GRAEME Souness has paid a warm tribute to Bernard Hill following the passing of the celebrated English actor and recounted working alongside him on the cult BBC television drama series Boys From The Blackstuff in the 1980s.
Souness and his Liverpool team mate Sammy Lee made cameo appearances as themselves in Alan Bleasdale’s tragicomic look at the impact of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s policies on the working class people of Britain.
The Scotland midfielder meets the Hill character Yosser Hughes – whose catchphrases “gizza job” and “I can do that” became part of popular culture at the time – in a bar with Lee and signs an autograph for him.
Former Rangers manager Souness, who received the special merit award at the PFA Scotland awards ceremony in Glasgow on Sunday night, recalled being struck by the ease with which Hill, who would later go on to appear in the blockbuster movies Titanic and Lord of the Rings, changed his persona.
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“He was a wonderful actor and he was very kind to myself and Sammy Lee on the times we met him,” he said. “He was very generous with his time. Although I think we managed to do it in two takes!
“I remember sitting with him and the director in the morning having a coffee and him being nice, pally Bernard Hill. But in five seconds he became Yosser Hughes which was quite scary. It was at a time of great social upheaval in Liverpool.”
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Meanwhile, Souness has told Rangers' players they shouldn’t need comments from the Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers to fire them up for the Old Firm game.
Rodgers stated after his team’s victory over Hearts at the weekend that he is looking forward to having “a bit of fun” in the cinch Premiership meeting against Philippe Clement’s side at Parkhead on Saturday.
Clement branded the remarks disrespectful following his team’s 4-1 win against Kilmarnock in Govan on Sunday – a result which reduced the top flight leaders’ cushion at the top of the table to three points.
It has been suggested the Northern Irishman’s words will give Rangers extra motivation to triumph against the defending champions in a match which will have massive ramifications in the Scottish title race. However, Souness has dismissed that notion.
The Scotland great, who transformed the fortunes of his boyhood heroes after being appointed manager in 1986 and lifted the Premiership trophy twice, believes James Tavernier and his team mates should be able to lift themselves regardless.
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Asked if he had ever used inflammatory comments from opposition players or managers to gee up his charges during his own time in the dugout, he said: “It’s not a road I went down.
“I take that back to being a player, when I still was one. If anyone said anything mental it meant nothing. That was just the way I was educated. We do our job, we turn up and do it to the best of our ability and hopefully get a bit of work on the day.
“Listen, if you need motivation to play in an Old Firm game then there’s something wrong with you. It’s the biggest derby I’ve ever played in."
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