Rangers v Celtic: Graeme Souness admits 'nothing prepared me for the passion here'

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Roddy Forsyth

 

11 April 2016 • 10:30pm

 

Somewhere in Scotland a therapist might yet be helping a traumatised patient work through a terrifying childhood meeting with Graeme Souness. Certainly, Souness has never forgotten the moment he came face to face with a trembling child 30 years ago, as the former Scotland and Liverpool midfielder was about to savour the unique taste of the Old Firm derby for the first time.

 

The date was May 12, 1986 – a Friday night – and the occasion was what would, in other circumstances have been a comparatively low-key meeting of Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox to contest the Glasgow Cup final, a charity event for which both sides normally fielded fringe players and promising reserves. This time, though, the fixture was turbocharged by the fact that Souness, whose appointment as manager had been announced the previous month, would be in the home dugout for the first time.

 

 

 

Souness, speaking at Hampden Park on Monday ahead of Sunday’s Old Firm derby in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final, recollected that he was at Ibrox well ahead of kick-off, but not too early to avoid being spotted. “I had a black leather coat on and a black polo neck and I was standing outside,” he said. “It was a sunny night. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a guy dragging his son, who had a Celtic scarf on. The boy was terrified. The father stood right in front of me and he said, ‘There you are son – there’s the bad man’.

 

“The boy was cowering. To this little kid who was six or seven, I must have looked like a bad man dressed in black. I’m a good guy.”

 

 

 

Well, he has certainly mellowed since those early Ibrox days when he habitually confronted match officials, the Scottish Football Association, the media and opponents, most notably when he was sent off at Easter Road in his first game as Rangers player-manager, having engraved his studs on the shin of Hibs striker, George McCluskey, an intervention which triggered a mass brawl amongst the two teams.

 

Asked if – were he able to go back in time to 1986 – he would do anything differently, Souness said: “F---ing lots! Starting from the first day. When I look back now, I was totally fearless. My life had been one long story of success after success. Today, I wouldn’t have anything like the bravery or conviction that I had then.”

 

Souness had never had any professional involvement with the Scottish leagues until his arrival at Ibrox. Neither had Mark Warburton, who will experience the full heat of the Old Firm cauldron on Sunday. “It’s a big step up for him – he’ll get some idea at the weekend,” Souness said.

 

 

 

“It will be very difficult for Rangers to win, but not impossible. I just want them to make sure that, when they leave here, they have given the supporters something to shout about. The higher up you go in football, you quicker you are asking your brain to operate. That’ll be the biggest challenge. They’ll be playing in front of a big, hostile crowd, but if you’re a Rangers or a Celtic player, you have to deal with that.

 

“Rangers play attractive football. Will Celtic allow them to do that? It will be a real challenge for Rangers. I worked it out pretty quickly. Sometimes Rangers had easy games, but they were all pretty physical encounters. You have to be prepared for that.”

 

The financial meltdown at Ibrox in 2012 that led to Rangers having to trek through the lower leagues saddened Souness. He said: “People spoke about it in England but they don’t any more. The way they see it is, ‘Just give Celtic the title in August’. In any competitive business it’s not healthy to have a monopoly.

 

“All the people who rejoiced in Rangers’ demise had such a short-term attitude, a really, really parochial view of it – ‘OK, we’ll enjoy it’. Look at Forster, Van Dijk, Wanyama. Do Celtic really sell those players if Rangers are still challenging?

 

“That’s shown itself in the numbers who turn up at Celtic. Is it 40,000 season-ticket holders? And 10-15,000 don’t turn up for the games? Why? Because they’re not enjoying what they’re seeing. If Rangers were strong, Celtic would have to be stronger.

 

“I went to England at 15 and came back at 33. I thought I had been around big football clubs all of my life but nothing prepared me for the passion here. It’s that passion that makes it a burden because you feel so responsible.”

 

A responsibility, Souness might have added, which extends to playing terrifying villain to half the children in Glasgow. Is Mark Warburton really braced for that?

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/04/11/rangers-v-celtic-graeme-souness-admits-nothing-prepared-me-for-t/