Graeme Souness' regret over Galatasaray flag and reason for infamous stunt

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Graeme Souness is still remembered for his infamous flag controversy as Galatasaray manager, with Liverpool preparing to play the Turkish club in the Champions LeagueLiverpool icon Graeme Souness has previously confessed to regretting his notorious flag incident during his time as Galatasaray boss. Ex-Liverpool striker Saunders struck the decisive blow in the 116th minute, but Souness believed he had unfinished business with a Fenerbahce official."One of their [Fenerbahce's] vice-presidents had said 'What are Galatasaray doing signing a cripple?' He was referring to the open-heart surgery I had," Souness previously revealed to Goals on Sunday.READ MORE: Gary Neville makes definitive Arsenal claim as Liverpool sent alarming title warningREAD MORE: Liverpool star slammed by club legends after 'horrendous' display - 'He couldn't pass'"We win the trophy and after the game, all of our players ran down to one end where our supporters were and that great big flag was handed over.

"It's one of them things that you wish you hadn't done, but at the time, it seemed like a good idea," he admitted.While Souness may have had second thoughts about his behaviour, he continues to be adored by Galatasaray supporters. Many years later, former Liverpool striker Saunders, who netted 21 goals for Galatasaray that season, vividly remembered the chaos in the stadium."Not only were 62,000 people devastated they had lost to Galatasaray, he then picked the flag up and ran past me to the centre circle, but he couldn't get it in," Saunders recounted on talkSPORT in 2023.

"He ran past me on his way back and I just said 'all the best'."This Fenerbahce fan has tried to get to him by the tunnel and he's gone bang, right hook. All the riot police with the shields, they were Galatasaray fans and were saying 'how dare you break Graeme Souness' hands with your jaw'.