Older Bears - how close is this to the Souness revolution?

themightyi

themightyi

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First off apologises for the term older bears :D

I know it’s early days but in terms of feeling how close is the current Gerrard regime to how it felt in the early days of Souness?

The parallels are of course we have a magnificent bastard in charge, a European cup Liverpool winning captain who knows what it takes to win and who has taken charge of Rangers after a period of utter mediocrity (obviously the years preceding Souness weren’t as bad as Gerrard).

But the question is in terms of feeling is it similar? Do we have the same momentum right now as Souness had? Do the bears that were around when Souness came in have similar feelings now that Gerrard has had a few games in charge?

Hope this makes sense given I’m more than a few drinks down on this Friday night but wanting to know if there are parallels to be drawn between our previous magnificent bastard to our current day magnificent bastard? :D
 
mdingwall said:
Not really.

Lot less novelty.
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Novelty in terms of Souness or Gerrard?

Gerrard was a world wide star in an age where social media is king where as Souness was a world renowned top player without any social media, Sky Sports News etc.

Obviously I’ll admit as much as we love our new recruits they don’t really compare to Woods, Butcher etc at the time. Does that factor in to it too?
 
Different times,Souness had a blank cheque book whilst the English teams were banned from Europe following the tragic events at Heysel .

It's going to be a lot more difficult for Stevie-G to get us back to our rightful place,it's like chalk an cheese.
 
subversive_bear said:
The media reaction has been very different. The resurgence of Rangers was welcomed (mostly) in 1986/87.
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I’m 22 so genuinely interested to know if Souness, Woods, Butcher etc were all warmly accepted?

It would be an interesting dynamic, given how parochial the Scottish media is today, that English internationals, plus a player that had predominately played his career in England and abroad, were warmly received in the Scottish press at Rangers at the time?

Imagine we did that now? I can’t fathom the media in this country being so receptive.
 
Souness' signings were of a much higher calibre. Whilst the Gerrard appointment was big, the Souness appointment felt much bigger.
 
The standard we're at is lower. How could it not be?
In 1986 there was literally nobody in Britain that we could not buy. We're nowhere near that level right now.

That said, the galvanising effect of the respective managers is very similar. Both were/are supremely confident in their ability to do the job. Souness was a little more abrasive, a little more confrontational.

Thursday night will go down as a night when the support realised that we are on to something that could be a little bit special.
We're on our way back.
 
YoungGer97 said:
First time i've ever felt like something monumental was happening at the club was last night. Interesting to see what older bears think. I hope we can keep this up...
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Interested to see what age you are mate?

As an (almost) 22 year old this is the most positive I can remember the support being in a long, long time!
 
There are definite similarities for me with a world class player taking over in his first managerial job
Biggest differences are we got Souness as a player as well though after the first season his input on the park became more limited and in the Souneess era we were signing players Man Utd wanted. Gerrard has also signed far more players in a short space of time. Souness initially relied on a lot of players who had been here before. These were mainly youngsters like McCoist and Durrant but he also reinvogorated a few veterans like Davie Cooper.

But the overall feeling that after a long period in the doldrums we are finally getting back is very simikar
 
Lots of similarities. There wasnt the element of surprise with Stevie, we were on the train well before any announcement.. I heard about Souness on Radio Clyde 261mw and thought eh?. the rest is history.
 
Also have to remember just where we were back then. Having to beat Motherwell last day of the season just to qualify for Europe.

Aberdeen , Dundee United and Hearts were challenging Celtic but we were nowhere!

1986/87 was the season that all changed. We went on to dominate Scottish football for the next couple of decades

That season changed Scottish football forever.

Don’t get me wrong I loved Thursday night and I can see Rangers challenging and possibly overtaking Celtic in the coming seasons but it’s a million miles away from the Souness revolution

The top English players were not accepted. The club was hated back then by most. The jealousy was off the scale and we saw that in the game at Easter Road.
 
I think the easier parallels are between Gerrard and Souness.

I'm a little surprised and excited by Stevie's steel and his touch of arrogance. His post-match re-action via Dolly really stirred up the sort of feelings I thought I had reserved for TMB.

The territory is completely different though.

I think the outcome will be just as satisfying though.
 
In regards to the impact it had on fans, it’s similar.

With regards to who we were signing or our position in world football... nothing like it.

We were signing half the England first team and outspending the English top tier.

We could pick out almost any player on the planet we wanted and realistically have a chance of signing them.
 
In signing terms Souness's signings were more high profile. We were signing top current English international players back then.
Plus the added bonus for us was Souness was player manager.
At that time the whole of Scottish football was stagnant and Souness came in and totally changed the game in Scotland. The kick up the arse for both Rangers and Scottish football needed at the time.
In terms of teams,both eras were struggling big time before each manager arrived so not much difference there.
 
Souness was able to bring in England internationals alongside an existing squad. Gerrard has had to change a whole team without some of the advantages Souness had ie English teams out of Europe.

It's the same feeling that something is happening, that the whole club has been galvanised and everybody is excited. There's a way to go as this team will need a bit of time but the leadership and positive attitude is similar. We hadn't won the league for years when Souness came but we hadn't been in Div 3 either!!
 
One of the first players we signed was the current English Captain & Centre Half.

Leicester wanting 7oM for someone who couldn't lace Butchers boots....
 
I suppose myself starting this thread had two main points.


A.) what was the feeling amongst the support, was it similar to how we feel with Steven Gerrard?

B) was the perception outwith the support similar? Was Souness received with as much scepticism and were the support ridiculed as much in the press for believing in Souness the way we now do in Gerrard?
 
Different times same buzz
Souness- don’t lose goals you don’t lose games and sorted our defence

Gerrard- seen our defence was leaking goals and sorted our defence

Both gave a solid platform to success by sorting out our defence

The expectations from the players brought in by both Souness and Gerrard are exactly the same - to be winners
 
Souness obviously brought in top top players and at first blended them in with some excellent players who were already there.
We always knew the top players would produce on the park.

With SG he has brought in s whole new infrastructure .
Maybe the players aren’t comparable to the ones Souness brought in but I think the back room boys more than compensate for the slight difference in player quality.

I think it’s going to be a more cautious approach from SG but I’ve no doubt we’re onto 55 sooner rather than later.
 
With Souness it was primarily a Scottish story, when Gerrard takes us to 55 it will be a worldwide story given where we have come from and SG standing in England. The interest in us in England is huge at the moment.
 
different situation , there was not the money in football than there is now .
We signed some world class players .
Also Souness was player manager to start with .
But I will take what we have got the now it is a revolution and we will be triumphant .
 
What's disappointing is the realisation that I'm now an older bear. Fuq. My first game was as a wee boy in the early 70s but remember the Souness revolution like yesterday with the league title coming on the day I got married where I spent some time in the lounge ahem! Watching the highlights with family. What a day, oh and the wedding was nice too
 
We had been on the slide for years before Souness came, behind them then the sheep then Dundee Hibs And even St Mirren. Money changed that, we were signing players no one else could even think of.

Today we are coming back from the depths we were booted to with them in a much stronger position. We will at least put in a challenge. We can't sign players of the calibre Souness did.
 
themightyi said:
First off apologises for the term older bears :D

I know it’s early days but in terms of feeling how close is the current Gerrard regime to how it felt in the early days of Souness?

The parallels are of course we have a magnificent bastard in charge, a European cup Liverpool winning captain who knows what it takes to win and who has taken charge of Rangers after a period of utter mediocrity (obviously the years preceding Souness weren’t as bad as Gerrard).

But the question is in terms of feeling is it similar? Do we have the same momentum right now as Souness had? Do the bears that were around when Souness came in have similar feelings now that Gerrard has had a few games in charge?

Hope this makes sense given I’m more than a few drinks down on this Friday night but wanting to know if there are parallels to be drawn between our previous magnificent bastard to our current day magnificent bastard? :D
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Nowhere near in terms of quality on the pitch.

The side Souness took over, was the worst ever in league terms, as in that side in 85/86 lost more league games than they actually won. That has never happened before or since.

However, there were some lights in that side that just needed switching on.

What Souness did was the age old simple thing. Which is, get the spine of the side right.

He already had a goalscorer in Ally McCoist, so what he did was bring in a top class goalkeeper in Woods and centre half in Butcher. The bonus with Butcher, and it is hard to accept the utter wretch of a man he is today, was he was a leader of men. He took, an ageing Jimmy Nichol and average at best Davie McPherson and Stuart Munro by the scruff of the neck and got the best out of them.

Add in the two youngsters; the dynamite that was Durrant who burst into the stratosphere under Souness and Derek Ferguson, the maverick that was Ted McMinn, and the daddy of them all in terms of skill on the left wing, in Davie Cooper, who had been waiting all his Ibrox career for an influx of genuine skill to complement his own, and we were off and running. But not without plenty of hiccups along the way.

Steven Gerrard by comparison has a far harder task, absolutely no question about it.

The start to the season in European terms has been nice. But we can't afford to get too carried away.

We started 1982/83 in similar fashion and the roof caved in with two defeats in four days at the scum hut and in Cologne.

We've seen so many false dawns these last few years that take us off the map.

Gerrard has a bigger job to do than Souness ever did in restoring order. If he does that, then there will be no similarities. Gerrard wins by the country mile.
 
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In 1986 we could have went to any English team and signed their best player.
We bought Butcher and Woods but I still think that if we had signed the England captain that would have been the ultimate.I doubt he would have left Man U though.
 
Others have touched on the football side so I’ve been thinking about how we have changed as a society since then.

Back in 86 we didn’t have a 24/7 social media industry nor did we have unlimited football from anywhere in the world every night of the week. In short, there was still an element of mystique about certain players, teams etc. So, when Souness arrived and brought the England captain, a top goalkeeper and started buying big names, most of us were amazed and excited. Souness reinvigorated the support, we were winning matches in style and we responded. The whole thing took off massively. The filth were overwhelmed.

One similarity I do think they both have is leadership. Souness came across as a leader who was prepared to stand his ground and take no shit. His arrogance, backed up by results, gave us a figurehead and a belief we could really go places and we absolutely loved it. Of course, this made his departure so hard to take. I see SG showing similar traits in terms of leadership and being a figurehead willing to demand the best for the club and take on our detractors.

Different times but things are looking good.
 
Souness gave the entire scottish game a shot in the arm as will gerrard but the latter has a much more difficult starting position with the filths domination both on and off the field .
Mid 80s the filth,aberdeen and dundee hibs were on a par with each other followed by us and hearts so the competition was more equal ,in reality apart from 88 aberdeen were our main challengers for about 5 years and the filth were a laughing stock most years.
But let's remember souness cited his treatment by the sfa as part of his reason for leaving so gerrard needs the board to back him off the field as much as on it 100%
 
Sancus said:
Others have touched on the football side so I’ve been thinking about how we have changed as a society since then.

Back in 86 we didn’t have a 24/7 social media industry nor did we have unlimited football from anywhere in the world every night of the week. In short, there was still an element of mystique about certain players, teams etc. So, when Souness arrived and brought the England captain, a top goalkeeper and started buying big names, most of us were amazed and excited. Souness reinvigorated the support, we were winning matches in style and we responded. The whole thing took off massively. The filth were overwhelmed.

One similarity I do think they both have is leadership. Souness came across as a leader who was prepared to stand his ground and take no shit. His arrogance, backed up by results, gave us a figurehead and a belief we could really go places and we absolutely loved it. Of course, this made his departure so hard to take. I see SG showing similar traits in terms of leadership and being a figurehead willing to demand the best for the club and take on our detractors.

Different times but things are looking good.
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That's a smashing post and one that takes us down onto other avenues, especially the political one.
 
The most striking similarity is the enthusiasm and optimism of the support and that they both arrived on the back of fallow years, albeit, different circumstances.
 
It's different but SG's time has the potential to grow arms and legs, when he takes us to title 55 given it's importance he will be rightly hailed as a footballing God up here imo!

The players that deliver this title will have a special place in our history and folklore, many many years from now the story will be passed down the generations about the time when our club after all the hatred and injustices against us that nearly killed us off, finally retook our rightful place on top again looking down on all. We are back, thank God almighty we are back! Here we are in the year 2118 still the most successful club in the World ;)
 
We did bring in the best of British in players . I also think the opposition were stronger Aberdeen and Dundee United were pumping teams like Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona around that time.
This is exiting though, from what I've seen so far we are playing the best football of my life
 
A few of us younger bears were talking about this with my old man and his mates in the Grapes on Thursday night after the game.

They agreed that there is a definite excitement around the team and club now that's been lacking for years, but it still didn't compare to the Souness era.

Their argument was that we were competing with, and out bidding the biggest clubs in England for the biggest players in England.

Within a year of Souness joining we were the biggest club in Britain, bar none.

Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal and the rest looked on in envy, so my dad and his mates claimed anyway .

If that is true, and I've no reason to doubt them, then this era isn't even close to that.

Not at the moment anyway.
 
It was the complete surprise of it all for me if I remember correctly the media back then hadn’t an inkling changed days indeed.
 
Sourness coming then also saw a massive uptake in our crowds.
We had been getting I think a 25000 average and that jumped to over 40000.
Real comparison for me will come after we’ve played them at the piggery.
Then we’ll know how much of a revolution we have on our hands.
Win that and Gerrards arrival would eclipse Souness for me.
 
Very different times. Clubs in England were banned from playing in Europe, there was no Sky money and we became under Souness possibly biggest club in Britain with a number of top English players.
we could compete with any club in England when buying players.
Souness was able to bring TerryButcher, Trevor Steven, Chris Woods, Gary Stevens, Mark Walters, Graham Roberts etc to Rangers.
That would be like Gerrard signing Stones, Ali , Pickford ,Lingard.

Completely different world, we could compete with top English sides in terms of buying players and would have been capable of winning English title.

Aberdeen, Dundee Utd were both top class sides and quality of football in Scotland was much higher.

Having said that the impact of Steven Gerrard has been immense and he exudes class and with a little less arrogance than the Magnificent Bastard.

Gerrard is less brash but equally determined.

The Souness revolution happened at very different time. Impact is still felt today as the support became less anti English, and with signing of Mo Johnston the Tims went into meltdown. We dominated them and they mentally never recovered.
 
The main differences are the shear surprise when Souness was named manager .It came from nowhere and secondly all of a sudden we were buying the best players available in the UK market .We were competing with the Italian giants and out bidding top English sides .Previous seasons we were buying the likes Fraser ,Mitchell and Patterson .At the flick of a switch we had Butcher ,Woods and Roberts and the possibilities were unlimited .
Todays upturn is most welcome but not comparable in scale .
 
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