Graeme Souness tells Gary Neville he ‘oversteps the mark’ with his ‘crusades nobody’s interested in’

Graeme Souness has aimed a parting shot at Gary Neville as he delivered his verdict on Sky Sports’ leading pundits days after leaving the broadcaster.

The Liverpool and Scotland legend announced his departure from Sky following Liverpool’s 4-3 victory over Tottenham at the weekend. 

During his 15 years with the broadcaster, the fiery pundit was involved in many fierce debates with the likes of Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher.

The 69-year-old appeared as a guest on William Hill’s  Up Front with Simon Jordan podcast in which he said that Neville can ‘overstep the mark’ with some of his on-air ‘crusades’. 

Neville has since hit back at the Scotsman, saying that it ‘isn’t the Souness’ he spoke to on Sunday.

He described Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher as the ‘Chuckle Brothers’ as they ‘make him chuckle’ though he also hit out at the Manchester United legend

He said Neville can ‘overstep the mark’ with some of his ‘crusades’ that’s ‘nobody’s interested in’ 

When asked who he liked during his time at Sky, Souness replied: ‘I like Roy Keane, listening to Roy. The Chuckle Brothers (Carragher and Neville) are entertaining.

‘Well I think Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher can be entertaining. It makes me chuckle anyway.’

Jordan in response to Souness said: ‘I spend a lot of time, not because I want to give him too much substance but because he’s a busy b******* anyway. 

‘I spend a lot of time calling out Neville, calling him the mayor of Manchester, the de-facto mayor of Manchester, the backroom lawyer. Do you think I’m wrong for doing that?’

Souness then admitted: ‘I think he fights every cause going. I’ve got to choose my words (carefully). I think he does overstep the mark with some of these crusades that he goes on.

‘Because no one’s really interested in listening to him with certain subjects.’

Souness and Neville were involved in many on-air spats, with perhaps the notable incident this season coming during Sky’s broadcast of Liverpool’s 7-0 victory over Manchester United.

Neville and Souness’ biggest spat this season came after Liverpool’s 7-0 win over Man United

Souness said Roy Keane (left) took the defeat gracefully while Neville insisted that United ‘weren’t that bad’ and Liverpool did not play well despite their 7-0 thrashing of their rivals 

Before the game, the Scotsman said that he had ‘never felt more confident’ about a Liverpool victory in a game between the two sides despite the Reds going through a tough season.

Keane and Neville could barely contain themselves as they both sported massive grins – but it was Souness who had the last laugh as Liverpool wiped the floor with their rivals to inflict the heaviest defeat in their history.

Souness said that after the game, Keane took the defeat ‘gracefully’ and claimed Neville insisted that United ‘weren’t that bad’ and Liverpool did not perform well. 

He told Jordan: ‘I think Roy was boiling inside but took it gracefully. He knew his team hadn’t turned up – they were miserable.

Souness (left) announced his Sky Sports exit after Liverpool’s victory against Tottenham

‘Gary chose to see it that Manchester United weren’t that and Liverpool weren’t that good.

‘After the game we’re up in the studio and there’s four of us, me, Carra, Gary and Roy and in one of the breaks, Gary said “Well Liverpool weren’t very good today”.

‘And then we went back on air. I challenged him on that. I said “are you prepared to repeat?”

‘I said “you called me out before the game (over his confidence about a Liverpool victory) and I repeated on-air what I was willing to say off-air, are you willing to do the same?” And he was reluctant to do it. 

‘And I have to say I enjoyed that bit of television as much as any television I’ve worked in the last 20 years. My team beats their biggest rival 7-0.’