ian1964 10,486 Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 PATIENCE is rarely a virtue when it comes to the Old Firm but Walter Smith believes he's now reaping the rewards of a slow-burner approach with key members of his squad. The Ibrox boss is only too aware that a quick-fix is normally the order of the day at Rangers or Celtic. But after adopting the strategy used by Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Smith feels the long-term approach taken with the signing of guys such as Steven Naismith, Kyle Lafferty, Kirk Broadfoot and Steven Whittaker is now paying dividends. Whittaker has blossomed into a genuine top-class performer after a tentative start to his Ibrox career, Lafferty is finally coming good while Naismith has arguably been the best player in the country during the first four months of the season. And Smith said: "Patience and the Old Firm don't go hand in hand but I felt we had to look longer term because of the position we were in. "In the past, we looked for players who would be instant successes and the pressure was on us to do that. Now we have to look a bit further into the future. "At Man United, for example, they bring in younger players and the older ones in the group handle that situation and help bring them on. "Cristiano Ronaldo scored five or six goals in his first two or three seasons then all of a sudden he was into the 20s, 30s and 40s by his last season. "You have to allow these players time to mature. The same thing has happened with a number of our players although we had a problem with Naismith in that his injury interrupted the process. "With Whittaker, he has met the demands of playing for the Old Firm and it has improved him as a player. "Some players don't handle the constant pressure but the majority of the group we've got have handled it extremely well and revelled in it in many ways." As he geared up for tonight's visit of Hibs, Smith revealed the obstacles players must overcome if they are to meet the unique demands of playing for the Old Firm. He said: "Players in their late teens and early 20s often produce a good performance and then go down a bit. "With Naismith, you could see his level of ability, but he might not be the same in another game. "The main thing players gain here is a consistency of performance and you can see it with Naismith now. "Whittaker and Broadfoot have raised their levels too and young John Fleck is coming in just now. "He has been here for a few years and knows the demands but it takes these players a while to impose themselves on games. John is going to have to start where Naismith started." Colin Calderwood brings his struggling Hibs side to Ibrox on the back of three straight defeats, including a brutal beating in Sunday's derby at home to Hearts. But Smith has warned his players to be wary of a backlash from the Easter Road outfit who roll up in Govan with nothing to lose. Three points pretty much looks a given for the SPL leaders on paper although Smith admits he is still concerned by the damaging effect of his team's gruelling Champions League campaign. The Gers boss feels his side's mental focus has been blunted in recent weeks on the back of tough European assignments. It's a an affliction not just confined to his own team, with Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal and Group C rivals Valencia all losing at the weekend after being on Champions League the previous midweek. Smith said: "It is not always a physical thing. It is a mental thing. Look at Spurs. "How do they go from beating European champions Inter Milan to losing at Bolton? "Mentally, you are not attuning yourself to the game. "We've handled our matches after Champions League fixtures OK but have been slow to start them. "At St Mirren the other day we had 76 per cent possession in the first half but we never had the edge to go any further. I don't think their keeper had a save to make other than punching the ball into his own goal. "You need that extra edge and we got it for the first 25 minutes of the second half. "It's a natural thing to happen and it is difficult to counter. "Man United do it by changing players and they've also got to a situation where they are well used to it. It's normal. "For us, we have to expend a hell of a lot of energy in the Champions League and we need to do it in every game. "Tottenham are in their first year in the contest and they are seeing it as well. It is a problem. Last season, we dropped a fair number of points after European games and it was a bit of a concern. It still is as we have a hell of a run of fixtures right now. "The edge has come off the team in spells. "We scored the first goal against Inverness and then just played within the game. The edge was missing. "But we have a small group and can't really change things round. "We've been a bit flat in several matches. We have Hibs and Aberdeen next. They have both shown us before that they will make it difficult and these two games are dangerous ones." TeamNews Vladimir Weiss is in line to play against Hibs at Ibrox tonight despite struggling with injury. The Slovakian winger has been troubled with severe bruising on his heel but has trained over the last couple of days and will be available for selection. Rangers manager Walter Smith has no fresh injury concerns but long-term crocks Andy Webster, James Beattie and Nikica Jelavic are still sidelined. BETBOX Kenny Miller can't stop scoring in the SPL and has six in four games against his former club (including a hat-trick this season). Back Miller to score two or more at 5-2. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/rangers/2010/11/10/walter-smith-rangers-long-term-policy-of-investing-in-youth-has-paid-off-86908-22705747/ 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totti 0 Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 For a player of supposedly limited ability, Kirk Broadfoot often looks very capable technically IMO. He's certainly improved but even when he signed I thought he looked very comfortable on the ball. The comments George Burley made about him were horrible. If you say something along the lines of 'he's not the best in the world', what it means is the player 'isn't really much use'. He's one of the better Scottish players though. Fair play to Walter for spotting the talent in him because even St Mirren fans thought of him as a loose cannon at times 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazza_8 233 Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 Kirk Broadfoot has improved playing under WS by a country mile. However, I wouldn't say he's capable technically. He seems to panic when the ball's at his feet in the opposition final 3rd but that's only because he's a defender. He likes to dive too. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,486 Posted November 10, 2010 Author Share Posted November 10, 2010 Kirk Broadfoot has improved playing under WS by a country mile. However, I wouldn't say he's capable technically. He seems to panic when the ball's at his feet in the opposition final 3rd but that's only because he's a defender. He likes to dive too. What!!!!, dive??,I hope you are kidding with this quote?? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 What!!!!, dive??,I hope you are kidding with this quote?? The brainwashing appears to be working. :devil: 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totti 0 Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 gazza's become a tim apologist this week/! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.