Graeme Souness had his fair share of battles with Celtic during his time as a Rangers player.
As Ibrox manager he also ruffled feathers at Celtic Park and it is safe to say he won’t likely be welcomed back to the east end of Glasgow any time soon.
Now, though, the 71-year-old may have pulled back the curtain on how he was so successful as a boss and it is unsurprising that certain advice he followed was from a legendary CELTIC gaffer.
Souness last took charge of a club in 2006 when he was axed by Newcastle United in the Premier League. And he has not fancied a crack at management since with his Sky Sports punditry duties sparring with ex-Celtic midfielder Roy Keane a particular highlight from his later life.
Souness followed Jock Stein’s Celtic mantra as a boss
But if he ever did manage a club ever again, Souness explained how it is advice from Jock Stein that is constantly ringing in his ear that he has always learned from and is the mantra he lives by today.
“The great Celtic and Scotland manager Jock Stein used to say, ‘Don’t go looking for problems as they’ll find you’.
“You have to ignore a lot of what you hear but that was always easier when you had men you could trust in your dressing room,” Souness wrote in his Daily Mail column.
“I get asked whether I walked away from management because of the modern character but it wasn’t that.
“After I got sacked by Newcastle United in 2006, I chucked it in because I didn’t want to be answerable any more to the kind of people who ran football clubs.”
Graeme Souness struggled with ex-Celtic star Craig Bellamy
Souness was binned by the Magpies after poor results back in the day but that coincided with another ex-Celtic player in Craig Bellamy acting up.
The striker shone during a loan stint from Newcastle at Celtic Park but Souness recalled working with the Welshman.
“Some question whether it was over the time I had with Craig Bellamy. He was difficult but he had fabulous talent and always wanted to improve. He was just daft how he went about it and I’m sure he would say the same now.
“Management has never been more difficult. At the top level, the demands are enormous. Dealing with some of these personalities, the managers deserve every penny they get. But from my perspective, they can keep it!”
Souness is not the type of manager we would expect to see back in the game nowadays with football going beyond the old-school types.
What worked years ago may not work now, so he can stick to whatever it is he’s up to now.
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