Graeme Souness

[sillytuna]

Yeah it would be nice to keep political agendas out of sport wouldn't it...

To be clear, the political agenda comes from politicians who like to make culture wars more important than their idiotic policies.

The rest is societal changes where you'll find huge differences between young and old, as has always been the way.

Mountains and molehills. Quite why this whole thing is news is insanity I agree. As for the phrase itself, who cares if you or I or whoever disagrees. It's so minor!

 

[dewolfman]

It’s not a man’s game though is it? Anyone can play so he is wrong, he is purposely saying it to belittle the woman’s game,

 

[WalsallWolf]

Looks like he is another victim of 2022 woke lefty *******s. Good luck Graeme.

 

[Deleted member 8455jwf]

Looks like he is another victim of 2022 woke lefty *******s. Good luck Graeme.

Oh ****, what's happened to him?

 

[Contrarian]

Yeah it would be nice to keep political agendas out of sport wouldn't it...

Only the political agendas I don't like.

 

[Contrarian]

Looks like he is another victim of 2022 woke lefty *******s. Good luck Graeme.

So much for keeping politics out of football.

 

[Contrarian]

It’s not a man’s game though is it? Anyone can play so he is wrong, he is purposely saying it to belittle the woman’s game,

If you'd seen me try, you'd realise how wrong that statement is.

 

[bully9]

Stupid turn of phrase, just needed to say 'it's a contact sport' or something similar. I'm not 'offended' or even really bothered, but is shows a lack of awareness.

It’s not a man’s game though is it? Anyone can play so he is wrong, he is purposely saying it to belittle the woman’s game,What part of man’s game confused you , the game was played between men , I take it your being sarcastic and I don’t get it

 

[sillytuna]

Saw this on twitter!

Football is ‘a man’s game’ says Graeme Souness, after 97 minutes of handbags and hair-pulling.

Well it made me laugh Tho the rest of twitter on this topic, eek!

 

[Lisas Husband]

I don't see the problem, although I didn't see the clip that has been referred to.
Was he talking about women's football or mens? If it was a mens game then those who are offended just need laughing at really.

Being 'offended' is way too fashionable now and as said above, if it can be misconstrued then some fool will do it and claim offence.

But if he was talking about a woman's game, then that's different.

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1559275446855933956

If Brent said it, it must be true.

 

[dewolfman]

Saw this on twitter!

Football is ‘a man’s game’ says Graeme Souness, after 97 minutes of handbags and hair-pulling.

Well it made me laugh Tho the rest of twitter on this topic, eek!

Exactly, tuchel and conte were embarrassing, acting like my twin toddlers

 

[sillytuna]

Exactly, tuchel and conte were embarrassing, acting like my twin toddlers

A toddler's game!

Funny tho.

 

[ricki herberts moustache]

Exactly...totally misconstrued and taken out of proportion Jade.....its a nothing but being made into something bigger by the media

but thats how the media work: they need to make things sensational in order to get the clicks they need to show the advertisers they are worth investing in.

Its a sick, downward circle

 

[Wolf79]

Stupid turn of phrase, just needed to say 'it's a contact sport' or something similar. I'm not 'offended' or even really bothered, but is shows a lack of awareness.

No it’s not a stupid turn of phase, absolutely the sort of comment made in pubs up & down the country. Grow a pair!

 

[Dr Wolfenstein]

Men do not have a monopoly on physicality, robustness or violence, so there's really no need to equate or conflate aggression with maleness. After 69 years, several of them engaged in broadcasting, you'd hope Souness would be better able to convey his meaning without recourse to cliches & gender stereotypes.

Admittedly Souness operated within the tradition of particularly nasty limited ability players (Peter Storey, Ron Harris etc) who seemed largely intent on eradicating skill from the game (clogging George Best, kicking Pele out of the 66 World Cup) & denying us the joys of genuine talents. It's thanks to thugs like that that we lost the best years of players such as Derek Dooley, Ted Farmer & Brian Clough, & in more modern times George N'dah & Geoff Thomas (& Neymar in the 2014 World Cup).

Mind you, as he called out Pogba's assault on Neves (despite it being compared to his own tackle on Rotariu), Souness does seem to be giving out mixed messages as to what he considers to be the exact nature of a ''man's game'' ; perhaps he's mellowed & is not calling for a full return to the mayhem enjoyed by the Smiths, Hunters & Pearces as they welcomed opposition wingers onto the pitch by immediately depositing them off it..

 

[Wolf79]

It’s not a man’s game though is it? Anyone can play so he is wrong, he is purposely saying it to belittle the woman’s game,

Men do not have a monopoly on physicality, robustness or violence, so there's really no need to equate or conflate aggression with maleness. After 69 years, several of them engaged in broadcasting, you'd hope Souness would be better able to convey his meaning without recourse to cliches & gender stereotypes.

Admittedly Souness operated within the tradition of particularly nasty limited ability players (Peter Storey, Ron Harris etc) who seemed largely intent on eradicating skill from the game (clogging George Best, kicking Pele out of the 66 World Cup) & denying us the joys of genuine talents. It's thanks to thugs like that that we lost the best years of players such as Derek Dooley, Ted Farmer & Brian Clough, & in more modern times George N'dah & Geoff Thomas (& Neymar in the 2014 World Cup).

Mind you, as he called out Pogba's assault on Neves, Souness does seem to be giving out mixed messages as to what he considers to be the exact nature of a ''man's game'' ; perhaps he's mellowed & is not calling for a full return to the mayhem enjoyed by the Smiths, Hunters & Pearces as they welcomed opposition wingers onto the pitch by immediately depositing them off it..

Souness was was a hard player but for me one of the great midfield players that I’ve seen & would walk into any top Premier league side. I’d ditch all these wanna be ex women players who think they can talk about top mens league just so TV channels can tick a box

 

[sillytuna]

No it’s not a stupid turn of phase, absolutely the sort of comment made in pubs up & down the country. Grow a pair!

By a certain generation and above mainly (but not solely, and there are other factors as well as age). I know some think words don't matter but they do, especially used around kids.

Put aside all the woke and anti woke nonsense. The reason phrases like this are dying out is because people have realised the dangers of masculinity being associated with physicality, violence, keeping quiet about feelings etc.

This contributes to violence, poor behaviour, male suicide, depression, relationship breakdowns, etc.

That's the real issue with souness' turn of phrase, not equality. Combine the two and it's just not very clever. Neither is it worth the coverage it's been given or the anti woke brigade getting their knickers in a twist because the media are hyping it up (in order to get that reaction). As others have said, we knew what he meant (and it wasn't that men were playing) and it was just an outdated phrase.

I enjoy two teams going at it regardless of gender but players fighting is also really childish and sets a bad example, let alone managers. So I can enjoy and think it dumb at the same time. See it often in local footy too - where two players think they're the big man for squaring up. The rest of us just call them idiots or children for ruining the game and kick them off now. Time has moved on.

 

[Sergeant Hakeswill]

Even more offensive to have said it when sat next to 142 cap Karen Carney.

Who? Never heard of her.

 

[sillytuna]

I’d ditch all these wanna be ex women players who think they can talk about top mens league just so TV channels can tick a box

Tell us you're a male chauvinist without... sigh.

 

[Shergar]

Who? Never heard of her.

You have definitely heard her, think of nails scrapping down a chalkboard.. that’s her.

 

[CelebrityWolf]

The 21st century eh, women have to be the equal of men regardless of the reality, in every single facet of life these days.

Makes me wish I had shares in the strap-on industry.

 

[Longford Wolf]

Good job there's no gender neutral players....yet, what will they call it then.

Paul Dickov

 

[Flump]

The weird thing was how poorly he spoke about it on TalkSport yesterday, IMO. He could easily have said "I unthinkingly used old-fashioned language, so I'm sorry for that - what I really meant was that it's a tough game, and"...(insert his usual spiel).

But he ignored that side of it, and seemingly thought he was being criticised for saying the game should be tough, rather than using "man's game" to basically mean "good/tough game".

"Let me explain," he said. "I've been advocating for years that the referees have such a major part to play in the success of the Premier League.

"We've got to be careful what we say today and I've not been very good at that, but we were becoming like other leagues.

"The refs were blowing the whistle all the time, the game didn't flow and it just wasn't a very good watch. Our game has always been unique, always been more meaty, more in our face, more intense and we've got away from that.

"Yesterday in my comments I said we've got our game back. That's the kind of football I remember playing. Our league will be better for it - we are back."

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

Tell us you're a male chauvinist without... sigh.

Whats the issue with pointing out the obvious. They’re quite blatantly only there due to quotas. With the exception of Emma Hayes, most of the female pundits are awful, and whilst that’s not because they’re female (or limited to the women), it’s insulting to the intelligence to see people being shoehorned into positions they simply aren’t good enough for.

People wouldn’t be so bothered if they actually brought something to the table (like Hayes), but Carney, Scott and especially Aluko are terrible. Aluko is horrendously bad, and we all know why she’s there.

And before you say it, there are some terrible male pundits too, like Michael Owen, who rightly get the stick that you aren’t allowed to give to the women without having chauvinism or sexism screeched at you. At least he’s done something in real football to get to that position though.

 

[WickedWolfie]

Souness was was a hard player but for me one of the great midfield players that I’ve seen & would walk into any top Premier league side. I’d ditch all these wanna be ex women players who think they can talk about top mens league just so TV channels can tick a box

T-Rex lives.

 

[Flump]

Whats the issue with pointing out the obvious. They’re quite blatantly only there due to quotas. With the exception of Emma Hayes, most of the female pundits are awful, and whilst that’s not because they’re female (or limited to the women), it’s insulting to the intelligence to see people being shoehorned into positions they simply aren’t good enough for.

People wouldn’t be so bothered if they actually brought something to the table (like Hayes), but Carney, Scott and especially Aluko are terrible. Aluko is horrendously bad, and we all know why she’s there.

And before you say it, there are some terrible male pundits too, like Michael Owen, who rightly get the stick that you aren’t allowed to give to the women without having chauvinism or sexism screeched at you. At least he’s done something in real football to get to that position though.

So bad male pundits are just terrible pundits, whereas bad female pundits are a sign of quotas?

What quota got Phil Thompson, Robbie Savage, Owen Hargeaves and as you say Michael Owen their jobs?

 

[WickedWolfie]

Whats the issue with pointing out the obvious. They’re quite blatantly only there due to quotas. With the exception of Emma Hayes, most of the female pundits are awful, and whilst that’s not because they’re female (or limited to the women), it’s insulting to the intelligence to see people being shoehorned into positions they simply aren’t good enough for.

People wouldn’t be so bothered if they actually brought something to the table (like Hayes), but Carney, Scott and especially Aluko are terrible. Aluko is horrendously bad, and we all know why she’s there.

And before you say it, there are some terrible male pundits too, like Michael Owen, who rightly get the stick that you aren’t allowed to give to the women without having chauvinism or sexism screeched at you. At least he’s done something in real football to get to that position though.

Utter and complete rubbish. Many of the female pundits are very insightful. Way better than clowns like Merson and Gaby the Vile for two.

"Real football"? Utterly pathetic zero-IQ internet wannabe. You may want to live in the 1950s. Thankfully such views are rapidly dying out.

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

So bad male pundits are just terrible pundits, whereas bad female pundits are a sign of quotas?

What quota got Phil Thompson, Robbie Savage, Owen Hargeaves and as you say Michael Owen their jobs?

And there’s the predictable comment I said would happen. Just because you’re criticising women doesn’t make it sexist.

The majority of the awful male pundits have strong histories in the game and have experience to draw on to make their conclusions, even if they do it poorly. You’re absolutely deluded if you think any of the women pundits are there for anything but ticking boxes.

 

[Mutchy]

This thread is an absolute disgrace. Closed with further moderation to come.