souness to Quest concerning his role in transfers covered by the Inquiry during his time as manager of Newcastle United FC and neither the Premier League nor do Quest have any concerns in this regard.

In July 2007, Newcastle United was raided by the City of London Police, who were investigating transfer deals involving Newcastle, Rangers and Portsmouth. Two Souness transfers, Jean-Alain Boumsong and Amdy Faye, were among a list of 17 transfers that were not cleared by Quest. The Boumsong deal in particular was so odd that it was widely commented upon at the time. Four months after succeeding Sir Bobby Robson as manager, Souness was in his first transfer window as Newcastle manager. At £8.2m, Boumsong was his first big signing and Souness said he would replace Jonathan Woodgate in the Newcastle defence, which had conceded several leads earlier in the season. Newcastle were well aware of Boumsong prior to his move from Auxerre to Rangers on a free transfer. Robson had travelled to France to watch him, but he declined the opportunity to sign Boumsong. Liverpool were also interested in signing Boumsong. Robson's doubts were confirmed when Boumsong marked Alan Shearer in a pre-season game against Rangers. Shearer came off to speak in dismissive terms about the Frenchman's lack of physique, and he later mentioned Boumsong's previous availability on a free transfer on television. When Boumsong was given a torrid time by DJ Campbell during his Newcastle debut against Yeading in the FA Cup, doubts over the wisdom of the transfer mushroomed. The agent in the Boumsong and Faye transfers was Willie McKay. On 7 November 2007, Quest issued the following statement about McKay's dealings:

Further to the key findings from the final Quest report published on 15 June 2007 by the Premier League, Quest would like to emphasise that, in that report, it was clear that no evidence of irregular payments was found in the transfers in the inquiry period which involved the agent Willie McKay. Quest would also like to thank Mr McKay for his cooperation with the inquiry.

Career after management

Media work

Souness regularly appears as a television analyst in Ireland. He primarily features on RTE's live coverage of the Champions League and on their highlights show Premier Soccer Saturday, covering the English Premier League. He is also regularly seen covering RTE's coverage of Republic of Ireland football internationals. Souness contributed to RTÉ Sport's coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, alongside John Giles, Eamon Dunphy, Liam Brady, Ronnie Whelan, Denis Irwin, Ossie Ardiles and Dietmar Hamann for the duration of the Group Stages. During analysis of the game between Ghana and Serbia on Sunday 13 June 2010, Souness made a controversial rape comment involving Nemanja Vidić and Fernando Torres live on air, that forced RTÉ to censor Souness and publicly apologise after a commercial break.

Elsewhere, Souness works with Sky Sports as a pundit, principally on coverage of the Champions League., however, he has regularly stated that he prefers working with RTE, due to their "call it like it is" approach to football.. Souness also worked with Al Jazeera Sports in South Africa for their coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup knockout stages.

Possible returns to management

In June 2006, the chairman of Crystal Palace, Simon Jordan claimed he wished to discuss with Souness a role in managing the club following the departure of Iain Dowie. His arrival however never materialised.

He looked to be the front runner for the Bolton Wanderers manager's job following the departure of his former Liverpool team-mate Sammy Lee in October 2007 but later pulled out of the running when it became apparent that the job was set to be given to Gary Megson.

In January 2008, Souness announced he would be willing to return to Newcastle United as manager, following the departure of Sam Allardyce and the arrival of the club's new ownership and board. However, United only interviewed Harry Redknapp and Kevin Keegan for the position, with Kevin Keegan soon after being appointed with the job; Souness's interest has never been publicly acknowledged by the club.

Following the sacking of Blackburn Rovers manager Paul Ince on 16 December 2008, Souness was heavily linked with a return to the club as manager. However, Sam Allardyce was appointed as the new manager on 17 December, after Souness claimed to have had no contact at all from Blackburn about the position.

Following the sacking of Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate on 21 October 2009, Souness was one of the names linked with the vacant manager's position. Gordon Strachan became the new manager.

Having been linked with the Scotland national football team in November 2009, Souness stated he has no desire to return to management at any level.

Potential career as a football club owner

Souness has been reportedly looking to purchase and run a football club. In January 2007, he was reported by the Daily Mirror to be heading a £20million consortium to take over Wolverhampton Wanderers. He attended a Wolves game as a VIP guest, and made a formal offer for the club, asking to see the club's finances. Wolves' chief executive Jez Moxey initially denied this offer, but Souness insisted to the Express & Star newspaper that he had made an offer for the club. The bid was rejected by the Wolves board, who felt it undervalued the club. Souness did not make a repeat offer for the club and it was later sold to another investor.

Criticism

In September 2010, Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher (who has been at the club since the mid 1990s just after Souness's departure) publicly blamed Souness for a decline in standards at the club since his appointment almost 20 years earlier, rather than the continued success of Manchester United over those years - as many critics believe has prevented Liverpool from winning a top division title since 1990.

Biographies

In 1985, Souness wrote an autobiography called No Half Measures. In 1999 he wrote another book chronicling his post-playing career up to and including his spell at Southampton, entitled Souness: The Management Years.

Souness's life and views outside football

Private life

Souness has been married to Karen Souness, his second wife, since 1994. Together, the couple have a son, James. Souness also has three children – Chantelle, Fraser and Jordan – from his previous marriage and two stepchildren – Daniel and Lauren – from Karen's previous relationship. Lauren works at al-Jazeera as a sports presenter.

Political views

Souness's political views have, at various points in his career, generated comment.

In 1982, Souness and team-mate Sammy Lee made cameo appearances, as themselves, in an episode of the BBC's Liverpudlian drama series Boys From The Blackstuff. Written by Alan Bleasdale, the series offered a critique of Thatcherism – and in particular the large-scale unemployment then evident in urban Britain – apparently at odds with Souness's own Conservative politics.

In 2007, in the lead-up to elections to the Scottish Parliament, Souness was one of 15 prominent current and former footballers named in a newspaper advertisement as opponents of Scottish independence.

Honours

As a player

Tottenham Hotspur

• FA Youth Cup winners: 1969

Middlesbrough

• Football League Second Division winners: 1973–74

Liverpool

• League Championship winners: 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83 & 1983–84
• League Championship runners–up: 1977–78
• European Cup winners: 1977–78, 1980–81 & 1983–84
• League Cup winners: 1981, 1982, 1983 & 1984
• Charity Shield winners: 1980, 1981 & 1983
• Charity Shield runners–up: 1984
• European Super Cup runners–up: 1979
• Intercontinental Cup runners–up: 1982

Sampdoria

• Coppa Italia winners: 1985

Rangers (as a player-manager)

• Scottish League Championship winners: 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90
• Scottish League Cup winners: 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991

As a manager

Rangers (as a player-manager)

• Scottish League Championship winners: 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90
• Scottish League Cup winners: 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991

Liverpool

• FA Cup winners: 1992
• FA Charity Shield runners–up: 1992
• Football League First Division runners-up: 1991

Galatasaray

• Turkish Cup winners: 1996
• Turkish Super Cup winners: 1996–97

Benfica

• Portuguese First Division runners–up: 1997–98

Blackburn Rovers

• Football League Cup winners: 2002
• Football League First Division (Level 2) runners–up: 2000–01

Personal honours

In 1998 Souness was included in the Football League 100 Legends list.

A poll of 110,000 Liverpool supporters – 100 Players Who Shook The Kop, saw Souness placed the ninth most popular player in the club's history.

Souness was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2007 in recognition of his contribution to the game

Souness is one of 71 players elected to Rangers' official Hall of Fame.

Souness is one of 24 players qualifying for the Scottish national team Hall of Fame.

Managerial statistics

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Rangers		1 April 1986	16 April 1991	260	165	50	45	063.46
Liverpool		16 April 1991	28 January 1994	157	65	47	45	041.40
Galatasaray		1 July 1995	1 July 1996	43	25	10	8	058.14
Southampton		3 July 1996	1 June 1997	48	14	15	19	029.17
Torino		5 July 1997	12 October 1997	—	—	—	—	—
Benfica		2 November 1997	3 May 1999	70	41	15	14	058.57
Blackburn Rovers		14 March 2000	6 September 2004	212	86	61	65	040.57
Newcastle United		13 September 2004	2 February 2006	83	36	18	29	043.37

Bibliography

• Graeme Souness & Mike Ellis (1999). Souness: The Management Years. Andre Deutsch. ISBN 0-233-99738-5.

• Graeme Souness & Bob Harris (1987). No Half Measures. Grafton Books. ISBN 0-586-07424-4.

External links

• Official past players at Liverpoolfc.tv
• LFC Online profile
• LFChistory.net Player profile
• LFChistory.net Manager profile
• Graeme Souness (playing in Britain) at Soccerbase
• Graeme Souness (British) management career statistics at Soccerbase
• Middlesbrough Seasonal record (Part 1) 1972/73-1974/75 at Sporting-heroes.net
• Middlesbrough Seasonal record (Part 2) 1975/76-1977/78 at Sporting-heroes.net
• Liverpool biography (Part 1) 1978–79 at Sporting-heroes.net
• Liverpool biography (Part 2) 1979–81 at Sporting-heroes.net
• Liverpool biography (Part 3) 1981–83 at Sporting-heroes.net
• Liverpool biography (Part 4) 1983–84 at Sporting-heroes.net
• Liverpool league appearances 1977/78-1983/84 at Sporting-heroes.net
• Rangers Seasonal record 1986/87-1990/91 at Sporting-heroes.net
• European Champions Cup/UEFA Champions League Winning Squads