Graeme Souness defended by Redknapp over 'man's game' comment

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Graeme Souness came under fire on Sunday after sharing his thoughts on a fiery clash between Chelsea and Tottenham managers Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte. Giving his take on the altercation, he made a comment which saw him say “football is a man’s game all of a sudden” leaving many to call for an apology. However, former West Ham and Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp joined GB News host Dan Wootton on Tuesday evening to discuss the comments and revealed his friend is not “anti-women”.

During the live coverage of the match, Souness expressed: “Simulation and people throwing themselves to the ground.

“I’ve not seen that in the two games today. It’s a man’s game all of a sudden again. I think we’ve got our football back, as I would enjoy football.

“Men at it, blow for blow, and the referee letting them get on with it.”

His comments left many disappointed, including current England player Bethany England, who tweeted: “‘It’s a man’s game’ ‘Men at it’ Get in the (bin) what a disgraceful thing to say after the summer this country has just seen.”

Discussing the comments made by Souness, Wootton asked: “Harry, you obviously know Graeme Souness well,

“And I think you know for a fact that he actually really enjoyed the women’s football.”

Redknapp expressed: “Absolutely! I played golf with Graeme about 10 days ago and we were chatting about what a great tournament the [Women’s] Euros were and how the final was fantastic.

“The atmosphere, the football that was played, the standard of the play and there is no way that Graeme’s anti-women football whatsoever.

“It was just a statement about the way the game used to be and how physical it was and it was played between 22 men and he said it was a real man’s game going back to the old days.

“Blood and thunder. He didn’t mean any disrespect to the women’s footballers, none whatsoever. I think we have all loved what we have seen.

“We have all loved that more young girls are getting involved in playing football now and the standard is amazing.

“No one is anti-women’s game, we absolutely love what is happening and I think it has all been taken out of context what Graeme said.”

Souness has since hit back at the criticism he has faced and insisted he was simply talking about the rough-and-tumble nature of the match he had watched.

Speaking to talkSPORT about if he regretted the comments, he explained: “Not a word of it. Let me explain.

“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.

“They were blowing the whistle all the time and it wasn’t a good watch. Our game has always been unique, more meaty, more in-your-face and more intense and we got away from that.

“My comments yesterday were saying we’ve got our game back. That is the kind of football I remember playing in. We’ve got to be better for it. The directive to the referees is long overdue, we’ve got our game back.

“I enjoyed two games of football yesterday where men were playing men and they got about themselves and were falling out with each other.

“Okay, I don’t think we should be condoning the thing on the touchline, but I’ve been there. If you are on the touchline and things aren’t going your way and you feel there’s been an injustice. You’ve worked all week for these 90 minutes.”

Dan Wootton tonight airs Monday-Thursday from 9pm on GB News.

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