"But, Walter has matured as a manager!"
That was the cry when he returned to Ibrox. A vicious molestation of Everton FC had been mitigated by a three month stint holding the bibs at Old Trafford, along with glorious failure at the helm of a modestly talented Scottish national side. His time had come to return to the Club where he made his name, and we were assured we were getting a refreshed, modern Smith, hungry for more success and ready to de-rail Celtic's pus-spewing juggernaut.
At the time I remember posting an article from an Everton fans website, bemoaning the antiquated approach taken by Smith during his time at Goodison. In response, many FFers claimed Smith had 'matured' since then, he had learned the lessons from his failure at Everton and was now ready to take on the Rangers challenge in 2007.
More than two years on, we remain static in the exact same League position, albeit with more frequent flirtations with the top perch, and are once again in need of a knight in shining armour to rescue us from the doldrums of turgid mediocrity. A quick scan of our squad should set alarm bells ringing immediately. A £30m spend - luxurious by any standards these days - still sees us with no recognised right-winger in a squad of around 25.
A sixteen-man Cup Final squad with not one single winger in it is almost as stupid as putting four left-sided attackers on the bench for the Old Firm derby on December 27th . Where, one may ask, is this new-found 'maturity'? In late 2008 we saw a run of eight games in which the left-side of midfield was occupied by a different player each week (usually a central midfielder or a striker, naturally) culminating in the emergence of young John Fleck (another striker), who has found himself bombed out of the squad after initially impressing. Walter now seems hell-bent on turning Kyle Lafferty into a winger, but that experiment was abandoned mid-match just at the point it seemed Lafferty was finding his feet in the role.
I could mention that in the last two defeats against Celtic we finished with strike pairings of Lafferty & Papac, then Boyd & Dailly, but I'm trying to keep the tone of this article on the serious side, and any casual onlookers reading that will no doubt presume I was just taking the piss.
See below a typical fans' assessment of Walter's time in charge of their club:
• Utterly awful football with little spirit or creativity
• Despite injuries, the available players appeared to be poorly prepared for each match.
• The 4-5-1 experiment had mostly been a complete disaster.
• Smith had a bizarre aversion to playing wingers, despite having several available
• The policy of buying aging injured players had backfired badly.
• Will NEVER change his mind or admit he's wrong
• Tactically clueless
• Needs a strong control over his spending
• Buys players on reports and videos without seeing them himself
• Very poor relationship with young players
• Attempts to establish a steady regular team selection
• He could not decide on a formation and basic system of playing
• He failed to play most of the players in their best position
• He could not ensure that each player understood the team plan and his particular role within it
• He was blatantly incapable of getting the players fit
Of course, those of you who aren't wilfully blind will have twigged that the above quote came from an Everton fan-site and was written circa 2005.
Scary isn't it? For it is crystal clear the problems Walter brought to Everton - nine years ago - are EXACTLY the problems present at Rangers today. Whether it's myopia or just age-induced stubbornness, 30,000 Toffees screaming at him couldn't get the message across, what hope have we?
We have a man at the helm who will not change his approach until he is sacked and he will not, ever, hold his hands up and admit he got it wrong. He has failed to win the League in his last two attempts (98 and 08) yet is still regarded as some sort of 'Old Master' who cannot be criticised or questioned. We are told he 'knows the score' despite all signs pointing to the contrary, as he blunders from one decision to the next, seemingly intent on reproducing his failed Everton side in a lighter shade of blue.
It is often said that good managers don't become bad managers overnight, but what the hell do you do when the horse you backed wasn't even a good 'un in the first place? You give it a mercy-bullet in the temple. Here's hoping Walter Smith chooses a more enjoyable but equally permanent mode of retirement sometime soon.
That was the cry when he returned to Ibrox. A vicious molestation of Everton FC had been mitigated by a three month stint holding the bibs at Old Trafford, along with glorious failure at the helm of a modestly talented Scottish national side. His time had come to return to the Club where he made his name, and we were assured we were getting a refreshed, modern Smith, hungry for more success and ready to de-rail Celtic's pus-spewing juggernaut.
At the time I remember posting an article from an Everton fans website, bemoaning the antiquated approach taken by Smith during his time at Goodison. In response, many FFers claimed Smith had 'matured' since then, he had learned the lessons from his failure at Everton and was now ready to take on the Rangers challenge in 2007.
More than two years on, we remain static in the exact same League position, albeit with more frequent flirtations with the top perch, and are once again in need of a knight in shining armour to rescue us from the doldrums of turgid mediocrity. A quick scan of our squad should set alarm bells ringing immediately. A £30m spend - luxurious by any standards these days - still sees us with no recognised right-winger in a squad of around 25.
A sixteen-man Cup Final squad with not one single winger in it is almost as stupid as putting four left-sided attackers on the bench for the Old Firm derby on December 27th . Where, one may ask, is this new-found 'maturity'? In late 2008 we saw a run of eight games in which the left-side of midfield was occupied by a different player each week (usually a central midfielder or a striker, naturally) culminating in the emergence of young John Fleck (another striker), who has found himself bombed out of the squad after initially impressing. Walter now seems hell-bent on turning Kyle Lafferty into a winger, but that experiment was abandoned mid-match just at the point it seemed Lafferty was finding his feet in the role.
I could mention that in the last two defeats against Celtic we finished with strike pairings of Lafferty & Papac, then Boyd & Dailly, but I'm trying to keep the tone of this article on the serious side, and any casual onlookers reading that will no doubt presume I was just taking the piss.
See below a typical fans' assessment of Walter's time in charge of their club:
• Utterly awful football with little spirit or creativity
• Despite injuries, the available players appeared to be poorly prepared for each match.
• The 4-5-1 experiment had mostly been a complete disaster.
• Smith had a bizarre aversion to playing wingers, despite having several available
• The policy of buying aging injured players had backfired badly.
• Will NEVER change his mind or admit he's wrong
• Tactically clueless
• Needs a strong control over his spending
• Buys players on reports and videos without seeing them himself
• Very poor relationship with young players
• Attempts to establish a steady regular team selection
• He could not decide on a formation and basic system of playing
• He failed to play most of the players in their best position
• He could not ensure that each player understood the team plan and his particular role within it
• He was blatantly incapable of getting the players fit
Of course, those of you who aren't wilfully blind will have twigged that the above quote came from an Everton fan-site and was written circa 2005.
Scary isn't it? For it is crystal clear the problems Walter brought to Everton - nine years ago - are EXACTLY the problems present at Rangers today. Whether it's myopia or just age-induced stubbornness, 30,000 Toffees screaming at him couldn't get the message across, what hope have we?
We have a man at the helm who will not change his approach until he is sacked and he will not, ever, hold his hands up and admit he got it wrong. He has failed to win the League in his last two attempts (98 and 08) yet is still regarded as some sort of 'Old Master' who cannot be criticised or questioned. We are told he 'knows the score' despite all signs pointing to the contrary, as he blunders from one decision to the next, seemingly intent on reproducing his failed Everton side in a lighter shade of blue.
It is often said that good managers don't become bad managers overnight, but what the hell do you do when the horse you backed wasn't even a good 'un in the first place? You give it a mercy-bullet in the temple. Here's hoping Walter Smith chooses a more enjoyable but equally permanent mode of retirement sometime soon.