The worst Premier League manager ever? You could choose someone who was thrown in the deep end by their chairman like Les Reed at Charlton Athletic in 2006 or Steve Wigley at Southampton in 2004. Both ‘guided’ their sides to a solitary victory in seven and 14 games respectively. Or the bizarre combination of Attilio Lombardo and Tomas Brolin, who took the wheel of the rudderless ship that was Crystal Palace for the last few games of the 97/98 season.

But perhaps judging these people on so few games is a tad unfair, so how about John Gorman and his 93/94 Swindon Town side who lasted just the one season in the Premier League, conceding 100 goals in the process. Or what about the wellie-wearing Norwegian eccentric Egil Olsen, who oversaw the beginning of the end of Wimbledon’s top-flight status and ultimately their very existence?

However, my choice for this very dubious honour somehow managed to antagonise, bemuse and infuriate supporters, players and staff alike at FOUR different Premier League clubs; that man is Graeme Souness.

'A disastrous season, which saw the Saints avoid relegation only on goal difference, was summed up with the embarrassing story of the signing of a player called Ali Dia'


At the inception of the Premier League in 1992, Souness was beginning the second year of his tenure as manager of Liverpool, the club where he made his name as a player during their dominance of English and European football in the late 1970’s and into the 80’s.

Following a successful spell as Rangers player/manager much was expected of the former Kop favourite but he delivered only one piece of silverware in his time at Anfield, the 1992 FA Cup after defeating Second Division opposition in the shape of Sunderland.

Having already infuriated Liverpool fans by giving an interview to The Sun newspaper following his heart surgery and prior to the '92 final, which was then printed on the third anniversary of the tragic events at Hillsborough (many fans had boycotted the paper due to its reporting of the disaster), Souness further alienated himself from them with poor transfer dealings and reported dressing room unrest. Never close to challenging for the league title, he resigned in 1994 and went to Turkey to manage Galatasaray.

Two years later, Souness returned to England and took over at Southampton. A disastrous season, which saw the Saints avoid relegation only on goal difference, was summed up with the embarrassing story of the signing of a player called Ali Dia.

Reportedly signed on a one-month contract due to the recommendation of former FIFA World Footballer of the Year George Weah, Dia was given his Premier League debut as a sub only to be so bad that he was himself substituted. It later emerged it had been an elaborate hoax by Dia’s agent who had claimed to be Weah during a telephone conversation with Souness telling him that Dia was his cousin and an international player!

Following a brief spell in Italy and two years at Benfica in Portugal, Souness took over at Blackburn Rovers. Having been relegated from the Premier League in 1999, Souness did get Blackburn promoted in his first full season in charge and followed that up with a solid mid-table finish and victory in the League Cup final against Tottenham.

More improvement followed with a sixth-place finish the following year, but just as things were finally looking good for Blackburn and Souness it all fell apart. Following the sale of Damian Duff and David Dunn and public fall-outs with the likes of Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, Souness failed to find adequate replacements and most of the 03/04 season would be spent hovering above the relegation zone. Rovers did manage to avoid the drop, finishing in 15th position, but just a month into the next season Souness jumped ship to take over at Newcastle United.

Replacing local hero Sir Bobby Robson at Newcastle was never going to be easy, especially as the former England manager had guided them to fifth place and UEFA cup football the previous season.

True to form, Souness’s old-school authoritarian approach alienated certain young players and sparked a mini exodus, Newcastle finished the season in 14th. At the beginning of the 05/06 season Souness took a gamble on the world-class but injury prone Michael Owen for a reported club record fee, unfortunately it didn’t pay off with Owen missing a large chunk of the season.

Once again other expensive recruits were bought in that failed to live up to their price tags, Jean-Alain Boumsong and Albert Luque amongst them. Despite reaching two cup semi-finals under Souness, Newcastle’s poor league form and the impatience of the Toon Army saw his contract terminated after just 18 expensive months in charge.