The silence is deafening around Graeme Souness’ return to Rangers, and it appears that the former manager managed to talk himself out of the job after those bizarre Frank Lampard comments some weeks ago.
For those not completely up to speed, Souness was a big part of the interview process, a process which eventually saw Philippe Clement get the job. Souness was ultimately impressed him by him, and the calls were there to bring the former Ibrox man back to a position of influence, rather than the empty ambassador position he’d been previously offered.
The board agreed, and offered Souness an ‘advisor’ role within Govan, a consultancy job which basically meant he’d be on hand to offer his counsel.
Unfortunately, the day Souness blurted out on national radio that to this day he still would have preferred Frank Lampard and that the ex-Chelsea man was his first choice was almost certainly the day he talked himself out of the gig.
Souness cannot be part of a regime he doesn’t support, and the board have clearly had second thoughts on bringing him back.
And we agree with them completely.
We had nothing but time and respect for Souness, but those absolutely idiotic comments mean he’s not singing on the same page as the rest of the club, and for someone who’s there for his opinion and wisdom, if he’s already technically against the manager, the job is redundant.
This is not to say he hates Clement – no, he can clearly tell the boy is a manager. But despite the board making its choice, the fans loving the Belgian and the squad totally buying into his methods, Souness went onto Talksport, aware he was imminently returning as that ‘advisor’ and told the world he’d wanted Frank Lampard.
See, he’s allowed to have ‘made that mistake’ in private, hell we’re all allowed our opinions. But to go on Jim White’s show and argue the case for Lampard was the most misguided thing we’ve seen in a long time, when Clement is in place and we should all be behind him.
The board have surely changed their mind, and we have to agree.
If Souness thinks Lampard would have been the better choice than Clement, well, no wonder Sky didn’t want him any more.