It’s the mark of someone completely disengaged from reality to propose two flatly contradictory things at the same time. This isn’t the first time I’ve questioned whether Graeme Souness is playing with a full deck anymore. More and more, I’m convinced that he either isn’t—or he’s the world’s biggest troll. And I don’t think he’s trolling.
For the second time in a few months, he’s floated the theory that there’s no real difference between our team and the one across the city, claiming there’s no gap on the pitch. At the same time, he’s said Pep Guardiola himself couldn’t get a tune out of the current Ibrox squad.
Maybe it’s just us—the sane and rational people—who see the glaring contradiction in these statements. But those who surround Souness, who publish his words, don’t seem to notice it at all. How could they fail to?
Why does our media behave so stupidly? Why does it indulge nonsense like this? Surely nobody thinks Souness is operating on the level of sanity at the moment. His comments make no sense, and yet he continues to get airtime and column inches.
So, what exactly is Souness’ commentary worth? Does any of it make sense? If you set aside the blatant contradictions—and they’re significant—there is one sensible thing he’s said: the problem at Ibrox might not just be the manager. That’s a hard pill for many in the media to swallow, especially those who think sacking Philippe Clement will fix everything. Souness suggests Clement might not even be the biggest issue, and on that, he might be onto something.
Of course, Souness is barking mad when he says there’s no gap on the pitch. The gap is enormous, and anyone with eyes can see it. Celtic are miles ahead of that team. The current Ibrox squad simply isn’t good enough to compete.
What amazes me most is the frantic rewriting of history we’ve seen since Thursday night. Some in the media now cling to the idea that the problem is just the manager and that a different coach could turn these players into a functioning unit. They’re trying to convince themselves that the Ibrox midfield is a workable engine room, capable of challenging the one at Celtic Park. They’re reimagining Cyriel Dessers and Igmane as top players capable of doing big things if only their manager knew how to utilise them properly.
It’s the same delusion we see all the time. The reinvention of Igmane as the solution to all their scoring ills is particularly hilarious to me; he’s done nothing to warrant that.
Remember a spell last season when Sam Lammers broke his scoring duck after weeks of nothing? Suddenly, he was their solution up front—until he went another month without scoring, and the fans turned on him again. They’re desperate to find a hero, but they’re operating under the same set of delusions. They build players up only to tear them down not long after.
For once, Souness is right: this is a dreadful Ibrox team. It might be the weakest one I’ve seen since they clawed their way back up from the bottom tier. Clement is definitely part of the problem, but he’s not the only one. He might not even be the biggest. Asking him to work with substandard tools is a thankless task. Nobody could make that squad work.
The club is suspect at every level—from the boardroom to the boot room. When a manager surrenders so much control over recruitment to others, he’s putting his career in their hands. Clement has been poorly served by those in the scouting department and the ones responsible for bringing in players. That’s where one of their core issues lies.
Maybe that’s why they keep giving Souness airtime. His self-cancelling arguments distract from the occasional valid point he makes. For instance, while he rightly identifies the squad as a major problem and admits no manager could succeed with those players, he also insists there’s no gap between Ibrox and Celtic. The contradictions are so glaring that nobody takes him seriously, even when he stumbles onto the truth.
But then, the truth hurts. Perhaps that’s why they avoid it altogether.
And so, the circus continues.
How can the current team playing out of Ibrox “claw their way back up from the bottom tier” they only entered it in 2012 as we all know and were never “up” in the first place?
I have only hated 4 Hun players in my long life, I went to my first game in the 50’s, and I worship the ground he is going into, the sooner the better. A very good player, but a total thug, a durty bastard! Along with him in the same vein, is Willie junkie Johnston, Ian hatchet faced Ferguson and Andy UDA Goram….Nasty Novo closely follows them.
Souness’s famous quote of ‘men against bhoys’ must haunt him to this day, it should be engraved on his tombstone.
James what I cannot get my head around is, Celtic fans can see where all this started from and probably identified the solutions. But they just seem to be ignorant of the fact there is no sugar daddy and their club is crumbling from top to bottom.
Long may it continue.
PS Van B’s coat on a shakey nail at Besiktas. Another top manager bites the dust?
I think the likes of Talksport keep him in the circles because they know he will say things that are utter nonsense but will drive engagement from listeners. Souness is making more & more outrageous claims not just about the Glasgow teams. Recently he proclaimed that Arsene Wenger was not a proper football man…. The manager who probably had the best Premiership team to watch play isn’t a football man.
I agree with your sentiments. Souness isn’t all there now & the fact these broadcasters & tabloids will still allow him to be in the public eye shows how little they care about him on a personal level & only see the interactions his comments will bring them.