Will it be another season like 1998?

[maineflyer 0]

After the experience of 1998 I can hardly believe Walter is again going to approach another season having announced his departure in advance. Trying to name McCoist as his eventual successor may cut some mustard with the dressing room but I never think it has worked to tell players in advance that you're not going to be their boss next season.

 

I really hope it doesn't work against him but I'm not convinced this is a good idea, despite the strange times we live in.

[Guest Northampton_loyalist]

The two are barely the same. In '98 Smith removed stability and future planning by annuncing his departure, in 2010 he removed doubt and added stability by announcing he would be staying for another year (not to mention the luxury of having a plan for 2 seasons rather than the now accustomary 2 weeks.

[calscot 0]

I agree it was a strange decision the first time which many believe was a big reason behind the ultimately barren season.

 

It was a very strange season that one if I remember correctly. We started off playing brilliantly with a new formation and pressing tactics and I remember we ripped Hearts and Dundee Utd apart with some great football. Negri was also scoring at a far higher rate than Boyd (although while looking miserable) and things were looking good.

 

Then, after thrashing some Faro Islands mob, we were absolute pants in Europe, losing to Gothenburg in the CL qualifier and then Strasbourg in the UEFA cup.

 

That prompted a huge backlash from the fans as we were sick of our poor success in Europe while the memory of '92 was still reasonably fresh in our minds.

 

Walter then made the decision to leave (or was persuaded by SDM) and things started to go downhill from there.

 

A big factor was also the curious saga of Negri and a squash ball which meant he hardly played for us again and when he did he wasn't the same player.

 

We were still somewhat competitive domestically although went out of the League Cup in the quarters although we dented our chances with a couple of losses and a string of draws in new year.

 

However it was a couple of bad loss at the last few games of the season where we really lost the league by only two points.

 

We never recovered from that and went on to lose the cup final.

 

The lack of spirit in the second half of the season was plain to see and the loss of Negri turned the screw. Avoiding two of the defeats at the end of the season would have won us the double but there was just no fight there at all.

 

I agree he should have learned from that and I'm also wary that he'll be taking a more hands off role while giving McCoist more control of team selections.

 

It doesn't bode that well.

[Guest Flying Hippo]

Walter was too loyal to the 9 in a row heroes in the 97/98 season

 

Durie, McCall, Ian Ferguson, McCoist were all past it

Gascoigne was off his nut, Laudrup's mind was on London and the World Cup

 

 

Also, signing a half fit 30 something Swede and an abysmal Norwegian left back didn't help

[Gazza_8 233]

Walter was too loyal to the 9 in a row heroes in the 97/98 season

 

Durie, McCall, Ian Ferguson, McCoist were all past it

Gascoigne was off his nut, Laudrup's mind was on London and the World Cup

 

 

Also, signing a half fit 30 something Swede and an abysmal Norwegian left back didn't help

 

I know what you're saying but that half fit Swede scored a right stoosher against Celtic which in the end meant nothing apart from bragging rights for a game or two.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK0dY5aLrvI&feature=PlayList&p=E15B3AE725C52AA4&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=28]Thern v Celtic[/ame]

[Zappa 0]

None of us here can see the future, so it's impossible to say how next season will play out or the following season under Coisty for that matter (assuming he becomes the manager next year that is). What I'll say is that we CAN make it 3IAR next season & 4IAR the following season even without our goal machine & wee Nacho. It won't be easy though...

[maineflyer 0]

I absolutely agree we CAN do it again next year but I still have doubts about the wisdom of managing through a season knowing it's your last. For some reason it almost never seems to end well. Or am I just being supersticious?

[Totti 0]

Celtic are so pish at the moment that despite it being unclear if we'll even be capable of fielding 11 fit professional footballers, we still have a fairly good chance of winning the league.

[Frankie 8,150]

This is something I wanted to talk about last week when I heard about Walter re-signing.

 

At first, like most bears probably, I was delighted that he was staying on but on reflection I immediately thought of previous examples (like 1998) where it isn't always a good motivational tool to let your staff know you're leaving.

 

On the other hand because we know McCoist is to be the new man, hopefully the staff will realise if they don't play to the required levels, they won't be here next season. Similarly, for those who are out of contract next summer (Thomson, Wilson et al) the McCoist information may give them security.

 

Problem is, what happens if we have an awful season on the pitch. McCoist will surely be seen as culpable by the support so how can we possibly give him the job then?

 

All in all, I'm going to stick with my first instinct and see this as good news. Mainly because we needed Smith to stay on and that I'm sure he will have learned and hurt from what happened in 1998 more than anyone.

[Frankie 8,150]

PS: This subject would make a good article for the main site MF....