Walter Smith's ibrox of tricks

[ian1964 10,416]

Walter Smith is a phenomenon. At the age of 62, after 44 years in professional football, he has become a Patton without the bluster, a Churchill without the growling. Well, not in public at any rate.

In his final season in charge of his beloved Rangers, his enthusiasm for the task is that of a grizzled general who wants to go to war one more time, a leader who will inspire his men on their last charge together.

 

He does it quietly, of course.

 

After all, it is not as if his record doesn't speak for itself.

 

Smith would need to be manager into his seventies and win every title from now until then to beat the legendary Bill Struth's managerial record of 18 Scottish championships for Rangers, but with nine league flags collected on his own - Souness left before the end of season 1990-91 - plus three as assistant to Souness, not to mention five Scottish Cups, five League Cups and that run to the UEFA Cup final in 2008, Smith's place in the Ibrox club's history has long been secure.

 

There are still a couple of records he might want. As Rangers match secretary and then first manager, William Wilton won four Scottish Cups and ten league titles, the last of them just days before his tragic death from drowning in 1920.

 

Victory in either the Scottish Cup or SPL would give Smith 15 of the big two, second outright behind Struth. A tenth league title would also bring him equal with Jock Stein's record of ten championships.

 

So there is further prestige to play for, and Smith is relishing the prospect of another campaign, even as the club's financial difficulties continue and they have shed Kris Boyd, Kevin Thompson, Danny Wilson, and Nacho Novo, with no replacements brought in as yet.

 

"Everybody that's involved, management, players, everyone, has to accept the challenge of a new season," said Smith. "It doesn't matter how many you manage to win, you still face a huge challenge to show that you can do it again.

 

"If you look at it historically, there are teams that can get up there and win a championship, but to try and win it year after year is a difficult motivation for anybody.

 

"I admire guys in sport who can repeat their success season after season, as that is the true test of any team or individual.

 

"It makes no difference that this is my last season. You still have that determination to succeed and if I didn't, I wouldn't have come back for another year. The easiest thing for me would have been to say 'that's it, I'm finishing' but the determination is still there."

 

Smith also knows not to disturb a winning formula: "We need to bring in a few players, everybody knows that.

 

But we are set in what we do and we have been doing it for the past three-and-a-half years, there's no reason to change anything. As far as the organisational aspect goes, we will be doing exactly the same as what we have been doing."

 

At least the immediate future of Rangers in David Murray's ownership is secure, to Smith's relief: "The situation has maybe been clarified. Last year we had four or five months of somebody going to be buying the club. Hopefully, if somebody is going to buy the club in the future then they do so in a bit quieter fashion than we had last year."

 

How Smith keeps his patience in the face of banking intransigence nobody knows. Judging by recent reports, it appears he has a case-by-case kitty for acquisitions this month, so Rangers fans should not hold their breath for big signings as the debt-ridden club's entire budget is under constant accounting scrutiny.

 

Lloyds Bank has apparently made it clear to Rangers that maybe, just maybe, it might allow some of the Champions League income - boosted by more than �£2 million to a likely �£12m-plus by Celtic's exit last week - to be spent on players in the January transfer window. But that's a banker's maybe, the kind on which you wouldn't bet your bottom, never mind your dollar.

 

Smith merely commented: "I would hope that if we qualified out of the Champions League group then money would be made available in January, but that's a big ask for us. If we got into the Europa League knockout stages that would also be financially beneficial for us. We'll just have to wait and see."

 

How will they fare without the goal machine called Boyd? "It's an important factor for us," replied Smith. "We saw a bit of what was needed in the second half of the season when he didn't score as much, but it's going to be a big hole to fill. Whatever criticism anyone - including myself - had of Boydie, he got us a level of goals that was invaluable."

 

The spine of the team is already laid out, said Smith, with McGregor in goals, Majid Bougherra and the evergreen Davie Weir in central defence and Steven Davis and Lee McCulloch in midfield, and Kenny Miller and A.N. Other up front.

 

Davis in particular will be a vital cog: "He has moved into the middle which I feel can strengthen us. We just need to fill in at the front with support for Kenny Miller, which we're trying to do at the moment."

 

Main rivals as ever will be Celtic, and their difficulties against Sporting Braga should be ignored, said Smith.

 

"If you change the number of players that have been changed at Celtic it would be difficult for anybody to mould a team to play. I've experienced it myself - you don't get any continuity if you make that many changes.

 

I don't think that will be an indicator of how Celtic will fare once they settle down."

 

When Smith ended his first tenure at Rangers, he announced his departure early in the 1997-98 season which did not end with Rangers winning a record tenth title in a row.

 

Smith sees this three-in-a-row farewell bid as markedly different: "I don't think the circumstances we are in at the moment can be looked upon as anything like that.

 

"It's just about whether we as a group, management and players, take up the challenge for another season."

 

No one should doubt his ability to be Rangers' general one more time. This is Walter Smith's last hurrah, and that's worth shouting about.

 

 

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