ian1964 10,449 Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 REMEMBER when this Rangers team was ââ?¬Å?the worst in living memoryââ?¬Â? Remember when they were so poor that Celtic were being told Tony Mowbray had been handed the championship on a plate? Back when Champions League tourists were queueing up to stick four past them at Ibrox, the beating Rangers took off the park was equally merciless. A lot of people mouthed off about how rank rotten they were. There wasnââ?¬â?¢t much Walter Smith could say about it all back then, after Sevilla and Unirea Urziceni had fired in goal after goal in Glasgow. He had to hold his tongue while some Rangers supporters, presumably just out of school, were letting off steam about it being the poorest team to wear the colours. Thatââ?¬â?¢ll be poorer than the side which finished fifth in the league in 1986, then? No-one seems to be coming out with that sort of guff any more. It would look pretty stupid if they did. Rangers have wobbled a few times, including yesterday, but they have lost one domestic match since last April. The starting point for any analysis is that they are demonstrably better than any other side in this country. They havenââ?¬â?¢t been able to buy anyone for ages but over the past three months they have recycled the way they are perceived. Today, there is a general recognition that this group of players have enviable qualities after all. Not losing football matches, for one. So how good is this team which is running away with the league and could end up winning a treble? Smith has laid his cards on the table. Heââ?¬â?¢s miffed that they donââ?¬â?¢t get enough appreciation or credit for a year of domestic consistency. Theyââ?¬â?¢re getting much warmer treatment these days than they did when they were being shown up in Europe, but Smith wants more. He reckons everyone took a mental snapshot of Rangers on the way to the Uefa Cup final two years ago ââ?¬â?? organised, disciplined, committed, defensive to the point of tedium ââ?¬â?? and havenââ?¬â?¢t bothered to update. Heââ?¬â?¢s fed up hearing about ââ?¬Å?resilientââ?¬Â Rangers ââ?¬Å?grinding outââ?¬Â a result. It is entirely natural for Smith to feel protective of, and grateful to, such a tight and close squad of players. But ââ?¬Å?resilientââ?¬Â isnââ?¬â?¢t such a bad description. Itââ?¬â?¢s not the worst thing to be able to recover readily from adversity (embarrassment in Europe, losing Kris Boyd, Kenny Miller and Madjid Bougherra for spells of the season, having to sell Pedro Mendes without hope of a replacement). And as for ââ?¬Å?grinding outââ?¬Â results, thatââ?¬â?¢s just a synonym for consistency. Grinding out a result simply means getting a win or a draw from a mediocre or patchy performance. They did it yesterday. They have won more, lost fewer, scored more, conceded fewer and gathered more points than the league leaders had at this stage last season. They parked the bus in Europe ââ?¬â?? for all the good it did them ââ?¬â?? but they arenââ?¬â?¢t defensive in Scotland. They play a straightforward 4-4-2 and have scored 11 goals more than anyone else in the league. There have been 15 games this season where they have scored three or more goals. Everyone knows about Boyd and Miller, but 29 of Rangersââ?¬â?¢ strikes in all competitions have come from their midfield or back four. The perception of Rangers has been entirely shaped by the financial handcuffs on Smith, the fact he has a shrinking squad and has not been able to buy anyone in the last three transfer windows. But they still have a reservoir of experienced international players. Results in January proved that when they have injuries or suspensions their results can go haywire but, for the most part, the same faces have been available week after week. Smith is never going to recruit the number of cheerleaders for his team that he might like. All their admirable qualities donââ?¬â?¢t add up to Rangers being an exciting or memorable side. They score plenty of goals but, above all, they really are resilient and solid and they graft and get in the oppositionââ?¬â?¢s faces. The maulings they received in Europe only three months ago showed their place in football every bit as much as their dominance of the Scottish scene does. If they were dropped back into Europe tomorrow they would be exposed, pulled around and beaten again. Itââ?¬â?¢s not Rangersââ?¬â?¢ fault that no-one in Scotland can get the better of them. If they do win everything this season, how will this Rangers team be remembered? For Boydââ?¬â?¢s goals? For the pragmatic, functional way they have swotted away dreamy Mowbray? Probably not. First and foremost itââ?¬â?¢ll become ââ?¬Å?the season when Walter Smith won it without any moneyââ?¬Â. The manager would think this unjust, but it could be a team which wins a treble but isnââ?¬â?¢t remembered for its football at all. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/rangers/treble-chance-but-just-how-will-this-rangers-team-be-remembered-1.1013285 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,185 Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 I think that is a fair enough article. Smith (and us bears) may want more praise but other than December our form hasn't really warranted much excitement even if we have managed to get the results. The problem is people expect more than 'just' results and without the resources, that is much more difficult than you may expect. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,449 Posted March 15, 2010 Author Share Posted March 15, 2010 If Rangers do win the treble then it will be a remarkable feat by Walter Smiths' blue & white army and will be remembered as The Walter Smith Treble 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Ally 0 Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 Good piece imo. Only thing i'd take slight umbrage at is the comments on January. Yes we struggled with squad selection due to injury, suspension and the ACN. Yet we still achieved the best results of any team in the league that month, winning 3 of 5, drawing the other 2 (1 of which was at Parkhead). http://soccernet.espn.go.com/team/stats?id=257&cc=5739 Totti will be on to tell us this is boring though and that really we're shit. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisabeer 409 Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 we have far more to thank tony mobray for than we do walter smith. we havent been overly great this season but december onwards has seen an improvement in our general standard of play the humiliation in europe will be with me for along time though. smith may take the plaudits at domestic level but when it comes to europe he has been found to be seriously out of his depth. i wont be remembering this season in any great fondness im afraid. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny 0 Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 This has been a very schizophrenic season - domestically it took us a while to go top of the league - the first half of the season seems to have been forgotten by many as it was Celtic who topped the table more than we did - it's only since December onwards that we've been top although the gap has steadily grown as Mowbray's management has taken full grip while Walter's experience and calm has aided us in the opposite way. But as gisabeer does say, the CL exploits were truly shambolic, even if a concession is that our squad, blighted by our finances, simply wasn't good enough and it wasn't really anyone's fault. Our ritual humiliation at the hands of Unirea was down there with Kaunas for me, and as imperious as we've been in the league in 2010 and tail end of 2009, our European failure is a significant blot on the season. I'd say, overall, though, a potential treble is a potential treble, and I just hope that next season's CL campaign, hopefully aided and abetted by the funding from a new owner, is a much more enriching experience. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny 0 Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 smith may take the plaudits at domestic level but when it comes to europe he has been found to be seriously out of his depth. I'm not sure I agree. I'd suggest our failure was more down to the quality of squad and the financial limitations than anything else. The same manager overcame CL quality teams in 2007/2008 like Fiorentina, Werder Bremen, Sporting, Panathinaikos, Lyon, Stuttgart etc. Difference was back then we had quality like Hutton, Cousin, Ferguson, Cuellar. We don't have marquee players of that quality these days 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmck 117 Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 I'm not sure I agree. I'd suggest our failure was more down to the quality of squad and the financial limitations than anything else. The same manager overcame CL quality teams in 2007/2008 like Fiorentina, Werder Bremen, Sporting, Panathinaikos, Lyon, Stuttgart etc. Difference was back then we had quality like Hutton, Cousin, Ferguson, Cuellar. We don't have marquee players of that quality these days Totally agree with that. I'm not sure another manager could've done significantly more with the same set of players. Because we have big-club vanity, it's just so hard to take results of that sort - but the reality of the finances and the whole situation at the club meant results like that weren't some fluke, or some awful managerial decision. I think we could've played better, but on the whole it probably reflected the difference in quality between the sides. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Preston Burke 0 Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 The vast majority of our squad is nowhere near good enough for European football, rather than our manager being the main problem 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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