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If Souness is wrong let him be rejected for the right reasons
By Tommy Conlon
Sunday November 11 2007
There may be good reasons why Graeme Souness should not become the next
manager of the Ireland soccer team -- the fact that he managed and
played for (Glasgow) Rangers is not one of them.
And under no circumstances should the Irish bigots in the Celtic FC fan
club be allowed to set the agenda on this issue. Which is why it was a
bit presumptuous, at best, for RTE's Darragh Maloney to question him on
it during their Premiership highlights programme last Saturday night.
In fairness to Maloney the Celtic/Rangers rivalry is an ingrained part
of this country's sporting culture and he may have just assumed that it
was therefore reasonable to address the matter with Souness.
But the Liverpool/Manchester United rivalry is also part -- and a much
bigger part -- of the culture here too and we doubt if Maloney or any
other pundit would question the appointment of, say, a former Liverpool
player or manager on the basis that it might antagonise Ireland's legion
of Man U fans. The question wouldn't have to be asked because it
wouldn't be an issue.
Why therefore should an exception be made for Celtic fans? There is a
history of Celtic supporters at international games barracking visiting
players who happen to play their club football for Rangers. The very
fact that Maloney even asked Souness about this issue could be seen as
legitimising their prejudices.
Earlier on Saturday evening a Celtic supporter contacted Today FM's
Premier League phone-in show to vent his hostility towards the Souness
candidacy. Celtic fans around the country would not be one bit happy if
Souness got the job, he said. The show's host, Michael McMullan, could
barely conceal his bewilderment with such a backward mentality. But the
caller, inevitably, was immune to rational arguments, not the least of
which was that Souness had left Rangers some 15 years ago (he was
player-manager between 1986 and '91).
Nevertheless Souness was still obliged to account on RTE for that
unfortunate period in his life when he happened to win three league
titles in his first management job. And when, in passing, he also
happened to sign the first black player to actually line out for Rangers
(Mark Walters), and the first Catholic player -- albeit that it was the
former Celtic forward Maurice Johnston. And when he broke the club's
bigoted heritage by making it clear that colour or denomination would no
longer be an issue in the signing of a player.
In those years he was still togging out and if anything the tribal
nature of Scottish football seemed to bring the worst out of his
famously volatile temperament, putting his boot through televisions when
he wasn't putting his boot through some unfortunate opponent on the
field. Sometimes it was comical, more often it was shocking. It wouldn't
be overstating it to say that he was hated on the Celtic side of the
Glasgow ghetto.
So, he conceded to Maloney, "I'm aware that I'm a bit of an outsider,
not Irish, and one or two things I've done in the past might not go down
so well with certain people . . . It's certainly not a stumbling block
for me (but) if it was an issue for too many people then it wouldn't be
a job I'd want. I've only been interested in what people can do on a
football pitch, not in what religion they were, or colour they were . .
. Football is what you should be judged on and nothing else."
By "certain people" he meant, of course, Celtic supporters. But just
because he got up their noses, in a previous life, doesn't mean he
should assume that every Irish fan would have a problem with his
appointment -- at least not a problem with the fact that he was once of
Rangers.
But in fairness to football bigots of all persuasions, perhaps Souness
should also be asked to account for his combustible season at
Galatasaray -- on behalf of all Irish citizens of Turkish origin who may
support Galatasaray's bitter rivals Fenerbahce. In one of his nuttier
moments Souness nearly sparked a riot in 1996 when he planted the
Galatasaray flag in the middle of the Fenerbahce pitch having just
beaten them in the Turkish cup final. This iconic act earned him the
nickname 'Ulabatli' Souness, after the Turkish martyr Ulabatli Hasan who
was killed planting the Ottoman flag at the battle of Constantinople in
1453. (And they say the Irish have long memories.)
The next time therefore that Souness is quizzed about his past
allegiances he should be asked, in the interests of parity of prejudice,
not to mention our old friend multiculturalism, if his putative
appointment to the Ireland job would not give offence to all local
Fenerbahce fans too.
Souness's old mucker at Liverpool, Ronnie Whelan, was in the Today FM
studio last Saturday evening. "Souey," he said, was the best footballer
he'd ever played alongside. But Whelan didn't see him as the right man
for Ireland on the basis of lack of managerial experience. Given that
Souness has also managed four clubs in England and another in Portugal
we feel that Ronnie had other reasons, which he wasn't sharing, as to
why his mate shouldn't get the job.
The main one being perhaps that he hasn't been very successful. But
there are no guarantees with any candidate anyway. Souness would at
least be interesting. And if it were to upset some of the Celtic idiots
who have disfigured the atmosphere at previous internationals, it
shouldn't perturb the FAI too badly either.
By Tommy Conlon
Sunday November 11 2007
There may be good reasons why Graeme Souness should not become the next
manager of the Ireland soccer team -- the fact that he managed and
played for (Glasgow) Rangers is not one of them.
And under no circumstances should the Irish bigots in the Celtic FC fan
club be allowed to set the agenda on this issue. Which is why it was a
bit presumptuous, at best, for RTE's Darragh Maloney to question him on
it during their Premiership highlights programme last Saturday night.
In fairness to Maloney the Celtic/Rangers rivalry is an ingrained part
of this country's sporting culture and he may have just assumed that it
was therefore reasonable to address the matter with Souness.
But the Liverpool/Manchester United rivalry is also part -- and a much
bigger part -- of the culture here too and we doubt if Maloney or any
other pundit would question the appointment of, say, a former Liverpool
player or manager on the basis that it might antagonise Ireland's legion
of Man U fans. The question wouldn't have to be asked because it
wouldn't be an issue.
Why therefore should an exception be made for Celtic fans? There is a
history of Celtic supporters at international games barracking visiting
players who happen to play their club football for Rangers. The very
fact that Maloney even asked Souness about this issue could be seen as
legitimising their prejudices.
Earlier on Saturday evening a Celtic supporter contacted Today FM's
Premier League phone-in show to vent his hostility towards the Souness
candidacy. Celtic fans around the country would not be one bit happy if
Souness got the job, he said. The show's host, Michael McMullan, could
barely conceal his bewilderment with such a backward mentality. But the
caller, inevitably, was immune to rational arguments, not the least of
which was that Souness had left Rangers some 15 years ago (he was
player-manager between 1986 and '91).
Nevertheless Souness was still obliged to account on RTE for that
unfortunate period in his life when he happened to win three league
titles in his first management job. And when, in passing, he also
happened to sign the first black player to actually line out for Rangers
(Mark Walters), and the first Catholic player -- albeit that it was the
former Celtic forward Maurice Johnston. And when he broke the club's
bigoted heritage by making it clear that colour or denomination would no
longer be an issue in the signing of a player.
In those years he was still togging out and if anything the tribal
nature of Scottish football seemed to bring the worst out of his
famously volatile temperament, putting his boot through televisions when
he wasn't putting his boot through some unfortunate opponent on the
field. Sometimes it was comical, more often it was shocking. It wouldn't
be overstating it to say that he was hated on the Celtic side of the
Glasgow ghetto.
So, he conceded to Maloney, "I'm aware that I'm a bit of an outsider,
not Irish, and one or two things I've done in the past might not go down
so well with certain people . . . It's certainly not a stumbling block
for me (but) if it was an issue for too many people then it wouldn't be
a job I'd want. I've only been interested in what people can do on a
football pitch, not in what religion they were, or colour they were . .
. Football is what you should be judged on and nothing else."
By "certain people" he meant, of course, Celtic supporters. But just
because he got up their noses, in a previous life, doesn't mean he
should assume that every Irish fan would have a problem with his
appointment -- at least not a problem with the fact that he was once of
Rangers.
But in fairness to football bigots of all persuasions, perhaps Souness
should also be asked to account for his combustible season at
Galatasaray -- on behalf of all Irish citizens of Turkish origin who may
support Galatasaray's bitter rivals Fenerbahce. In one of his nuttier
moments Souness nearly sparked a riot in 1996 when he planted the
Galatasaray flag in the middle of the Fenerbahce pitch having just
beaten them in the Turkish cup final. This iconic act earned him the
nickname 'Ulabatli' Souness, after the Turkish martyr Ulabatli Hasan who
was killed planting the Ottoman flag at the battle of Constantinople in
1453. (And they say the Irish have long memories.)
The next time therefore that Souness is quizzed about his past
allegiances he should be asked, in the interests of parity of prejudice,
not to mention our old friend multiculturalism, if his putative
appointment to the Ireland job would not give offence to all local
Fenerbahce fans too.
Souness's old mucker at Liverpool, Ronnie Whelan, was in the Today FM
studio last Saturday evening. "Souey," he said, was the best footballer
he'd ever played alongside. But Whelan didn't see him as the right man
for Ireland on the basis of lack of managerial experience. Given that
Souness has also managed four clubs in England and another in Portugal
we feel that Ronnie had other reasons, which he wasn't sharing, as to
why his mate shouldn't get the job.
The main one being perhaps that he hasn't been very successful. But
there are no guarantees with any candidate anyway. Souness would at
least be interesting. And if it were to upset some of the Celtic idiots
who have disfigured the atmosphere at previous internationals, it
shouldn't perturb the FAI too badly either.
