ARCHIE GEMMILL of Scotland once said of him: "If he was a chocolate drop he'd eat himself." Gordon Strachan called him "the tidiest man I'd ever met - he used to keep his underpants on hangers".
Gianluca Vialli of Sampdoria once covered those pants in Deep Heat. Graham Souness will always have difficulty finding people in the game kindly disposed towards him, but then he asks no quarter and gives none.
Vialli's prank was more likely to have brought a tear to his eye than the polite applause he received on his first return to Anfield since being forced out of the manager's seat in January 1994. Forgiven he may have been, but the many he wounded have still not forgotton.
Phil Thompson, the former England centre half, told Saturday's Liverpool Echo "I find it difficult to applaud a man who ruined my professional life when he dismissed me as Liverpool's reserve team coach in 1992". Thompson was not the only one Souness upset during a turbulent 33 months in charge at the club he had served with distinction as imperious captain and midfielder.
He antagonised senior players such as Rush and Barnes by accusing them of not pulling their weight; he upset the supporters by selling the story of his triple heart bypass operation to the Sun - which had been boycotted in the city for its shameful coverage of the Hillsborough disaster - a story the paper ran on the third anniversary of the tragedy; and he upset the directors with a string of bad results, by which time the writing had been on the wall so long it was inevitable that he be asked to leave.
He went to Galatasaray in Turkey, but true to form he departed leaving had blood behind. After beating Fenerbahce in the domestic cup final Souness wound up the already volatile fans by running half the length of the pitch to plant a club flag in the centre circle and was summarily sacked.
Now he finds himself at Southampton, a sorry bunch who escaped relegation by one place last - but who are at least some of the Scot's famous fighting spirit. They came close to scraping a point against a lazy Liverpool when another Anfield old boy, Magilton cancelled out Collymore's first goal of the season.
But Heaney, one of the substitutes who had come on when the ineffectual Le Tissier was removed, set up McManaman's winner a minute from time with a ridiculous back pass that fell too short of Beasant.
Afterwards Souness said politely: "I was very pleased with the welcome. This is the place I learnt my trade and I'll always have great affection for the club."
Asked about a smattering of boos that greeted his arrival in the dug out, he said: "There will always be a negative," peremptorily cut the conference short and walked out.
