Of all football pundits, Graeme Souness is perhaps the one with the reputation for being the most outspoken.
During his time as a pundit in various guises on RTÉ, Sky Sports, and ITV, Souness has clashed with fellow pundits, as well as caused controversy for questionable embittered remarks about active players.
The Scot stepped aside as a Sky Sports pundit at the end of last season, meaning he is on our TV screens a lot less of late. That does not, however, mean he has escaped the opportunity for more contentious comments.
Souness writes a regular column in the Daily Mail, where readers are given the opportunity to write in with questions for the ex-Liverpool captain.
This week, one of the questions tasked Souness with picking his five favourite British players to play abroad - and he made the rather questionable decision to include Irishman Liam Brady on his list.
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Graeme Souness lavishes Liam Brady with contentious praise
Alongside John Charles, Kevin Keegan, Gareth Bale, and Jimmy Greaves, Souness chose Dub Liam Brady, who lined out for several Italian clubs during the 1980s with great success:
You don't play for Juventus, Sampdoria and Inter Milan without being a talented player and Liam was certainly that.
He played for Ascoli too, who weren't a great side, but his longevity in Italy, spending seven years there, spoke volumes for how he was revered.
It's high praise for Brady to be included alongside such prestigious names, and thoroughly deserved for how outstanding his time in Serie A was. A two-time Scudetto winner with Juventus, Brady was one of the league's finest imports during the '80s and is rightly remembered as the finest Irish player ever to ply their trade on the continent.
30 October 1974; Republic of Ireland players, from left, captain John Giles, Steve Heighway and Liam Brady on his senior international debut during the European Championship 1976 Qualifier - Group 6 match between Republic of Ireland and Soviet Union at Dalymount Park in Dublin. Photo by Connolly Collection/Sportsfile
That is the issue with Souness' selection, however - Brady is Irish, not British. In a 2021 interview with none other than the Daily Mail, Brady drove home that he was already a player plying his trade abroad from the moment he joined Arsenal:
Ken Friar, the Arsenal club secretary, told me I was going to a foreign country and may struggle, but I reminded him I had already done that when I left Ireland for England.
One could question whether the question was shortened in the ultimate Daily Mail publication, removing a clause stipulating that Irish players were also included - but Souness himself clarifies that he is selecting "British players," leaving little doubt as to his gaffe.
It is especially disappointing given Souness worked alongside Brady for several years as part of RTÉ's core soccer panel, around the time that Brady was on the verge of joining up with Giovanni Trapattoni's coaching ticket with the Irish national team.
We are well used to British publications predictably and depressingly claiming Irish talent as their own but for someone who has worked so closely alongside Liam Brady to make such a move feels especially disappointing.
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