[Archived] Graeme Souness

[nicko]

Sorry but I cannot let this go unchallenged.

Souness may have been "bored" but that is no excuse for poor management and not doing his job properly; when he left the club Rovers were a dreadul state, possibly worse than they are at present. There was genuine relief all round Ewood Park when he departed, and Newcastle then found what a poor manager he was.

Perhaps all these "bored" managers should also realise that the grass is not always greener elsewhere, that the daily work routine is often repetitive and "boring" and that they should thank their lucky stars they are being paid obscene amounts of money for being "bored".

Yours,

bored of Borehamwood.

Dear Mr Bored,

Just to remind you of Graeme's last result at Rovers.

1-1 with Man U who got a point when they did not deserve it.

He was bored because the club did not back him financially towards the end.

A similar boredom suffered by the sainted Sparky.

[jim mk2]

Dear Mr Bored,

Just to remind you of Graeme's last result at Rovers.

1-1 with Man U who got a point when they did not deserve it.

He was bored because the club did not back him financially towards the end.

A similar boredom suffered by the sainted Sparky.

If you need further reminding look at Rovers' position in the table when Souness left. And find any supporter who was not glad to see the back of him.

The club backed Souness financially to the tune of £7m for Grabbi (!!), a similar fee for Andrew Cole and sundry other players for whom he paid too much money.

I would suggest that Mark Hughes, like Souness and Allardyce before him, is also going pay for his "boredom" with the sack.

[nicko]

If you need further reminding look at Rovers' position in the table when Souness left. And find any supporter who was not glad to see the back of him.

The club backed Souness financially to the tune of £7m for Grabbi (!!), a similar fee for Andrew Cole and sundry other players for whom he paid too much money.

I would suggest that Mark Hughes, like Souness and Allardyce before him, is also going pay for his "boredom" with the sack.

League position? After three or four games?

Cole was cheaper than that, Grabbi was a shocker, but he sold Duff for a fortune and did not exactly break the bank.

Friedel for eff-all, Neill cheap, Reid cheap, MGP cheap, Tugay nothing...

Yeah, a poor operator.

As for Sparky...I said he made a mistake last summer. But I don't blame him for growing fed up juggling sand.

[sambo]

Cole was 9 million weren't he?

[nicko]

More like £3 m plus a few add-ons as I recall.

Man U wanted rid.

[philipl]

I always had understood Andy Cole cost £8m.

He is still listed as our most expensive signing at that price.

[Bobby G]

Souness was a good manager for us. He saved us from oblivion and got us a trophy. But the last 18 months with him were hell and I dont think things were going to improve as they had gotten stale, just as they were threatening to get under Hughes. You can tell from a manager's eyes if he has the fire in there still or not, and I agree that Hughes lost it and so had Souness...I dont think either knew how good what they had at Blackburn had been. I know Souness regrets his decision. I wonder how long before Hughes does the same.

I dont think we should have re-appointed Souness as I dont think much good would have come out of it as there is more potential under Allardyce...

[Billy Castell]

We were playing Dominic Matteo as a make shift left winger before Souness left. Dominic Matteo for goodness sake!

He left at the right time. He had done a lot for us, but it was all falling apart.

My dad wanted Souness for what he did in the past, but I don't think he could have done a good job given the position we are in. We need someone with a better organisational and tactical mind. Anyway, Allardyce was a good enough birthday present for my dad.

[nicko]

I always had understood Andy Cole cost £8m.

He is still listed as our most expensive signing at that price.

The fee was never that high...unless they put his wages and signing-on fee into the price.

Man U paid a record fee for him a few years before that wasn't even £8 million.

Fergie did him a favour by slashing the fee. I don't think Rovers ever had to pay all of the installments...so the cost was not much more than the down payment.

[jim mk2]

League position? After three or four games?

Cole was cheaper than that, Grabbi was a shocker, but he sold Duff for a fortune and did not exactly break the bank.

Friedel for eff-all, Neill cheap, Reid cheap, MGP cheap, Tugay nothing...

Yeah, a poor operator.

As for Sparky...I said he made a mistake last summer. But I don't blame him for growing fed up juggling sand.

Oh dear, rather touchy about our fellow Scots aren't we ?

Yes I was wrong about Cole. It was actually £8m.

Souness was a poor operator because he left Rovers in disarray with a weak squad brought about by his poor transfer dealings. Being "bored" isn't an excuse for doing your job badly.

Hughes could have built something long-term at Rovers. In the end he turned out to be just another chancer chasing an extra dollar.

[nicko]

We were playing Dominic Matteo as a make shift left winger before Souness left. Dominic Matteo for goodness sake!

He left at the right time. He had done a lot for us, but it was all falling apart.

But why was it falling apart?

No money.

There were a lot of factors for it going wrong...as is usually the way.

Oh dear, rather touchy about our fellow Scots aren't we ?

Yes I was wrong about Cole. It was actually £8m.

Souness was a poor operator because he left Rovers in disarray with a weak squad brought about by his poor transfer dealings. Being "bored" isn't an excuse for doing your job badly.

Hughes could have built something long-term at Rovers. In the end he turned out to be just another chancer chasing an extra dollar.

Having seen some humdrum tosh at Rovers too many times over the past 28 years I would say Souey brought colour, glamour, a touch of madness at times but also lifted the club to levels it has not matched too often.

Cole was not £8 million...what would I know...I only broke the pigging story.

Hughes was good at what he did, not great, and has picked the wrong club to join. It doesn't make him a bad manager. Sometimes it is just your luck...and your judgement of employers.

[Billy Castell]

I don't have 'contacts' but from memory, the whole atmosphere was one of a club stumbling about whilst players were not being tested and improved by their training, and generally not liking the manager and the coaches. It was a bit like now in a way. That is the impression I got at the time.

Souness was a good manager overall, but it was the right time for him to move on.

[Amo]

14th August 2004, Blackburn vs. West Brom.

Friedel

Emerton - Amoruso - Short - Gray

De Pedro - Ferguson - Gresko - Matteo

Yorke - Stead.

^ That was a guess at the formation, but either way it's scary stuff!

[Dunnfc]

14th August 2004, Blackburn vs. West Brom.

Friedel

Emerton - Amoruso - Short - Gray

De Pedro - Ferguson - Gresko - Matteo

Yorke - Stead.

^ That was a guess at the formation, but either way it's scary stuff!

Some good players there:

Friedel,

Emerton,

Ferguson

Stead was also a hot shot if you like then too.

Gray was a solid full-back in his early years for us.

[nicko]

Try this team for size...his last.

Blackburn: Friedel ,Neill ,Short ,Amoruso (sent off 71),Matteo ,Thompson (Emerton ,17 ) ,Ferguson ,Tugay ,Pedersen ,Stead (Yorke ,64 ) ,Dickov (Johansson ,71)

That Stead wasn't worth a gamble, was he?

Or this one.

Blackburn: Friedel ,Martin Taylor ,Berg ,Johansson ,Bjornebye ,Gillespie (Hignett ,77 ) ,Dunn ,Hughes ,Duff ,Jansen (Yordi ,74 ) ,Cole

That's the lot that picked up your last trophy.

Nine Souey signings?

And less than two years after taking over a team that was losing 1-0 at home to Crewe.

No, you're right, poor operator...

[Bobby G]

People trying to tarnish his legacy can forget about it.

We played much better football during Souness' reign, he left us in a better state than he picked us up on and his net spending was not that high after taking into accounts the sales he did, and we came closest to cracking 4th place under him. Yes it drifted at the end.

Under Hughes it was more steady, tactical, and pragmatic football. I wouldnt say we resorted to long balls, but we didnt set the ground alight either. I believe it will be similar under Big Sam.

I will always have a soft spot for Souness, but I think under these circumstances, Sam Allardyce was the right choice although sentiment partly wanted me to want Souness to come back and take us back to glory days...

Nicko, did Souness have a chance, or was a just a phone call 10 days ago? Was he played along with the club? I dont think so...

Did he have the fire to come back to us and was it about us or the fact that its just a way back to management? How does he hold us exactly?

[Amo]

Some good players there:

Friedel,

Emerton,

Ferguson

Stead was also a hot shot if you like then too.

Gray was a solid full-back in his early years for us.

I'll give you the first two, but Ferguson never reached his potential at Rovers. Both centre-backs were suffering with arthritis, and Gresko is not a central-midfielder! Gray was good at first but petered out, and Stead suffered without Cole.

How on earth can Dominic Matteo play left-wing? It was bad enough when he played left-back!

[allrovertheworld]

Dear Mr Bored,

Just to remind you of Graeme's last result at Rovers.

1-1 with Man U who got a point when they did not deserve it.

He was bored because the club did not back him financially towards the end.

A similar boredom suffered by the sainted Sparky.

1-1 we should have won that aswell. Handball anyone.

Guys why are we harping on about this, we all know that a managers maximum time at one club is 3 years (was it Strachen who said that?) Both Souness and Uzi get the thumbs up for me. The memories Souness gave me were great and the same for MH.

Yes we have no money.

Yes we are 5 points adrift at the bottom of the table.

But we have Big Sam and we are gonna kick ourselves out of this.

[nicko]

People trying to tarnish his legacy can forget about it.

We played much better football during Souness' reign, he left us in a better state than he picked us up on and his net spending was not that high after taking into accounts the sales he did, and we came closest to cracking 4th place under him. Yes it drifted at the end.

Under Hughes it was more steady, tactical, and pragmatic football. I wouldnt say we resorted to long balls, but we didnt set the ground alight either. I believe it will be similar under Big Sam.

I will always have a soft spot for Souness, but I think under these circumstances, Sam Allardyce was the right choice although sentiment partly wanted me to want Souness to come back and take us back to glory days...

Nicko, did Souness have a chance, or was a just a phone call 10 days ago? Was he played along with the club? I dont think so...

Did he have the fire to come back to us and was it about us or the fact that its just a way back to management? How does he hold us exactly?

Terrific post...first and foremost.

Souey wanted it but was overlooked. No doubt about his fire...maybe he just scared some high-ups.

I hope Sam succeeds, but I will defend Souey as the better manager until I go officially demented.

[American]

People trying to tarnish his legacy can forget about it.

We played much better football during Souness' reign, he left us in a better state than he picked us up on and his net spending was not that high after taking into accounts the sales he did, and we came closest to cracking 4th place under him. Yes it drifted at the end.

Under Hughes it was more steady, tactical, and pragmatic football. I wouldnt say we resorted to long balls, but we didnt set the ground alight either. I believe it will be similar under Big Sam.

I will always have a soft spot for Souness, but I think under these circumstances, Sam Allardyce was the right choice although sentiment partly wanted me to want Souness to come back and take us back to glory days...

Agree with this post 100%.

[jim mk2]

No one is denying that Souness had a galvanising effect on the club at first.

But good managers don't get "bored" and in the process of getting "bored" undo their good work by selling the best players and replacing them with inferior ones and then jump ship with the club wallowing at the bottom of the league.

Now that's a poor "operator" (whatever that is)....................

[dingles staying down 4ever]

Graeme Souness built a team that played entertaining football until fate took Duff, Jensen and a combination of Dunn and himself away.

Unfortunately football also started to evolve and left both Rovers and Souness behind. A parting of the ways was inevitable.

It is probably a blessing that the memories of an entertaining team cannot be tarnished any further by todays sorry excuse of a squad.

Thanks for the memories, Greame.

[allrovertheworld]

Terrific post...first and foremost.

Souey wanted it but was overlooked. No doubt about his fire...maybe he just scared some high-ups.

I hope Sam succeeds, but I will defend Souey as the better manager until I go officially demented.

Fair play, I was happy with either Souness or Sam.

I will always remember Souness for running down the touchline at Reebok when we equalised in the 90th min. What a legend. Maybe those thoughts are best left in the past though. Souness has always been positive in the press about Rovers since he left us and for that he showed his true class.

SOUNESS' BLUE AND WHITE ARMY (sorry just for old times eh)

[Jan]

Nicko

Most of the time I respect your opinion, but you will never know the feeling of being on a plane to Sofia and opening the Daily Mail (it was the only manageable-sized paper available on planes back then) and seeing a two page spread with Souness saying how Europe wasn't important, and how he'd rather spend the time having dinner with his wife.

Or watching us winning 3-0 in that game, only for him to take off Tugay and leave a space in the middle so big that you could drive a bus through it (or let them score 3), while David Thompson and Brett Emerton tripped over each other on the right touchline. I will never be convinced he didn't try to throw that game.

Or watch the pathetic way he goaded the Celtic fans at Parkhead when Rovers fans sang "Souness, Souness give us a wave- not waving at us but shaking two fists at the Celtic fans behind him. At least St Martin and John Hartson, who were standing close waiting for Hartson to join the fray, saw it, and about 2 minutes later Hartson put in the header to allow Henke to score.

No, Souness left a bad taste with a lot of people who were very glad to see the back of him.

[Hasta]

Nicko

Most of the time I respect your opinion, but you will never know the feeling of being on a plane to Sofia and opening the Daily Mail (it was the only manageable-sized paper available on planes back then) and seeing a two page spread with Souness saying how Europe wasn't important, and how he'd rather spend the time having dinner with his wife.

Or watching us winning 3-0 in that game, only for him to take off Tugay and leave a space in the middle so big that you could drive a bus through it (or let them score 3), while David Thompson and Brett Emerton tripped over each other on the right touchline. I will never be convinced he didn't try to throw that game.

Or watch the pathetic way he goaded the Celtic fans at Parkhead when Rovers fans sang "Souness, Souness give us a wave- not waving at us but shaking two fists at the Celtic fans behind him. At least St Martin and John Hartson, who were standing close waiting for Hartson to join the fray, saw it, and about 2 minutes later Hartson put in the header to allow Henke to score.

No, Souness left a bad taste with a lot of people who were very glad to see the back of him.

Bitted, twisted, illogical hatred of a man who managed to save Rovers from the abyss and restore them to Premiership glory, stuffing Burnley twice on the way.