SteveC 150 Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 Am I hallucinating memories of him saying he'd only ever have left us for Liverpool? http://www.espnfc.co.uk/manchester-united/story/3010243/graeme-souness-i-would-have-taken-manchester-united-job-in-1989 Graeme Souness has said that he was ready to replace Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager in 1989. Souness was Rangers boss at the time when he was reportedly targeted by prospective United owner Michael Knighton, but the takeover was not concluded. The Scot, who had been a Liverpool legend on the pitch after winning three European Cups, told the Daily Mail: "Fergie was having a difficult time and the banners were up in the Stretford End. "I was manager of Rangers but I would have gone there. Damn right. I was flying. I am not sure how well I would have been received and I am sure United supporters will look upon that as a lucky escape now! But I would have taken it." Souness instead went on to be appointed as Liverpool manager in April 1991 and had a troubled spell in charge, eventually leaving after a shock FA Cup defeat against Bristol City in January 1994. Liverpool had played Auxerre at home in the UEFA Cup in November 1991 and, after the game, Souness was told about Nimes player Eric Cantona. Souness said: "We had played Auxerre at home and Michel Platini came to see me. He said he had a player -- a problem boy but a proper player. Cantona. I said the last thing I needed was another problem player. "I had 30-pluses that I was trying to get out so I didn't need more hassle. I said I was looking for something else. I said 'no thanks.'" Souness also spoke about how former United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel wrote to him as he was a Liverpool fan and wanted to meet him. That approach was also rejected, though, as Liverpool were having difficulty trying to ease out Bruce Grobbelaar and had just signed David James. Souness added that he sees parallels between his time at Liverpool and what is happening at United now. "Look, everything I did when I was manager at Liverpool was wrong but the scenario at United now is exactly the same," he said. "The only difference is that it was one man for 25 years at United, whereas we had gone [bill] Shankly, [bob] Paisley, [Joe] Fagan, [Kenny] Dalglish. But the point is the squad needed changing, as it does at United post-Fergie. "Moyesy [David Moyes] signed [Marouane] Fellaini and [Juan] Mata [for United]. Then [Louis] van Gaal spent big on [Angel] Di Maria and [Anthony] Martial. Now it's £100 million on [Paul] Pogba. It's like there is no patience or strategy. "What United had under Fergie, and Liverpool had during the great years, was to go out and buy a couple of players and it didn't matter if they didn't do it straight away. They could be absorbed and allowed to settle down. "But United are having to buy players to be an instant success. They haven't got time. They are buying players under pressure and then those players are immediately under pressure. And that's hard." Souness added that United manager Jose Mourinho "knows his neck is on the line in his job like never before" and captain Wayne Rooney should not have been pictured out drinking while on England duty because of his responsibility as a leader. Arindam is ESPN FC's Manchester United correspondent. Follow him on Twitter @ARejSport. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 Awful manager anyway 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gribz 743 Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 Looking at his time at Liverpool with hindsight he is probably right that its the equivalent of Man Utd now. He went there after their domination period and couldn't win but a FA cup. You just wonder how long its going to take Man Utd to get over Ferguson. Cant see them waiting 26 years like Liverpool for a title but they didn't win a league for 26 years before Ferguson went there. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERRAB 3,280 Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 There was absolutely no way Souness would have become the Man Utd manager. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 2,499 Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Does anybody really care about this? The guy thought he was bettering himself. We all do it. I don't get the story here. He went his way and we took the necessary measures to move on. End of story. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearman 9 Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 33 years ago Alex Ferguson turned the Rangers job down when John Greig resigned...Fergie had his eye on Man U even then. A week later Jim McLean knocked us back for the same reason. So we got 3rd choice (treble hero) Jock Wallace from Motherwell. He won us the League Cup in 1984 and 1985 then won fa the following season. Souness came in and completely turned us around, suddenly we were back and Fergie's Dons were put to the sword. Sir Alex got his dream job at Utd soon after and proceeded to win nothing, Souness was looked at to replace him but they decided to stick by Ferguson, the rest is history. Meanwhile Jim McLean who hadn't won anything since 1983 was introducing us to the world of Reality TV... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveC 150 Posted December 4, 2016 Author Share Posted December 4, 2016 (edited) Does anybody really care about this? The guy thought he was bettering himself. We all do it. I don't get the story here. He went his way and we took the necessary measures to move on. End of story. I'm not worked up about it but I do find it interesting. I remember that time very well and I would have expected him to have his eye on the Liverpool job not just because he was their captain but because that would have been "bettering himself" (albeit without European football). I'm not sure it was as easy to see then that moving to Man U from us would have been bettering himself. Ferguson himself has referred to us as Britain's biggest club around that time. Man U were heading towards a quarter of a century without winning the league. Liverpool's dynastic collapse was yet to occur and Sky and the Premier League were yet to change football on these isles. Liverpool's ex-captain going there would have been a huge story and stymied Souness's dream of managing Liverpool. For all those reasons - the history of Rangers, Man U, Liverpool and the Scottish and English leagues plus the reversal of what I had previously thought was in Souness's mind - going by his statements on the subject - I found it interesting. "Care" carries with it too many emotional connotations for me to claim that, but interest is another matter. Edited December 4, 2016 by SteveC 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
boabie 230 Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Does anybody really care about this? The guy thought he was bettering himself. We all do it. I don't get the story here. He went his way and we took the necessary measures to move on. End of story. It would be the end of the story Pete if he didn't keep appearing to discuss our club, its team performances and business matters. He walked away so I wish he'd just keep his trap shut and let Rangers supporters worry about what's happening at Ibrox. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 2,499 Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 It would be the end of the story Pete if he didn't keep appearing to discuss our club, its team performances and business matters.He walked away so I wish he'd just keep his trap shut and let Rangers supporters worry about what's happening at Ibrox. Ally didn't walk away and everybody hates him for that. Just lets you see you can never win. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
boabie 230 Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Ally didn't walk away and everybody hates him for that. Just lets you see you can never win. I'd think Allys performance as a manager, his salary and pocketing a packet of shares had something to do with that one mate. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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