sairdy 0 Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 I felt the same about Smiths 1st appointment as I do about Ally's. I am behind Ally 100% I am not behind the decision to appoint him though. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,290 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 (edited) I tend to look at the overall picture. cada un a la propietat no The overall picture is that during his reigns Rangers ruled Scottish football. To some, this is a "we have to do that anyway", others see a 40odd game fight year in and year out. The former is what I denoted as some kind of arrogancy. There is no right for us to win every title in Scotland that there is because we are who we are. Football never worked and works like that. We had to fight for every single title and the driving force behind that was the Old Fox. And to simply dismiss Celtic as being crap is the same arrogancy, as there were others out there to provide resistance. It was hardly the case that we strolled through the NIAR seasons, statistics do not lie, you know. This success sure got into people's heads and apparently they demanded more. Sometimes money buys you success, but out there in Europe, there were and are teams who can and did splash money about as we did, who drew and draw better players than we were and thus they were quality-wise better than us, and thus Walter. Our best chance of claiming European silver was in 1993 and 2008. Once we were denied by football fortune (and some betting frauds, as we know now), the other time by a team of far better ability and quality than we were (and some malign antics from the Scottish football authorities and fellow teams in the SPL). To consider what we have actually achieved during Smith's reign, you should have a look at what all those other teams we have faced in e.g. Europe have won during the same time (counting out Bayern, ManU and Barca, of course). Or, on the other hand, the silverware these big guns like Arsenal or Man City or Tottenham with their grand managers and even grander players have raked in. You know, considering your dislike for a manager like Smith, this lot down south must be living in dispair for decades ... Edited June 17, 2011 by der Berliner 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sairdy 0 Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 It is not arrogant to say that celtic were crap for at least 4 out the nine in a row season. It is a fact. We did not stroll threw all of these seasons, we did however stroll threw 4 of them. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Reason 1. We got rid of SDM.Reason 2. We won the league. Reason 3. Europe after x-mas. Reason 4. We got rid of Smith. Reason 5 We won an old firm cup final. I put them in order of importance to me. I was a fan of SDM for about 2 years then my point of view started to change on him. If we won nothing but got rid of him, the season would have been a good one. The league, Europe and cup speak for themselves. I was never a big fan of Smith particularly in his first spell. I was not happy that he was back. I think that he has done remarkably well in his second go, however I am glad that he is gone. What do you guys think? For me it would be - We won the league again, so Champions, 3IAR, No.54 and a brilliant way for Walter to leave. Winning the League Cup Final and the way in which it was won with the amazing Wiess pass and unbelievable Jela goal. Made a very credible account of ourselves in Europe considering our low budget and club problems. Coming back from being behind 2-0 against the sheep to win 2-3 at Shitoddrie earlier in the season. Quality!!! The team spirit and way we looked so on top of games in the run in. We really battered some teams there. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Just looked back at that and I'm not sure any more. Maybe 5 and 4 would be reversed in my list, but it's nothing serious... 1 to 3 are the most important... :spl: 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,290 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 It is not arrogant to say that celtic were crap for at least 4 out the nine in a row season. It is a fact. We did not stroll threw all of these seasons, we did however stroll threw 4 of them. It is arrogant to assume we have a right to win everything there is in Scotland. As much arrogant as it is disrespectful to the rest of the teams in the SPL. NB: We strolled through 7IAR, there rest was hard work, rewarded with an advantage of 2 to 5 points lead at the end. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sairdy 0 Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 You seem stuck on this arrogant thing Der Berliner. At no point have I ever said that I assume we have the right to win anything. Zappa, Does the end of SDM not rank in your top 5? ( I will stay away from asking anybody else about Smith...) Thanks for the reply. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,290 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Matter of fact, while replying to you, I never said that you are arrogant, just remarking on what I feel is arrogant fan behaviour / belief 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedan 93 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 I'd have had him indefinitely. Don't get me wrong, I know he had his flaws - he was not a perfect manager. But how well he did in his second spell given the travesty of PLG and the excruciating end to Eck was a stunning turn around. He knew the SPL better than anyone else and even up against a cash rich Celtic with a huge squad managed to win the league. The truth is what did you expect from us? Barcelona? PLG tried that open football and was torn to pieces in the SPL. In the state we ended up in, Walter Smith was a better manager than we could realistically afford. He's the only manager to have got us to a European final and within a point of the CL final. Now we go into an uncertain era with a rookie manager who's got everyone's support but no one knows how good he will be. For all I know he'll play astonishing football and we'll be 80 points clear after 3 matches. But at this time, the stabilising hands of Walter will be missed. Great post and I fully agree. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
54andcounting 0 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 It is not arrogant to say that celtic were crap for at least 4 out the nine in a row season. It is a fact. We did not stroll threw all of these seasons, we did however stroll threw 4 of them. Funny how some say Celtic were crap when we won 9iar - Yet when we win the title nowadays it's The Bheasts who say we are crap - Strange Seems no matter what Rangers do....their titles are 'tarnished' 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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