Weirs' Ton Up

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WALTER SMITH has paid tribute to Davie Weir as the veteran defender prepares to make his 100th SPL appearance for Rangers.

 

The 39-year-old will reach the incredible milestone when he leads Gers out at first club Falkirk on Saturday.

 

Not bad for a man fast approaching his 40th birthday.

 

Weir was Smith's first signing when the man who led Gers to nine-in-a-row returned to Ibrox in January 2007.

 

Initially seen as a stop-gap, the defender has gone on to outstrip his manager's hopes and expectations.

 

Smith admitted: "I envisaged Davie coming in and playing to the end of that first season and then maybe helping us out in the following season.

 

"To carry on playing in the manner in which he has done is a credit to him.

 

"Davie is one of the best professional players I've ever been involved with and one of the best lads I've worked with.

 

"I admire him greatly for the way he handles himself and his situation. When you look at a player who is playing his 100th league game when his first came at 37, it's quite remarkable.

 

"When someone gets to that age and younger players come in - and I mean guys in their mid-20s, never mind teenagers - he lets every one of them see that if there is a desire and a love for playing football like his, you can play into your late 30s.

 

"Davie has been lucky to avoid serious injury, but it is not only about that - it also involves a love and desire for the game."

 

Weir turns 40 in May, with many predicting he'll finally retire at the end of the season.

 

The man himself has hinted this may be his final campaign in Scotland's top-flight.

 

And should Weir hang up his boots in the summer, Smith has no doubts he'll be a success when he goes into management.

 

He said: "When you love it like that it's a natural progression to go into coaching and management and Davie has already started down that path by doing his coaching badges.

 

"I hope he does because football could do with people like him remaining involved in the game and if he does I'm sure he'll have a good career."

 

Smith wants a reaction from his players following their weekend defeat at Pittodrie.

 

The Gers boss believes their confidence has taken a battering in the wake of a torrid Champions League campaign.

 

He said: "We hadn't lost in the SPL until the weekend, but we also hadn't scored an awful lot and hadn't created a lot of chances either.

 

"That was apparent when we had the bulk of the play, albeit with Aberdeen down to ten men for a large chunk of the second half. After the first 20 minutes we had the majority of the game, but we didn't create as many clear chances as we should have considering the pressure we had.

 

"A lot of the time creating chances comes when we have a good edge to our play, but that is something we don't have at this moment and have perhaps been lacking for a fair bit of this season.

 

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"The slow starts are something that we have seen in a number of the games this season and it was there again at the weekend.

 

"We didn't pass the ball well in the first 20 minutes and didn't get involved in the game until we lost the goal.

 

"From my point of view I have to look at the reasons why that is happening and why it has happened in other matches this season.

 

"I don't think it's a physical thing because we had plenty of time after Tuesday to recover and if it was tiredness it would hit us at the end of games rather than the start.

 

"It's more of a mental thing than anything else and when you have had disappointing performances in big games, like the Champions League ones at home, then it does have an effect.

 

"But we've had enough warnings this season and mentioned a number of times in the run up to Aberdeen that we couldn't afford to be slow to start.

 

"We were, though, and it's something we have to look at."

 

Smith insists his side will face a tough test against Falkirk in Saturday's live TV showdown.

 

He added: "Falkirk played very well against Celtic and scored three goals, so when we look at the fact we haven't scored a lot away, we know it will be difficult.