Rangers FC - Managers Past and Present

[DavidMc]

William Walton - 1899 - 1920

William Wilton (born Largs, Ayrshire, 1865; died 2 May 1920) was the manager of Rangers F.C., a football club in Glasgow, Scotland, from 1899 to 1920, having previously served the club under several roles including match secretary.

William WiltonWilton had already been at Rangers for sixteen years (since September 1883) when he was given the dual-role of secretary and manager in May 1899. Before this, he was appointed secretary to the youth teams and soon rose to become match secretary of the first team in 1889.

In his 10 years as match secretary for the first team, the club won 2 Scottish Championships (1891 and 1899) and 3 Scottish Cups (1894, 1897 and 1898).

When the Scottish League was formed in 1890, Wilton became its first treasurer as Rangers shared the title with Dumbarton.

The season before he was appointed to his dual-role, Rangers had achieved the first ever 100% league record, winning all 18 games and scoring 79 goals. No team before or since has ever achieved the same, although several teams have gone unbeaten in a league season since, including Arsenal in 2004.

Under Wilton, Rangers were to win 8 league titles, making them the 2nd most successful side in Scotland behind Celtic at that time.

However, Wilton would not see the full extent of the team's success. The day after the final match of the season in 1920, he set out for a Bank Holiday, which he planned to spend at Gourock, but he died in a boating accident on the first day of his holiday.

[DavidMc]

Bill Struth - 1920 - 1954

Bill Struth (1875-1956) was the second manager of Rangers Football Club, leading the Club for 34 years between 1920 and 1954, as well as the holder of a number of other positions, including director. Struth is one of the most successful managers in Scottish football history, amassing 18 league championships, 10 Scottish Cup, 2 League Cups, 7 war-time championships, 19 Glasgow Cups, 17 Glasgow Merchant Charity Cups and a host of other war-time honours.


Career
Born in Edinburgh, Struth was a stonemason by trade, although he was also a professional athlete. He had been a trainer at Clyde and Hearts before coming to Rangers in 1914 to take up the position of assistant manager. At the age of 45, in 1920, he took over as manager when the incumbent, William Wilton, died in a boating accident off Gourock.

He went on to win the league title 18 times as manager, including the remarkable feat of winning 14 titles in 19 years before the Second World War. This included winning five titles in a row between 1927 and 1931. Struth's tenure as manager spanned the club's first league and cup double in 1928, when Rangers famously lifted the Scottish Cup and ended a 25 year 'hoodoo', and its first treble in 1949, Struth becoming the first Scottish manager to achieve this honour.

Struth was renowned as a disciplinarian, insisting that the team wore a collar and tie when turning up for training; bowler hats were obligatory for Rangers players.[1]

In 1947, Struth became a Rangers director and was then appointed vice-chairman after retiring in 1954. In 1952 he had part of a leg amputated as a result of gangrene. He died on September 21, 1956, aged 81, and he is buried in Craigton Cemetery, overlooking his beloved Ibrox Park.

In 2005, Rangers' chairman Sir David Murray unveiled a bronze bust of Bill Struth, located in the Main Stand at Ibrox, now known as the "Bill Struth Main Stand" in honour of his contribution to Rangers Football Club.


Famous Quote
When being presented with the portrait that now hangs in the Ibrox trophy room, Bill Struth said:

"I have been lucky - lucky in those who were around me from the boardroom to the dressing-room. In time of stress, their unstinted support, unbroken devotion to our club and calmness in adversity eased the task of making Rangers FC the premier club in this country."

"To be a Ranger is to sense the sacred trust of upholding all that such a name means in this shrine of football. They must be true in their conception of what the Ibrox tradition seeks from them. No true Ranger has ever failed in the tradition set him."

"Our very success, gained you will agree by skill, will draw more people than ever to see it. And that will benefit many more clubs than Rangers. Let the others come after us. We welcome the chase. It is healthy for us. We will never hide from it. Never fear, inevitably we shall have our years of failure, and when they arrive, we must reveal tolerance and sanity. No matter the days of anxiety that come our way, we shall emerge stronger because of the trials to be overcome. That has been the philosophy of the Rangers since the days of the gallant pioneers."

[DavidMc]

Scot Symon -

James Scotland Symon (May 9, 1911, in Errol, Perth and Kinross - 30 April 1985) is a former Scottish football player and manager.

He started his professional career at Dundee in 1930. He then had a three year spell at English team Portsmouth before signing for boyhood heroes Rangers in 1938. He did, however, only play 37 Scottish League games for Rangers but did win in the League title in 1939. He also won a Scotland cap in 1938 against Hungary, thus becoming the first of a select group of players to have represented their country at cricket and football.

After retiring from Rangers in 1947, he landed his first managerial job at East Fife where he guided them to one of their best ever seasons in 1949 winning the Scottish League Cup and reaching the Scottish Cup final. He took charge of Preston NE in 1953 where he took them to the FA Cup final. He returned to Rangers just one year later where he would steer them to six league championships. He also took Rangers into European football for the first time reaching two Cup Winners Cup finals which was a fine achievement despite losing in both finals.

He was sacked as Rangers manager in 1967 after he rejected an offer to move to a General manager's position. After briefly serving on Dumbarton's board of directors he was appointed manager of Partick Thistle in September 1968. Two years later he assumed the role of Partick's general manager.

[DavidMc]

David White -

David White was a former football (soccer) player but is better known as a football manager. He had an undistinguished playing career, with Clyde being his only club.

After a year managing the Bully Wee, he was appointed as assistant to Scot Symon at Rangers in 1967. Symon resigned just five weeks later and White was appointed as manager. His reign was generally unsuccessful and he was the only Rangers manager not to win any major honours until Paul Le Guen (July 2006-Jan 2007). With Rangers' high expectations and the success at Celtic under Jock Stein, the pressure built on White and after a Cup Winners Cup exit to Polish team Górnik Zabrze in 1969 he was sacked as manager.

He later went on to manage Dundee and, somewhat ironically, steered them to a Scottish League Cup triumph in 1973-74 against the team who had caused him so many problems at Rangers: Celtic. His success didn't last however, and Dundee were relegated at the end of the inaugural Scottish Premier League season in 1976. White lasted one more year before retiring after failing to get the side promoted.

[DavidMc]

William Waddell

William Waddell (7 March 1921 in Forth - 1992) was a professional football player and manager.

As a player, Waddell only played for boyhood heroes Rangers. He made his debut at the tender age of 17 and went on to win five League titles, four Scottish Cups and 17 caps for Scotland.

After such a fine playing career, on retirement in 1956 he set out to build the same reputation as a manager and took Kilmarnock to their only League Championship win to date in 1964-65. On leaving Kilmarnock in 1965 he traded the football world for journalism, becoming a sportswriter on The Scottish Daily Express. However, in 1969 he returned to football and Rangers, this time as manager following the sacking of David White. Despite not winning any League Championships he won the Scottish League Cup in 1971, ending a six-year hoodoo without a trophy at a time in which Celtic dominated Scottish football.

His greatest achievement, however, was in 1972 when he led Rangers to a Cup Winners' Cup win beating Dynamo Moscow 3-2 in the final in Barcelona. This was all the more impressive because it came just one year after the Ibrox disaster where 66 Rangers fans lost their lives. After the disaster Waddell vowed this would never happen again and spearheaded the building the Ibrox Stadium as it is today.

After the Cup Winners' Cup win in 1972 he handed the reins to assistant Jock Wallace, Jr. and went on to serve the club in Managing director, General manager and Vice chairman roles until his death in 1992.

[DavidMc]

Jock Wallace -

John "Jock" Martin Bokas Wallace (6 September 1935 — 24 July 1996) was a professional football player and manager. His father, Jock Wallace, Sr., was a goalkeeper for Raith Rovers, Blackpool and Derby County.

Wallace has the unique distinction of being the only player ever to play in the English, Welsh and Scottish Cups in the same season. This was set during the 1966-67 season where he played in the FA Cup and Welsh Cup for Hereford United, and in the Scottish Cup when he moved to Berwick Rangers.

Wallyford-born Wallace, as manager of Rangers over two spells in the 1970s and 1980s, was to become one of Scottish football's best known and successful coaches. But his career began inauspiciously. A goalkeeper, Wallace was freed by his first club, Blackpool, but rekindled his career by signing for Workington in 1952, dovetailing football with work in the local pit. National Service with the King's Own Scottish Borderers afforded Wallace the opportunity of signing for the local club, Berwick Rangers. After character-defining military service in Northern Ireland and - famously - the jungles of Malaya, Wallace's playing career extended to Airdrieonians, West Bromwich Albion, non-league Bedford Town and Hereford United.

Wallace's managerial career began in 1966 as player-manager of Berwick Rangers. His rise to national prominence came in 1967, when he played for and managed the Berwick Rangers side which defeated Rangers in the Scottish Cup, providing the most famous of all cup upsets in Scotland. That achievement in turn propelled Wallace into a coaching job at Hearts in 1968.

It was in 1970 that Wallace arrived at his spiritual home, Ibrox Stadium, as coach of Rangers under manager Willie Waddell. The partnership with Waddell was one that helped Rangers win the 1972 Cup Winners' Cup. After the European triumph, Waddell left his post as manager to take a behind-the-scenes role and Wallace was appointed as manager. In his first season in charge - the club's centenary - he won the Scottish Cup. In 1974-1975, it was Wallace who presided over the Rangers team that finally ended Celtic's nine-year period of dominance and won the League championship for the first time in eleven years. In seasons 1975-1976 and 1977-1978, Wallace was to capture the treble of all three Scottish trophies on two occasions.

Wallace's managership of Rangers in the mid-1970s saw the club regain the ascendancy it had enjoyed throughout much its history. But just as the prospect of further sustained success beckoned, Wallace unexpectedly resigned as manager in 1978. The precise cause was never fully established, as Wallace maintained a characteristically dignified silence until his death in 1996. Most of the speculation centred on alleged disputes with the Rangers board (and with Waddell in particular) about transfer budgets or Wallace's own salary.

Wallace's subsequent career spanned an eclectic mix of clubs. His first post was as manager of Leicester City F.C. in England. Wallace steered the club to Football League Second Division title glory in 1980, and took them to the FA Cup semi-finals.

He returned to Scotland in 1982, taking charge of Motherwell. In 1983 he returned to manage a Rangers side that, under John Greig, had consistently under-performed since Wallace's departure. In spite of capturing two League Cups, Wallace's second spell with Rangers was a frustrating one as the club failed to dent the dominance of the New Firm of Aberdeen and Dundee United, and offered only sporadic challenge to Celtic. Wallace was sacked by Rangers in April 1986. He then had short spells in Spain, with Sevilla from 1986-87, and England with Colchester United from 1988-90.

Jock Wallace died from motor neurone disease in 1996, aged 60, and is still widely remembered by Rangers fans as one of their club's greatest ever managers.


Management style
Wallace was a classic Scottish manager of the type familiar to modern fans in the guise of Manchester United's Sir Alex Ferguson, renowned for their ability to lose their temper and terrify players who are not trying their best. Gary Lineker, the broadcaster and former England captain, recalls the terror he felt when Jock Wallace, then manager of Leicester City, "pinned me against the dressing room wall at half-time and called me a lazy English this and that. We were 2-0 up and I'd scored both goals. I didn't score in the second half - I was still shaking!"

[DavidMc]

John Greig

John Greig MBE (born September 11, 1942 in Edinburgh) is a former Scottish professional football player who, despite his boyhood allegiance to hometown team Heart of Midlothian, spent his entire career in Glasgow with Rangers.

Playing career
A determined, forceful player, Greig made 857 appearances for Rangers (including a club record 496 league appearances), winning three domestic trebles. He was captain when Rangers won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1972 beating Dynamo Moscow 3-2 in Barcelona. Although Greig's was an enormously successful playing career, his captaincy coincided with a period of sustained success for Rangers' city rivals, Celtic, from the late 1960s until the mid-1970s. Greig's fortitude during that period further cemented his reputation as one of Rangers' most celebrated captains.

He played for Scotland on 44 occasions, 15 as captain, between 1964 and 1971. Perhaps his finest moment in Dark Blue was his late winner in Scotland's 1-0 victory against Italy at Hampden Park on November 9, 1965.


Managerial career
Greig's playing career ended in 1978 when he was appointed manager of Rangers, replacing Jock Wallace. His time as Rangers' manager was not successful. The club failed to win the league championship during Greig's time as manager, finishing no higher than the second place achieved in his first season, 1978-79. There were sporadic successes. In his first season, Rangers performed creditably to reach the quarter-final of the European Cup, defeating Italian champions Juventus and becoming the first club to win in European club competition at PSV Eindhoven's Philips Stadion, before eventual elimination to Cologne. There was also the partial compensation of success in domestic cup competitions, with two Scottish Cups and two League Cups secured over the course of Greig's five full seasons as manager. Greig was also responsible for signing Rangers' greatest ever goalscorer Ally McCoist from Sunderland. However, these were isolated achievements, and Greig - under intense pressure from the Scottish media, Rangers supporters and the club's directors - resigned in October 1983, replaced by the returning Wallace.


Career after management
After leaving Rangers, Greig worked as a pundit for Radio Scotland and BBC television. He was re-employed by Rangers from 1990 as part of the club's public relations team. Dick Advocaat, manager of Rangers from 1998-2001, re-involved Greig in football coaching, and he continues to contribute to youth development. In 2003, he joined the Rangers board of directors.[1]


Achievements and awards
Greig was voted "The Greatest Ever Ranger" in 1999 by the Rangers supporters[2] and is one of 64 players elected to Rangers' Hall of Fame.

John Greig is also immortalised in a statue outside the ground, commemorating the tragic events of the Ibrox disaster of 1971, in which 66 supporters were killed.

He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on the 15 November 1977.

[DavidMc]

Graeme Souness

Graeme James Souness (pronounced /ˈsuːnɨs/) (born 6 May 1953 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager. He is perhaps best known as the former captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s, and as a manager with, amongst others, Rangers, Liverpool, Galatasaray, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United.


Career as a player

Early career
Souness was raised in the Saughton Mains area of Edinburgh. 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, the nineteen-year-old 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. After winning a 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 25February 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. The European Cup was regained after a penalty shoot-out win over AS Roma.

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


Career in Italy
Souness left Liverpool in 1984, joining Unione Calcio Sampdoria SpA 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.


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 USSR 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.


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 periodically enjoyed in Scotland. 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 twentieth 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?"[1] This led to Souness enquiring as to Moffat's ability to tidy up. A verbal ear-bashing from Moffat ensued.


Liverpool
The four years which followed were uneventful for Souness and 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 caused the decline of one of the greatest football clubs in Europe.

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. Souness' only consolation at this time 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 as compared to all the other senior players whom Souness accused of lacking heart.

Ironically, it was his own heart that literally was under stress. 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

The game itself went to a replay and then a penalty shoot-out, and in the event of a victory, 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.

He made a full recovery from his heart operation and stayed at Liverpool until January 1994. He quit after an FA Cup defeat against Bristol City and was replaced by Roy Evans.


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 hated 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 'Ulubatli Souness'[2].


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 was signing Senegalese player Ali Dia, supposedly on the recommendation of former FIFA World Player of the Year and former Liberian striker George Weah. This proved to be a hoax, as when Ali Dia played his only game in the English Premiership as a substitute for Matt Le Tissier, he performed amazingly poorly, and was later substituted himself.

After his stint at Southampton, Souness went back to Italy to become the coach at Torino Calcio, but lasted just four months before being fired.


Benfica
In 1997, Souness was signed by SL 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). After two unsuccessful seasons, Souness was sacked. All of Benfica's British footballers (including the previously signed left-back Scott Minto) would also leave the club.


Blackburn Rovers
He then became manager of Blackburn Rovers, earning promotion back to the Premiership in his first 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; he also brought Andy Cole, Brad Friedel, Dwight Yorke and Lucas Neill to the club. 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 2003-2004 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 and Dunn. 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. Fans also became increasingly confused by Souness' tactical decisions. In spite of his undoubted successes at Ewood Park he is regarded with little fondness by the Blackburn faithful.


Newcastle United
Souness left Blackburn in 2004 to become manager of Newcastle United. His appointment was controversial as he replaced local hero, Sir Bobby Robson, who had been sacked by the club.

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 semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and 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).

Souness's decision to pair two of the best England strikers in Alan Shearer and Michael Owen initially appeared shrewd. However, to Souness'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 approximately 2-3 months, adding to the manager'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. Newcastle were in 15th place in the Premiership table, despite spending of £50m since Souness's arrival, when his contract was terminated on 2 February 2006. He was replaced by Glenn Roeder.

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.”[3]

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."[4]

The Stevens enquiry 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"[5].

In July 2007, Newcastle United was raided by the City of London Police intent on investigating transfer dealings involving Newcastle, Rangers and Portsmouth. The enquiries centre on two Souness transfers - Jean Alain Boumsong and Amady Faye.[citation needed] The Boumsong deal in particular was so odd that it was widely commented upon at the time.[citation needed] Four months after succeeding Sir Bobby Robson as manager, Graeme Souness was in his first transfer window as Newcastle manager. At £8.2m, Boumsong was his first big signing and Souness compared the Frenchman to John Terry and Rio Ferdinand in terms of what he might bring to Newcastle's notoriously fragile defence. The difficulty Souness and Newcastle had in persuading assessors of the worth of the deal was twofold. First, that no other club was known to be challenging Rangers to sign Boumsong and, second, that six months earlier Boumsong had left Auxerre for Rangers on a free transfer.

Newcastle were well aware of Boumsong prior to his departure from Auxerre because Robson had travelled to France to watch him. Robson declined the opportunity to sign the centre-half, even on a free transfer, and his doubts about Boumsong's suitability for British football were confirmed when Newcastle's England striker Alan Shearer was marked by Boumsong in a pre-season game against Rangers and came off to speak in dismissive terms about the Frenchman's lack of physicality.[citation needed]

Shearer, famous for guarded comments, even mentioned Boumsong's previous availability on a free transfer on television and when Boumsong made his Newcastle debut against Yeading in the FA Cup at Loftus Road, and was given a torrid time, doubts over the wisdom of the transfer mushroomed.[citation needed] However when Boumsong was available for transfer under the Bosman ruling, Liverpool were interested in signing him [6].

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." [7]


Since Newcastle
Souness recently flirted with the idea of succeeding Iain Dowie as manager of Crystal Palace. He was quoted as saying, "I have a lot of time for Simon Jordan and what he is doing at Crystal Palace. We get on. It is certainly something I would be interested in. I'm ready for another challenge and Palace is something that appeals should it arise."[8] However when Jordan offered Souness the job, Souness turned it down, reportedly because of family reasons. He has most recently expressed interest in the vacant Republic of Ireland job.[9].

Souness interviewed for the Bolton Wanderers job recently but again turned it down. He has since had talks about the Leicester City and Wigan Athletic jobs. Most recently Souness has been interviewed for the almost-vacant Birmingham City job and was expected to sign a short term contract to replace Steve Bruce at St. Andrews but instead it went to high-flying ex-Scotland manager Alex McLeish.

Souness was also linked to Scottish Third Division side Dumbarton F.C. on May 2006 after Paul Martin was sacked following relegation from the Scottish Second Division. This occurred during Dumbarton-born Dubai-based Mike Bowley's failed takeover of the part-time club when he was quoted that a "manager with Scottish Premier League experience" would be required. These rumours were quickly denied and ridiculed.


Career after management

Media work
Souness is currently employed as a television analyst on Ireland's RTÉ, having been dismissed as manager of the English Premier League side Newcastle United on 2 February 2006. He also appears regularly as a pundit on Sky Sports, principally on coverage of the Champions League.


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 Football Club. 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.[10] Souness did not make a repeat offer for the club and it was later sold to another investor.


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.[11].


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.[12]

Souness is an opponent of independence for Scotland and a supporter of the Union with England. 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 independence.[13]