Walter and Me; In the Garden

[Frankie 8,150]

Another fine article from Andy_Steel - enjoy!

 

http://www.gersnetonline.co.uk/2010/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=269:walter-and-me-in-the-garden&catid=1:articles&Itemid=67

 

A beautiful, sunny weekend saw me stride confidently toward the garden, planting out some vegetables (I know it's too early, but needs must sometimes) tidying up the last of the daffodils, exhorting my raspeberries on with words of encouragement, and scowling at my gooseberry bush, which refuses to die despite my best efforts. Anyone who has ever 'enjoyed' a gooseberry crumble or tried to prune the spiky plant in question will understand my hatred for it.

 

Another chore was the pruning of my honeysuckle, which was wildly out of control. Luckily, with this sort of Lonerica, one can hack it quite brutally and the plant will recover in 18-24 months or so, producing a fine new growth and flowering shortly thereafter.

 

As I stood there, lopping shears and secateurs in hand, my recurring obsession with seeing life in terms of football kicked in once again. How like Walter Smith I am, I mused, as I cut back here, trim there, and await the new shoots that I can enjoy in years to come. But will Walter, or his successor should that be the case, be able to cut back hard and recover?

 

That's plainly an unanswerable question. Only the coaching staff of our reserve and youth teams will know if we have a crop of players similar to Manchester United's all those years ago. Even they can hardly give a definitive reply! But we all know well enough that the pruning will happen. A question we can answer is, how do we deal with it?

 

Listening to the radio this week, a theme which has cropped up often has been the impending exodus, mostly to England, of the best of Scottish football this summer. Reynolds, McArthur and so on are expected to head to the Championship while their predecessors, Adam, Dorrans and the like, aim for the Premiership. And the adjective which has been used to describe this is usually 'sad'. Apart from the fact that the resumption of this trade - for so long the lifeblood of our teams - will provide a welcome source of income, and exposure for our players, we have to view it as an opportunity.

 

As the older, better players move on, they leave a gap which needs filled; and for once, for the first time in a long time, they will not be replaced by European players of no great ability, other than that of drawing a handsome salary. It will be Scots players who get the nod; players who know what the fans want, since they were fans only a few months ago. Not all of them will make the grade, I suppose, indeed most of them will end up doing the rounds of the lower leagues here and in England, while some will drop out of football altogether.

 

At Rangers, we can at least hope that some of our young replacements will be of a standard that gives them a fighting chance of succeeding. John Fleck, Jamie Ness, Greg Wylde - I'm no expert on Rangers beyond the first team and so offer no comment on the strengths and weaknesses of these and others lads. But I'm willing to give them a chance to shine, to grow and to blossom into the superstars we all hope for.

 

Maybe, when I'm looking at my honeysuckle in the summer of 2012, admiring it's star shaped flower and enjoying the sweet scent, I might think of the players who have delivered title 55 to Rangers, and remember when they first emerged into the first team. And no doubt if they have, they too will be contemplating a move to sunnier climes, and the internet fan will be thinking about who is coming through next.

 

In the garden of Rangers everything is not always rosy; how can it be? But I console myself with the thought that the soil is fertile, there are plenty of willing helpers, and that so long as that remains true there will be seeds waiting to be sown. We may see a brutal summer, but it may lead to a bright future after all.