In the picking of his all-time Scotland XI on Thursday's Off The Ball, John Giles recounted some of his midfield battles with the legendary Graeme Souness.
Years after even sharing a television studio together as football pundits, let alone the football pitch, John Giles looks back on his battles with the teak-tough Graeme Souness almost fondly.
A hugely successful midfield player with Liverpool, Souness had a physical edge to him that he did little to disguise.
"He wasn't particularly quick," recalled Giles of Graeme Souness, "but he had a great presence on the pitch and a great distributor of the ball. Whether the game was tough or easy, he always wanted the ball.
"He had plenty to say on the pitch and he could dish out a bit as well."
No shrinking violet himself, John Giles could recall some battles up against the tempestuous Scot when he was still and up-and-comer at Middlesbrough.
"He was on his way at that stage," he recalled, "but I've had a couple of clashes with him alright. I played against him with Leeds and he was down the back of my legs and that, but you don't say anything.
"But I was in an incident with him at Middlesbrough, and I copped him. I'm not bragging about it, but I copped him.
"He went crackers with me. 'I'll break your f*****n' legs. I just said, 'Well, we'll see about that, Graeme.' But we were good pals after that.
"Graeme could dish it out, but he had to take it as well."
Flamengo's Mozer and Liverpool's Graeme Souness.In a later clash where John Giles was representing a League of Ireland XI, he encountered Souness during his Liverpool days in a friendly match at Dalymount Park.
"One of the lads in midfield with me copped Souness," he explained of more punishment handed out to the Scot, "but Graeme thought it was me! 'That's the second time you've copped me. I'm going to do you in!'
"He was raging but it was nothing to do with me."
You can look at John's all-time Scotland XI here.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
