FourFourTwo November 2020 5108 DUnCAnFERGUSOn
REPUTATION:Variouslynicknamed‘Big
Dunc’or‘DuncanDisorderly’,thestriker
nuttedRaith’sJohnMcStaywhileplaying
forRangers,earninghima three-month
sentenceinsideBarlinnieprison(having
previouslycoughedupa £100finefor
headbuttinga copper).Fergusonlater
starredforEvertonandNewcastle,and
noplayerhaseversurpassedhiseight
PremierLeagueredcards.Notoncebut
twiceheputburglarsinhospital,after
particularlyill-advisedbreak-ins.
RAZORSAYS:“Atoughman– BigDunc
wasa playeryoudidn’twanttoupset.
Mostoftheseguysbecamebetterwhen
theywereannoyedandaggressive,and
hewasundoubtedlyoneofthem.Keep
himin a goodmood!Hewasthegreatest
headerofa ballI everplayedagainst,so
if therightcrosscamein,youhadzero
chanceagainsthimanyway.Duncanis
No.8onmylist– therewereonlyseven
otherhousesinthecountrythatthose
stupidburglarswouldhavebeenworse
offattemptingtoburgle!”09 GRAEMESOUnESS
REPUTATION: At Liverpool, Souness broke
the jaw of Dinamo Bucharest skipper Lica
Movila with what he described as “the best
punch of my life”. Later, an infamous clip
as player-manager at Rangers showed him
diving knee-high into Steaua’s Gheorghe
Rotariu; today a 10-match ban, but back
then greeted with, “Ooh... that is a booking”
by the rather understated commentator.
“The studs were big and made of iron – his
tackle left deep wounds,” said Rotariu. “The
surgeon told me it could have been fatal if
he’d caught me a few centimetres higher.”
RAZOR SAYS: “I played against Graeme for
Tottenham in Paul Miller’s testimonial back
in the ’80s – I think I kicked someone and
Souness then grabbed me around the throat.
I was only 17 or 18, and that stuck with me
for life. Ray Clemence came and saved me,
thank God. During Liverpool’s great era, a few
of their players had an edge: Tommy Smith,
Jimmy Case, Souness, even Ronnie Whelan
was a dirty little f**ker. Souness became my
manager at Liverpool, and he was still the
hardest tackler when he joined in five-a-side.
He didn’t get on well with Don Hutchison – he
two-footed him from behind a few times. You
had to have some nuts to plant that flag in
the centre circle at Fenerbahce’s ground, too,
like he did when he was Galatasaray boss.
He wasn’t wired up right.”
REPUTATION:Jones’toughguyreputation
stretchedsofarthathebecamea Hollywood
moviestaroffthebackofit.Themidfielder
collected 12 careerredcards,andgrabbed
PaulGascoignebythetesticlesduringa 1987
encounter.BeforeWimbledon’s 1988 FACup
Final against Liverpool, he warned Kenny
Dalglish that he’d “tear his f**king headoff
and puke in the hole”; when the gamebegan,
he settled for scything down Steve McMahon
instead. Jones was known to headbutt toilet
doors pre-match and received the fastest
booking in history – requiring three seconds
to ruin Sheffield United’s Dane Whitehouse.
RAZOR SAYS: “I played with Vinnie on loan
at QPR. He was a great fella and tremendous
to have within the dressing room, but he had
a fuse the size of an ant’s penis. Once, we
were playing at Manchester City and he hit
Georgi Kinkladze in the tunnel before kick-off.
Vinnie’s gone, ‘I’ve f**king done him, lads!’
Kinkladze didn’t start the match, City began
with 10 men, then he came running on with
a bandage around his head, scored a worldie
with his first touch and we were 1-0 down.
I thought, ‘Yeah, that worked well Vincent!’”07
VInnIE
JOnES
HARDEST
PLAYERS
EVERLeft Souness takes
aim at something
other than tired
modern footballers