Souness relishes challenge

Succeeding Sir Bobby Robson means replacing the irreplaceable, mending the rifts in the St James' Park dressing room means controlling the near uncontrollable, and ending Newcastle's 35-year wait for silverware would be an achievement that so many have found unachievable.

But, for Souness, the challenge of becoming Newcastle's fifth manager in the last seven years is nothing compared to the battle he fought so successfully 12 years ago.

When Bill Shankly famously observed that football was more important than life and death, he was hinting at the kind of passionate fervour for which fans of Newcastle United are renowned.

Souness' managerial career owes much to the six years he spent playing at Liverpool under Bill Paisley and Joe Fagan - both managers groomed under the Anfield Boot Room doctrine developed by Shankly.

Newcastle's new manager is an avowed admirer of Shankly's methods, but not his most well-known mantra.

When it comes to matters of life and death, Souness knows all about what is really important.

In 1992, the then Liverpool boss was persuaded to have an angiogram at a clinic in Crosby after complaining of severe headaches for almost three years.

It wasn't an easy thing to do. Souness had spent his entire playing career priding himself on being the fittest player around, always being the first one training on a morning and the last one running on a night.

Illnesses and injuries were things that happened to other people but, when doctors examined his major arteries, they found that one was 75 per cent blocked, another 85 per cent, and a third with a 90 per cent obstruction.

He was rushed into a triple heart by-pass operation but, while the initial surgery was a success, his scar developed a virulent infection nine days later.

His lungs had to be drained on three separate occasions, he lost two stones in weight and, after a second operation to clean the wound, there were times when one of football's true hard men came close to conceding defeat.

"I don't mean to sound dramatic but I honestly began to feel I couldn't fight the bug that I had," recalled Souness.

"When you can't clean your teeth or you haven't got the strength to have a shower then, for someone who's been as active as I have, it comes as a shock.

"Suddenly, I had this terrible feeling of vulnerability whereas, in the past, I had always felt I could handle any problem that was thrown at me.

"It was a very worrying time and there was about a week or maybe five days where I felt, when the end comes, this is how it happens.

"It's a humbling experience and I think it's that feeling of vulnerability that young men don't ever have. It brings with it a real shock to the system and it certainly changed me as a human being after that.

"Now, for instance, I think I'm far more prepared to listen to other people because I'm not as confrontational as I was before."

Not as confrontational maybe, but few would argue that Souness has lost any of the passion and desire that first propelled him into the professional game at the age of just 15.

Born in Edinburgh in May 1953, Souness was raised as the youngest of three brothers in one of the Scottish capital's rougher suburbs.

His father, James, juggled two jobs so the family could get by but, while other children roamed the streets, the young Souness was already honing his skills on the playing fields behind his home.

"I can remember playing in a cup final with 12-year-olds when I was only eight," he said. "So I must have been a good bit ahead of my time.

"I was always better than the kids I was in against at football at school and I just had a belief that I was always going to make it professionally."

After starring for the Scottish schoolboys, Souness became a wanted man but, while clubs north of the border sized up their options, Tottenham boss Bill Nicholson wasted no time in putting an apprenticeship offer on the table.

At the age of 15, Souness moved to the bright lights of London and spent the next four years learning his footballing trade.

His first-team chances were limited by the depth of international talent at Nicholson's disposal but, even as a precocious teenager, his belief in his own ability came shining through.

"The midfield at that time consisted of Steve Perryman, who was a couple of years older than me, Alan Mullery, who was captain of England, and Martin Peters, who also played for England.

"But I still thought I should have been in the team and, in the end, Bill Nicholson got that cheesed off with me, he sold me to Middlesbrough for £30,000, which was a lot of money for a 19-year-old."

Souness' time on Teesside was an unqualified success, with the combative Scotsman making 174 appearances and rapidly establishing himself as one of the best midfielders the club has ever had.

Playing under Jack Charlton, he helped Boro win the Second Division title in 1974 and forced his way into the full Scotland side.

But, when Liverpool came calling in 1978, the ambitious Souness was unable to resist their allure. Paisley paid a British record £352,000 to take him to Merseyside and, almost immediately, a new Anfield legend was born.

Partnering former Newcastle number two Terry McDermott, the Scotsman helped Liverpool win five league titles and two European Cups as they swept all before them both at home and abroad.

His final kick for the club helped them win a European Cup final penalty shoot-out against Roma and, alongside the likes of Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush, Souness helped form one of England's most successful club line-ups.

"It was the best part of my playing career," he admitted. "I was playing in a hugely successful side with a lot of very good players and we had some fantastic times together."

After helping Liverpool to conquer the continent, Souness moved abroad to end his playing career, winning an Italian Cup in his first season with Sampdoria.

He was halfway through a three-year deal with the Italian side when Rangers chairman David Holmes made him an offer that was to send his career in an entirely different direction.

Management was something Souness had presumed was still a long way off but, when Holmes asked him to succeed Jock Wallace as player-boss, the midfielder started a new spell of success in his homeland.

He courted controversy by signing a host of English stars, but his judgement proved impeccable as Chris Woods, Terry Butcher and Graham Roberts helped to end Rangers' nine-year title drought in his first season in charge.

Two more titles followed - with Walter Smith going on to add another seven for good measure - but, while the influx of Englishmen was controversial, Souness' decision to sign Mo Johnston proved explosive.

Souness has always had a hot-headed streak but, even by his standards, taking a Catholic to Rangers was a move fraught with danger.

"I got death threats during my time at Rangers," he admitted. "The club had a warning before one game that something was going to take place so they filled the directors box with Special Branch where I used to sit in the stand.

"It was only after the game that I got to know about it, but I'd wondered why I didn't recognise anyone sat around me that day."

After averaging a trophy a year at Rangers, there was little surprise when the Liverpool board identified Souness as their preferred successor to Kenny Dalglish.

But, whereas the midfielder had been an unqualified success at Anfield during his playing career, his two and a half year managerial reign was far more fraught.

He won just one piece of silverware - 1992's FA Cup - and struggled to rebuild a team that had passed its peak.

"I didn't inherit a Liverpool team that was going forward," said Souness. "I inherited a team which had had its best day and it was always going to take a long time to sort out."

Souness never had that time as he resigned in January 1994, only to re-emerge the following year in charge of Turkish side Galatasaray.

In his only season in Turkey, he led the Istanbul side to a Turkish Cup final success over their bitterest rivals Fenerbache, and almost incited a riot in the aftermath.

His decision to plant a Galatasaray flag in the Fenerbache centre-circle was not the most tactful of gestures, but the history behind it revealed a powerful ruthless streak. As Newcastle's playboy superstars will no doubt learn, Souness is not a man to be crossed.

"When I first took over an article appeared in a newspaper featuring a Fenerbache director questioning what Galatasaray were doing appointing a cripple as manager in reference to my heart operation.

"As I was running back, I happened to look up to the stand where I saw this guy's face and just thought to myself 'I'll show you who's the cripple' and planted it (the flag) in the centre-circle."

Brief unsuccessful spells followed at Southampton, Torino and Benfica, before Souness returned to England to take over at Blackburn Rovers.

His first season brought promotion to the Premiership and, after lifting the League Cup in 2002, he steered Rovers to a sixth-place finish 12 months later.

Last season saw high-profile bust-ups with Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke - more evidence of the no-nonsense approach that has been apparent throughout his career.

That approach was one of the main reasons Freddy Shepherd made his move last weekend, and Souness' first job on Tyneside will be to instil some discipline into a dressing room that has been used to getting things all its own way.

"I'm in this business because I love it," he observed recently, but that passion is about to be put to the test.

The rest of the season will be eventful and exciting but, no matter how it turns out, it will not be a matter of life and death. Souness has already fought that battle and won.

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