Graeme Souness and his Celtic blast showed shock jock tactics but he forgets handing out Rangers bans - Hugh Keevins

I’ve got Graeme Souness ’ number. I mean his modus operandi – not his mobile number.

I know I have because it’s the same one I’m sometimes listed under on the media team sheet. Souey’s got himself a new earner on talkSPORT, where a memorable phrase like calling Celtic the “unacceptable face of Scottish football” is the verbal equivalent of sticking the ball in the net and discussing how it got there at a later date.

I’m uniquely placed to interpret how the broadcasting game works because I’ve been lobbing grenades on the radio for so long it was still called the wireless when I threw the first one. Nearly 40 years of on-air combat tells me Graeme has picked up the tricks of the trade and learned how to fire the scatter gun with commendable speed.

He certainly wasn’t accurate in terms of what he said about Celtic but he gained widespread notoriety for the outfit who employ him. Graeme has been freed to say the kind of things his masters at Sky Television would rather he didn’t because they prefer harmonious relationships within the game.

They might yet, I suspect, have a quiet word in his ear for future reference however – particularly if Celtic’s lawyers check out Souness’ words for evidence of defamation. Shock jock tactics can occasionally carry consequences. Souey used to ban me from Ibrox when he was Rangers ’ manager, for instance, but I never took offence.

As I’ve said before now, fewer more interesting men have had me thrown off the premises. And he did confront head on his own club’s discriminatory practice of not signing Catholic players, which placed them in the category in which he placed Celtic last week, so he knows right from wrong. But, the question is, are Celtic the unacceptable face of Scottish