The Liverpool legend has come under fire for saying the thrilling Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge “showed it was a man’s game all of a sudden”. talkSPORT Souness explained his comments but was unrepentant Souness was referring to referee Anthony Taylor’s more liberal approach to allowing multiple tackles in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham, but faced criticism for making the comments while sitting next to former England Women’s international Karen Carney. Speaking to Sky Sports, Souness said: “Referees leave a lot more and that makes for a better watch. We’ve all played the game, with simulation and people being thrown to the ground. I haven’t seen it in the two games today. It’s a man’s game all of a sudden now.” Souness joined White and Jordan on talkSPORT for his now regular appearance on Monday morning and addressed the controversy surrounding his comments. When asked by host Jim White if he regretted what he said, the 69-year-old replied: “Not a word. Let me explain. I have argued for years that referees have such an important role to play in the success of the Premier League. “We have to be careful what we say today and I wasn’t very good at it, but we were becoming like the other leagues. “They were whistling all the time and it wasn’t a good watch. Our game has always been unique, meatier, more in your face and more intense and we got away from that. “My comments yesterday were that we’ve got our game back. This is the kind of football I remember playing. Getty The “Battle on the Bridge” boiled over on several occasions King There were many question marks over Taylor’s refereeing at Stamford Bridge, but Souness liked the fact that he let things go. “We have to get better for it. The instruction to the referees is long overdue, we have got our game back. “I enjoyed two games of football yesterday where men played men and fought and fought each other. “Okay, I don’t think we should condone that thing on the touchline, but I was there. If you are on the touchline and things are not going your way and you feel there has been an injustice. You’ve worked all week for these 90 minutes.” Carney’s former England team-mate Eniola Aluko took to Twitter to criticize Souness following his comments. “Awkward turtles, ‘it’s a man’s game again’ Graeme Souness sat next to England centurion Karen Carney, two weeks after the Lionesses ended a 56-year wait to win the European Championship,” he tweeted. “Come on. It’s not okay.” talkSPORT presenter Simon Jordan hit back at Aluko, calling the furore “ridiculous”. He said: “It’s absurd. I have seen some of the blows. What an absolute load of nonsense. How can someone, a man describing a game with men obviously not be able to use the words man or men in conjunction with an all-male game. “We’re losing context here, we’ve got to a point where we have to say ‘stay here, the Women’s Super League is biased’. AFP Spurs draw 2-2 with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge Getty The flashpoint between Conte and Tuchel was the discussion of the game “Are we entering this territory? It is ridiculous. Graeme made an observation about a game and made it in conjunction with what he was seeing. “If one wants to turn it into something more, one makes a specific cause of equality and injustice. It’s light activism. I see players from the England football team doing a song, I’m so disappointed by it that I think it’s unnecessary. “If you want to take someone’s conversation out of context, twist it and turn it into something it wasn’t, then that’s what you have to do. “It doesn’t mean people should be blamed, it doesn’t mean we need presenters on the show to say ‘it’s a women’s game too.’ “You don’t need it. I don’t think Graeme is a dinosaur, I don’t think he’s a misogynist, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with what he said. “I have a 14-year-old daughter and I want her to compete in the world and be given the best opportunities, how many old cobblers.”
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