Congratulations Walter Smith and all at Rangers...

Brewster

As Walter Smith bows out of the Scottish game, I would just like to acknowledge his fantastic achievement on winning three in a row at Rangers today. The man is just pure class and hell knows where Rangers would be today without Smith in charge over past few seasons. You only have to listen to what other great football people say about the man to realise what a legend the guy is. To win three league titles, when the club has been on its knees being run by Lloyd's bank has been nothing short of amazing. Win, lose or draw Walter is the same man every time. Celtic have had the much stronger and bigger squad this year and for Smith to keep Rangers hanging in there until Celtic mucked up at Caley is a credit to him. There won't be a Celtic fan in the world sorry to see Walter bow out today and im sure few will begrudge Walter his swansong today. Rangers lost Kenny Miller is January, who ended the season as top goalscorer in SPL, yet still went on to win the league. Credit for Celtic for pushing Rangers close, but there is no doubt the best team has won the league. Some Celtic fans continue to peddle their conspiracies, including accusations of other teams lying down to Rangers! That is nature of the beast im afraid, will never change. Finally, it was great to hear Lenny saying if he was to lose the league to anyone, it would be to Walter. All credit to both men. For the all the nonsense off the field this season, it is great to hear comments like this. Today was Walter's day though and it was fantastic for him to get to lift the trophy beside big Davie Weir. Mr. McCoist, what big shoes you have to fill.......

Chucky the tree

While Celtic fans will be disappointed today they have a great future to look forward too. Less so then Rangers in my opinion. With a year of playing together for Celtic players they will only be stronger next year, a Walter Smithless Rangers could struggle.

Paully D

He has a 50/50 chance of winning a league title each year in Scotland whilst in charge of Rangers.

Fair play to him, but he wasn't able to do it in a proper league.

He's not quite the manager he's made out to be just for doing well at Rangers.

TangyZizzle

This would explain why my facebook feed has been a constant barrage of Celtic craaaaaaaaaaaap all this afternoon.

dahat

Paully D wrote: »

He has a 50/50 chance of winning a league title each year in Scotland whilst in charge of Rangers.

A fact for any manager of Celtic or Rangers,achieving in Scotland is no real achievement in world of management imo.

spiralism

dahat wrote: »

A fact for any manager of Celtic or Rangers,achieving in Scotland is no real achievement in world of management imo.

Sorry but that's bollocks. Paul le guen and Tony Mowbray put paid to that notion that any decent manager can walk in there and be successful. In fact, the pressure is enormous, there's troubles with money, the hounding from the media, players wanting to move to greener pastures in other leagues, the whole lunacy surrounding the derby matches.... it's harder than you'd think. Fair play to Walter Smith for managing what he did there.

A Dub in Glasgo

Why does such a simple thread get derailed with stuff about the SPL as a two horse race and it is no great achievement to win so many titles.

Man United have won 12 EPL titles out in the last 19, does that mean it is more than a 50/50 chance of Ferguson winning the EPL?

Coillte_Bhoy

Brewster wrote: »

As Walter Smith bows out of the Scottish game, I would just like to acknowledge his fantastic achievement on winning three in a row at Rangers today. The man is just pure class and hell knows where Rangers would be today without Smith in charge over past few seasons. You only have to listen to what other great football people say about the man to realise what a legend the guy is. To win three league titles, when the club has been on its knees being run by Lloyd's bank has been nothing short of amazing. Win, lose or draw Walter is the same man every time. Celtic have had the much stronger and bigger squad this year and for Smith to keep Rangers hanging in there until Celtic mucked up at Caley is a credit to him. There won't be a Celtic fan in the world sorry to see Walter bow out today and im sure few will begrudge Walter his swansong today. Rangers lost Kenny Miller is January, who ended the season as top goalscorer in SPL, yet still went on to win the league. Credit for Celtic for pushing Rangers close, but there is no doubt the best team has won the league. Some Celtic fans continue to peddle their conspiracies, including accusations of other teams lying down to Rangers! That is nature of the beast im afraid, will never change. Finally, it was great to hear Lenny saying if he was to lose the league to anyone, it would be to Walter. All credit to both men. For the all the nonsense off the field this season, it is great to hear comments like this. Today was Walter's day though and it was fantastic for him to get to lift the trophy beside big Davie Weir. Mr. McCoist, what big shoes you have to fill.......

Would it kill you to use paragraphs?

Lawrence1895

Coillte_Bhoy wrote: »

Would it kill you to use paragraphs?

He did it twice, he must be kind of happy :rolleyes:

parker kent

A good achievement considering what Rangers were like when he took over from Le Guen.

As for his managerial career, I don't think a spell at Everton shows he couldn't do it in England. That is just ridiculously harsh on the man.

flahavaj

Great achievement for Rangers really, three in a row with little or no money to spend. Smith is a gentleman who deserves all his success. I wish him well in his retirement.

Paully D

spiralism wrote: »

Sorry but that's bollocks. Paul le guen and Tony Mowbray put paid to that notion that any decent manager can walk in there and be successful. In fact, the pressure is enormous, there's troubles with money, the hounding from the media, players wanting to move to greener pastures in other leagues, the whole lunacy surrounding the derby matches.... it's harder than you'd think. Fair play to Walter Smith for managing what he did there.

Where did their teams finish or where were their teams placed when they were sacked/left?

parker kent

Paully D wrote: »

Where did their teams finish or where were their teams placed when they were sacked/left?

Nonetheless they were not successful. They were as poor as is possible with an Old Firm club in the current climate of Scottish football. Le Guen looked like he might open the trap door to third place if he carried on doing what he was doing. Unlikely, but it looked like it may be possible.

bobbysands81

Anyone who says that Walter Smith is not a good manager has no clue about soccer.

dahat

spiralism wrote: »

Sorry but that's bollocks. Paul le guen and Tony Mowbray put paid to that notion that any decent manager can walk in there and be successful. In fact, the pressure is enormous, there's troubles with money, the hounding from the media, players wanting to move to greener pastures in other leagues, the whole lunacy surrounding the derby matches.... it's harder than you'd think. Fair play to Walter Smith for managing what he did there.

Either Celtic or Rangers win the SPL more often than not so either manager has basically one team to worry about each year....
All the other teams in the EPL are poor and in no way a feasible threat over the season to the top 2.
Achieving in Scotland is by no means a guide on how great walter smith can be regarded

A Dub in Glasgo

dahat wrote: »

All the other teams in the EPL are poor and in no way a feasible threat over the season to the top 2.

I admire your honesty there, it certainly looks like it with Man Utd winning 12 out of the 19 EPL titles!

Paully D

parker kent wrote: »

Nonetheless they were not successful. They were as poor as is possible with an Old Firm club in the current climate of Scottish football. Le Guen looked like he might open the trap door to third place if he carried on doing what he was doing. Unlikely, but it looked like it may be possible.

So they were still 2nd then, despite not being successful.

That proves my point.

delos

bobbysands81 wrote: »

Anyone who says that Walter Smith is not a good manager has no clue about soccer.

If you take a look at what he achieved with the Scotland team you can clearly see that he can achieve (with limited resources) much more than was expected - that is the mark of a good manager.

event

dahat wrote: »

Either Celtic or Rangers win the SPL more often than not so either manager has basically one team to worry about each year....
All the other teams in the EPL are poor and in no way a feasible threat over the season to the top 2.
Achieving in Scotland is by no means a guide on how great walter smith can be regarded

sure the same could be said about spain

whilst he has won a champions league, ye'd hardly discount guardiolas achievments as he's only done it in a two team league

Le King

Walter Smith is some man. Great manager and a gentleman too.

Why is he retiring? Or is he just leaving Rangers?

eagle eye

bobbysands81 wrote: »

Anyone who says that Walter Smith is not a good manager has no clue about soccer.

He is a good manager at a lower level. He certainly is not top class as was proven by his time at Everton and what happened after his departure.

Paul4As

Thank-you Walter!
Hope you have passed on all your knowledge to another Rangers legend who is taking over from you!

Broxi_Bear_Eire

Le King wrote: »

Walter Smith is some man. Great manager and a gentleman too.

Why is he retiring? Or is he just leaving Rangers?

He has said it will have to be something very special to get him back into football

Very very good manager.

Some of the comments here are cringeworthy.

parker kent

Paully D wrote: »

So they were still 2nd then, despite not being successful.

That proves my point.

No it doesn't. There is a colossal difference between being a distant second and with winning 3 leagues in a row. Given the situation in Scotland, it would take 5+ years of bad management to genuinely lose 2nd place. You simply cannot compare with teams in leagues where teams change places easier.

parker kent

eagle eye wrote: »

He is a good manager at a lower level. He certainly is not top class as was proven by his time at Everton and what happened after his departure.

One job at a team who had numerous problems at the time should never be used to rate a manager.

eagle eye

parker kent wrote: »

One job at a team who had numerous problems at the time should never be used to rate a manager.

Its not like he was only there 6 months, he had a long time to sort them but be never did. Then Moyes comes in and saves them from relegation and they go on to finish 7th the following season under him and they've been up there ever since.

Brewster

Walter was one game away from a European Cup final in his first spell as Rangers boss, he took a poor Rangers team to the Uefa cup final and has seen numerous Celtic managers off In Glasgow winning a barrowload of silverwear in the process. He has one good season at Everton and one poor one. John Giles recommended him for manager of the year at the time, the season he did well. Everton were in turmoil back then. Who knows, we may well see him back in the Premiership. He is good enough, make no mistake about it. If not, enjoy your retirement Walter. You owe the game nothing...

ColeTrain

Anyone who thinks Smith isn't a good manager is deluded.

Done very well with them considering the limited squad they have. They are a well organised team that know their roles down to a tee. Smith has to take credit for that.

OhNoYouDidn't

My opinion on that mob is well documented, but anyone who doesn't rate Smith as a manager knows nothing about football.

Pauleta

I think he may take the Scotland job again if it is open. You could tell he felt guilty about quiting and going to Rangers. It may be unfinished business for him.

A Dub in Glasgo

Well, to be fair, if I was a Scotland fan I would say take a hike about that

delos

Pauleta wrote: »

I think he may take the Scotland job again if it is open. You could tell he felt guilty about quiting and going to Rangers. It may be unfinished business for him.

Considering the circumstances of his leaving, I doubt the SFA wouls ask him again and a huge section of the fans would not want him back.

parker kent

eagle eye wrote: »

Its not like he was only there 6 months, he had a long time to sort them but be never did. Then Moyes comes in and saves them from relegation and they go on to finish 7th the following season under him and they've been up there ever since.

Just to repeat myself, basing your opinion on just one job is not enough. He has shown with Rangers that he is a good manager both domestically and in Europe. The Rangers team of the early 90s were extremely close to a Champions League final. Then he did well with them in the Europa League in his second spell as manager.

His time at Everton was not a success. But even the greatest managers are liable to have a few bad seasons. Moyes himself has had bad seasons with Everton despite doing a great job overall. He finished 17th with them one season. So not exactly as you describe.

darragh16

His first stint at Rangers was brilliant and done really well in his 2nd spell there. Was unlucky in 2008 with the League and UEFA Cup that May considering they had to play six or seven games in two weeks, but since they've been some force in Scotland again.

As for his run with Everton. Difficult circumstances with transfer and wage funding. He done well as assistant manager with United in 04' filling in for Quieroz though.

Zebra3

delos wrote: »

If you take a look at what he achieved with the Scotland team you can clearly see that he can achieve (with limited resources) much more than was expected - that is the mark of a good manager.

He achieved nothing.

He took over when the Scotish NT couldn't go any lower after Bertie-like Ireland with Trap post-Stan.

And they qualified for nothing. And Scotland being a genuine proud footie nation (unlike Ireland) that had previously qualified for TEN major tournies is nothing to boast about.

oconnon9

Zebra3 wrote: »

He achieved nothing.

He took over when the Scotish NT couldn't go any lower after Bertie-like Ireland with Trap post-Stan.

And they qualified for nothing. And Scotland being a genuine proud footie nation (unlike Ireland) that had previously qualified for TEN major tournies is nothing to boast about.

What the hell does that mean?

flahavaj

Zebra3 wrote: »

He achieved nothing.

He took over when the Scotish NT couldn't go any lower after Bertie-like Ireland with Trap post-Stan.

And they qualified for nothing. And Scotland being a genuine proud footie nation (unlike Ireland) that had previously qualified for TEN major tournies is nothing to boast about.

He did a very good job as Scotland manager, they were on course to qualify for Euro 2008 from a group including France and Italy when he left in 2007 (including a win over France) and rose 70 places in the FIFA rankngs under him.

Zebra3

oconnon9 wrote: »

What the hell does that mean?

He took over when expectations were at an all time low like Trap did with Ireland.

flahavaj wrote: »

He did a very good job as Scotland manager, they were on course to qualify for Euro 2008 from a group including France and Italy when he left in 2007 (including a win over France) and rose 70 places in the FIFA rankngs under him.

Nobody gives a toss about rankings with countries like Scotland or Ireland. It's qualification or bust.

If he'd thought they'd have done it he'd have stuck with them. Would have been a massive achievement.

But I guess he knew they were riding their luck.

flahavaj

Zebra3 wrote: »

He took over when expectations were at an all time low like Trap did with Ireland.



Nobody gives a toss about rankings with countries like Scotland or Ireland. It's qualification or bust.

If he'd thought they'd have done it he'd have stuck with them. Would have been a massive achievement.

But I guess he knew they were riding their luck.

But the rankngs are at least an indication that results were good. They were beating the teams they should have been beating and even beating one sthey had no right to beat. I don't think Scotland have a divine right to be expecting to qualify for major tournaments. Smith had them boxing above their weight, as evidenced by their strong performance in a group containing major nations like Italy and France (the World Cup finalists from the previous Summer!!!). The outcry and disappointment when he stepped down is evidence enough that he was doing a fantastic job.

oconnon9

Zebra3 wrote: »

He took over when expectations were at an all time low like Trap did with Ireland.



Nobody gives a toss about rankings with countries like Scotland or Ireland. It's qualification or bust.

If he'd thought they'd have done it he'd have stuck with them. Would have been a massive achievement.

But I guess he knew they were riding their luck.

Rankings are important for seedings though. Big difference between being 3rd seeds and 2nd seeds, if you're 3rd seeds you could end up in a group with 2 quality sides (france, italy etc.)

That scottish campaign was very impressive, beat france in home and away, also beat ukraine at home. It went down to the last game at home to Italy and if they had won they would have qualified.

Jelle1880

He completely turned around a club that was on it's knees after the Le Guen fiasco.

I have been hugely critical of his defensive tactics at times, but he's given me some of my best memories as a Rangers fan.

He's definitely up there with Bill Struth and Jock Wallace.

KeithAFC

Bill Struth the 2nd. A living legend.

fryup

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

Why does such a simple thread get derailed with stuff about the SPL as a two horse race and it is no great achievement to win so many titles.

Man United have won 12 EPL titles out in the last 19, does that mean it is more than a 50/50 chance of Ferguson winning the EPL?

no, in the EPL its a one in four chance of winning it (man u, liverpool, chelsea, arsenal)

in the SPL its a one in two chance of winning it (celtic, rangers)

when was the last time a team other than the old firm won the title??..the SPL is like two premiership teams versus the LOI.. its a joke:rolleyes:

bobbysands81

KeithAFC wrote: »

Bill Struth the 2nd. A living legend.

Hopefully he stays away from boats, don't want another William Walton do we?

PauloMN

Congrats Rangers and Smith on the title yesterday. I didn't expect much else yesterday with the Killie result but I was delighted to hear about the atmosphere at CP. Didn't see any football yesterday as I was away but kept track of the scores, well for the first 10 mins or so.

Great work by Smith though, I think he did a brilliant job with a team that was in tatters after PLG went. He seemed to be able to instill a sense of teamwork that I felt got Rangers through a lot of sticky situations and fair play to him for that. I think he'll be sorely missed (hopefully) and McCoist definitely has his work cut out to follow him. It'll be interesting to see two rookie ex-players for their respective squads going head-to-head next season.

A Dub in Glasgo

fryup wrote: »

no, in the EPL its a one in four chance of winning it (man u, liverpool, chelsea, arsenal)

in the SPL its a one in two chance of winning it (celtic, rangers)

when was the last time a team other than the old firm won the title??..the SPL is like two premiership teams versus the LOI.. its a joke:rolleyes:

Actually, the EPL is more like one in two at a push one in three. Almost all EPL titles since the early the Premiership was created has been a 2 horse race, some of them a one race. Liverpool? They have not threatened to win it in a long time. Man United have utterly dominated the EPL. This is from a league of 20 and a population of 50m+ people.

There is less competition to win the EPL than some people here make out.

Pauleta

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

Actually, the EPL is more like one in two at a push one in three. Almost all EPL titles since the early the Premiership was created has been a 2 horse race, some of them a one race. Liverpool? They have not threatened to win it in a long time. Man United have utterly dominated the EPL. This is from a league of 20 and a population of 50m+ people.

There is less competition to win the EPL than some people here make out.

In the last 20 years Liverpool, Leeds, Man utd, Aston Villa, Blackburn, Newcastle, Arsenal, and Chelsea have all either brought the title race to the last couple of weeks or have won it and if man City's manager actually tries to win games they will be a contender.

A Dub in Glasgo

Pauleta wrote: »

In the last 20 years Liverpool, Leeds, Man utd, Aston Villa, Blackburn, Newcastle, Arsenal, and Chelsea have all either brought the title race to the last couple of weeks or have won it and if man City's manager actually tries to win games they will be a contender.

4 different teams won in last 19 seasons
3 different teams won in last 16 seasons
2 different teams won in last 7 seasons

Manchester United won 12
Chelsea won 3
Arsenal won 3
Blackburn Rovers won 1

Dean820

If the opening post was about Celtic and Neil Lennon winning the league three times in a row, there would be a 10 times the thanks for that post.

parker kent

Pauleta wrote: »

In the last 20 years Liverpool, Leeds, Man utd, Aston Villa, Blackburn, Newcastle, Arsenal, and Chelsea have all either brought the title race to the last couple of weeks or have won it and if man City's manager actually tries to win games they will be a contender.

Nonetheless, in any given season there are typically only 2 teams who challenge. The only gate crashing at the top of the Premier League since Newcastle has been due to a sudden injection of cash.

Leeds never had a serious title challenge btw. Since 1998, the Premiership has seen a clear differentiation between a few teams at the top and the rest. Which means it is not that different to Scotland. Only 4 teams have seriously challenged for the title in that period.