Sir Walter Smith

[Nevermind 162]

Good afternoon gents, 

First of all I'm going to admit I'm not entirely sure of what I'm trying to ask but I'll give it a try. 

Walter Smith's personality as a man. What was it? does anyone have any actual face to face experience with the man as appose to the persona if you will. He was highly respected by everyone in every room he entered. Ignoring his trophy haul, he seems to have been highly regarded as a man not just a manager. Even the other side of the city ( excluding match days ) knew better than to tangle with him. Same went for the press to an extent. 

You look at some of the characters he signed as a manager and I'm left wondering how he managed to tame so many lions and wildcats. 

His business head for money as a manager, the one that sticks in my mind ( if i remember rightly ) is he sold Kevin Thomson then purchased Jelavic? hell of a deal. 

These days you see a lot of managers wrapping themselves up in philosophies and personality, but Walter always struck me as a Man first and foremost. No nonsense, no fanfare, just a man doing a job, yet it came with a heavy weight and was carried a certain way I don't see often today. 

Anybody have personal stories? The word I kept hearing for years was '' Integrity ''. 

I know and remember as a manager he'd be cautious with his set up on match day, but that goes against the other side where he went out and bought firebrand players who had history. 

So who was Walter, and what made Walter?

I'm feeling nostalgic today and the weather down here in Lincolnshire is dire so I'm up for a trip down memory lane. 

 

[Scott7 6,370]

No knowledge of the Great Man apart from what I read but the guy who fitted his wardrobes told me he was a gent. Don’t know if this helps.

[compo 7,531]

A very decent man from Carmyle and a bloody good manager. 

[BEARGER 1,836]

My niece baby sat for Walter and Ethel at one time. She always remembers him as a gentleman and lovely friendly guy.

[Nevermind 162]

2 hours ago, Scott7 said:

No knowledge of the Great Man apart from what I read but the guy who fitted his wardrobes told me he was a gent. Don’t know if this helps.

It helps. One thing that sticks in my mind is the Celtic fans, the ones I seen and heard on the media and in my personal life showed nothing but respect to him on his passing. There was no window dressing or platitudes. In their eyes a great man had passed and they showed their respects. It made me curious as to how he held himself which ended up garnering a level of respect that was unquestionable. 

1 hour ago, compo said:

A very decent man from Carmyle and a bloody good manager. 

Agreed!

[Frankie 8,755]

Lucky enough to have met Walter a couple of times over the years.

 

First time was as a teenager year old before our game with England at Ibrox in the Victory Shield where he and Archie Knox visited the changing room before the game. Even then you could see the dynamic with Archie doing all the talking and Walter just carefully observing. I met him again as an adult and there was just something electric about the guy, a charisma and knowledge that few people have.

 

I think the loss of him has affected our club a great deal over the last year or two. As much as other legends remain with us, Walter could have been someone to really help Gio and Beale in a man management sense. When a club loses a figurehead like that, it loses a part of itself - perhaps just a tiny chip of the marble - but it's noticeable nonetheless.

 

What we need now is someone to step up and show the same qualities over the coming years. I thought Gerrard could have been that person but unfortunately, such people are few and far between and I'm not sure they make them like Walter anymore. 

[Bill 13,717]

When I think of Walter Smith I always reflect that had Murray decided to bring in a big name replacement for Souness then Walter the manager and all the success he brought us would never have materialised.

 

It makes you wonder how many other great men are out there who remain unrecognised and never get the chance to be the hero that Walter was. In the end, greatness is always about the opportunity as well as the man.