Walter Backs Coaching Staff

[Rangers Football Club 0]

WALTER SMITH has insisted that Ally McCoist has not been given the credit he deserves for winning the SFL3 title this season in the extraordinary circumstances that Rangers have found themselves in.

 

And the legendary former manager has also backed the contributions of Kenny McDowall and Ian Durrant, who were the subject of a back-page story this week which claimed their jobs were in jeopardy.

Smith, of course, hired all three men when he returned to Rangers in 2007 and he has nothing but admiration for the work McCoist has done.

He said: â??I donâ??t think he has had the credit he deserves for winning the Third Division when you consider where the club were at the start of the season.

â??I donâ??t think there has ever been a more shambolic pre-season for any club going into a season especially a club like this where the expectation is so great and the expectation was that they would win the league.

â??Bookmakers were saying Rangers would win every game but if you see the way the coaches and the teams operate in the Third Division, they have set themselves up well and gone about their business well added to the fact that the players raise their game when they play Rangers.

â??If you start off the season with people saying you are going to win every match you are going to fall down in their expectations.

â??While Scottish football is criticised for its levels Iâ??ve got to say that against Rangers I have been impressed with the way the other teams have operated. Whether itâ??s the same against the other teams you will have to ask them.

â??Itâ??s been far more difficult that many imagined it would be and I think Rangers and Alistair in particular deserve credit considering there were a lot of new players and they had to learn about the expectation levels.

â??Hopefully we will see a more settled Rangers team next season.

â??if you look over the two years since I left I donâ??t think any manager has had to handle what Alistair has had to handle.

â??He has had a lot to contend with and I donâ??t think can say that hasnâ??t handled it extremely well.â?

One paper reported that McCoist has been asked to sack McDowall and Durrant and that has perturbed Smith.

He said: â??I donâ??t know anything about the reports. Iâ??m not privy to the background on that.

â??As far as the boys are concerned, I brought Kenny from Celtic and I took Ian Durrant into the first team coaching position.

â??We had a terrific run of success and as any manager will tell you, your backroom staff are an important factor especially when I was at the stage where I was getting into my 60s and you start to pass on a bit of the daily work onto your colleagues.

â??They did a fantastic job for me so I was a little bit disappointed to read what I did.â?

 

 

 

Read more on the official site...

[der Berliner 3,247]

So that is one director openly backing the management. A decent enough run-down of the problems Rangers have faced against the Third's teams. While watching the Queen's Park game I remembered another thing that has not been mentioned as far as I am aware. Maybe these teams do not have a cup-final each time they face us, but that was also the case for our clashes with Aberdeen, who gave us a torrid time each time we played them ... as opposed to their other league games. No excuse, just an observation.

 

BTW, I do not expect to get a report of each dressing down of Green et al. Some stuff should be kept behind closed doors at Ibrox and I for one do not expect that all that has gone on recently went unnoticed and uncommentated ...

[the gunslinger 3,366]

well Walter must believe the record.

 

this famous pre season better be well used if ally gets another shot at one their won't be any excuses next year.

[Darthter 542]

well Walter must believe the record.

 

this famous pre season better be well used if ally gets another shot at one their won't be any excuses next year.

 

too many new players, not gelling together