The Aftermath: Season 2008/2009 and the unexpected success.

Last updated : 01 June 2009 By Northampton Loyalist
In January Rangers stared down the barrel of a barren season, barren of silverware, barren of revenue and barren of style and flair. Rangers failing to lift the title, as we all know, could have held implications more far reaching than simply leaving the flag flying over the foreign lands of the East. The financial woes we face would have been compounded further, the players would have twice failed to make the grade under a manager who so many invested so much faith in and the susurration coming from the stands, virtual as well as real, would have grown. In short, a failure to pick up the title would have spelled genuine disaster.

A seemingly impossible run to the finishing line was put together, with results, bar one mishap at Easter road, going our way. The results far outstripped the performances though, and many of the underlying problems were still in evidence during games in which we variously failed to kill off opponents, use any width or genuinely entertain the support.

And then Dundee United happened, a performance that saw us spring from the traps with a real attacking purpose, a purpose that was richly rewarded in terms of goals and result, not to mention a 52nd title. To a man the support celebrated a hard fought prize, not only out of the joy and relief gained through a vital title win, but because a side so often criticized for its lack of invention had performed so well under such scrutiny and pressure.
 
And so to the Cup Final. With expectations lifted by the title winning performance of a week earlier Rangers were touted as comfortable winners against a side who had scraped to safety on the final day of the season. The hard work had all been done on the previous match day and all that was left was the rounding off of the clubs 11th league and Scottish cup double. Almost predictably though, the script was not followed. A Falkirk side noted for their passing game and not much else dominated a first half in which Rangers' midfield might as well not have played at all. It took a sublime strike from the perennial big game winner Novo to get Rangers a result which in all fairness will be a sickener to the Falkirk support. Ultimately the record books will show nothing more than a league and cup double, and for the next few weeks, we will do well to remember that fact.


Smith has come in for some fierce criticism over the course of the last 2 and a half seasons, some justified, some wild and unfounded. Both are ultimately healthy, they provoke debate and ideas, force people into discourse on the ways and means of pushing the club forward and for all but the most firmly entrenched, they help people to form more balanced opinions. We do need to remember that the successes that Wattie has brought to the club since his return are beyond those even the most optimistic supporter envisioned, and remember also the position of desperation that prompted his second coming. His trophy haul and European adventure this time around have been on a level not seen for the best part of a decade and for that every supporter should give the man a hearty thank you.

There are, however, some glaring and potentially very dangerous frailties at our club. Many of those are out of the jurisdiction of a team manager, but there are problems on the park that need addressing, both in terms of personnel and tactics.


Is Smith the man, to carry us onwards and upwards? Can he add an element of entertainment to our play on a consistent basis? do we need him to? Will his recent successes be continued into the next season? Does he deserve a further season in the best job in the world?

It is equally as easy to say yes as no to the last question for me, his job on returning to Ibrox was primarily one of stabilization, his remit was simply to end the series of disasters that had seen us fall far behind our only rival, and indeed Hearts. Not one person can say he has failed in that task. The argument can be made, and be made convincingly, that he has earned a further season in the champions league, to build on the work he has done in returning our position at the top of the league.

It can also be argued that his tactics are unlikely to change, his team selections will probably continue to cause raised eyebrows and the football on show will remain one dimensional and ultimately boring. He is a vastly experienced manager, and alongside all the obvious benefits that brings, it also adds a certainty that his style of management is ingrained and not liable to change.

It seems that, put simply, the trade off is a high chance of success on the field, at the expense of genuine entertainment.

For myself, now, I believe we should take a little time to put perspective on the successes of the last 2 weeks. The immediate aftermath of this cup winning performance should not be filled with accusations and recriminations, but with a little joy at a job completed, we should collectively bask in the warm feeling the title brings, the opportunity for gloating it presents and enjoy the obvious deflation of the enemy. The debates and arguments that are inevitable will be enhanced when we know for certain just what the plan for the future is, who will stay and who will go.