Boo Boys Concern Walter

[ian1964 10,720]

WALTER SMITH last night warned the Rangers boo boys they could drive him out of the door at Ibrox.

 

The boss has been left bewildered by the reaction of certain sections of the home support when the team have won the CIS Cup and are fighting for three other trophies.

 

Derisive shouts could be heard during Thursday's 0-0 UEFA Cup draw with Sporting Lisbon and some fans booed the team at full-time Smith admits he struggles to understand why modern-day supporters are so quick to get on the backs of their players and managers.

 

The gaffer said: "It's been happening since the first game of the season when we were booed off at half-time against Zeta.

 

"That seems to be the way people want to support the club. It is a wee bit of a disappointing factor in the sense that when we go away from home we get terrific backing.

 

"When we come to home games right from the very start there seems to be a dissatisfaction. If supporters are dissatisfied with the way we are playing they have to express it.

 

"At the end of the day if they continue to be dissatisfied there is only one thing that happens, isn't there?

 

"The manager normally leaves when you have a lot of dissatisfied supporters.

 

"We seem to have a lot of dissatisfied supporters at the moment and that is maybe something we will have to put up with.

 

"It seems a clear sign of the times and is just something we have to handle. It's been a regular thing for us since the start of the season, a recurring factor throughout it.

 

"It's difficult. At a period of time when everything has gone well in a game and you are doing really well, that is not really the time when you need the support. You need the support when you are not doing well.

 

"From a managerial point of view that is is a situation that happens. Whether you find it understandable or not is another thing.

 

"Invariably, if a manager brings the subject up you get an outcry of, 'You should be doing better'. We have not to criticise anything at all.

 

"Supporters pay their money and are entitled to react in the manner they do.

 

At times, it can be difficult to understand and I don't think it helps the club overall.

 

"That dissatisfaction is never stated among the away support but at home it seems to be more evident."

 

Smith, of course, has seen it all before and can handle such situations but he admits they could affect some of his players.

 

He added: "I appreciate the demands. I keep saying to the players if you can't meet the demands you are not going to be here.

 

"That is from the chairman all the way down. But somewhere along the line there has to be a level of understanding and there does not seem to be at the present moment.

 

"A lot of the boys who are new and just coming into the place must find it hard to understand.

 

"For a club that has not had recent success, all of a sudden they have an opportunity to turn that around and they are still hearing that.

 

"With the Zeta game our league season hadn't even started and they were booing us off at half-time.

 

The boys found it hard to understand although maybe they are getting used to it."

 

Smith won't have any worries tomorrow as the visiting fans will pack Tannadice to back the side in their quest to cement their position as SPL champions-elect with a win over Dundee United.

 

The manager expects a tough game and said: "One of the things we have faced this season towards the latter stages is there is a battle on for the championship and for third place.

 

"Third has normally been settled fairly early on but this season we have a tight one between Motherwell, Hibs and Dundee United and there will be a fight to the finish for the UEFA Cup place.

 

"We lost at Tannadice previously and had a terrific CIS Cup Final with United.

 

"That is an indicator for any side going to Tannadice and is credit to Craig Levein and his team."

 

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[Bluedell 5,623]

An over-reaction to a minority of neds at the game who have no idea about anything. walter should know that he has the support of a vast majority of the fans and the guys who boo are not regulars, but buckied-up wee arseholes.

[ian1964 10,720]

An over-reaction to a minority of neds at the game who have no idea about anything. walter should know that he has the support of a vast majority of the fans and the guys who boo are not regulars, but buckied-up wee arseholes.

 

Agreed,but it is dissapointing all the same,Walter is only just starting to build a team,and some fans need to be more patient,the turnaround at Ibrox is incredible IMO in such a short period

[mainstandbear 0]

To me this is straight from the sir alex book of mind games...walter has no intention of walking but is just getting a wee dig in reminding everyone of how much we achieved so far....just making sure everyone's on side for the final push

[johnnyk 158]

fans have a short memory. under PLG we were going nowhere and this has changed dramatically under WS yet because the performances are not great to watch they moan at this. i dont like watching sometimes but it's effective and we will get better. more fans will have to sing for WS every game now......

[ian1964 10,720]

We the fans could sing the title back home from now untill the end of the season

[Gribz 847]

I think we are entitled to ask for a better product from August to January but from February onwards when we are fighting on all fronts its all about winning games as its getting us closer to victory.

 

There is no comparsing between now and PLG / Eck era.

 

I bet the Green end would also love to be in our position.

 

There are always going to be Boo-boys on some aspects but its crazy when we are in a great position just now. Im just a little disappointed with the extra cautious play, I think we could add a wee bit more attack wise.

[Cotter 0]

It can be frustrating when you see a fairly powderpuff team like Lisbon "getting away with it" when we have posession due to a lack of outlets up front. But it's like one clued up bear said to me in the pie queue at half time. "Sometimes ah wish we just got fucked right intae teams, never mind this 4-5-1 pish, but Walter's got us by the bawz doesn't he!!"

 

He certainly does. Patience bears, patience.

 

We love you Walter, we do..........

[gisabeer 409]

Walter should remember that folk paid 40 quid to go and watch the drivel on show on thursday.

[calscot 0]

You cannot call yourself a "supporter" if you boo. It doesn't fit the definition of the word in any way.

 

If you had a speech to deliver and your partner said they'd come along and support you, how would you feel if they booed you at the end? Would you feel they have given you support?

 

No, it's pretty much the opposite of support. I'm sure you'd feel more support from people who didn't like you but stayed quiet.

 

You can boo at your own team if you like at a football match, but you cannot do so and truthfully call yourself a supporter. Not unless you've invented your own language.

 

These people as "customers" may be entitled to act any way they like, but what kind of customers are they? What would you think of a customer who moaned all the time about your work despite the fact you were the most effective person in your role for years, and in the last few years, before you came, your job had been done very poorly?

 

You'd probably think they were the worst kind of customers that you could do without.

 

I'm a customer at the cinema and theatre, and not once have I booed a bad film or performance. It completely lacks any class. Now if I went to a play to "support" actors that I knew, what kind of person would I be if I booed?

 

If you were the most effective person in your job for years, but not from flair, instead from hard work and good organisation that achieve the desired results, how would you feel about being criticised in public all the time?

 

Walter Smith has not had much time in the job and yet his success has been miraculous at a time when it looked like Celtic were moving into a period of domination like our 9IAR era. People complaining at his new team not having flair to me is akin to slagging off a 6 month old baby who has learned to walk very early for not walking with the grace of a ballet dancer.

 

Surely aesthetics are what you add to the structure of anything. You put the architectural embellishments on a building after you have built the main structure. The Chrysler building was just a big, square office block until the very last minute when they finished the top of the building.

 

I say bring back the era of the supporter, but if you're going to be a customer, at least be one that appreciates and understands the product and not one who moans vociferously when everything is not quite exactly to your taste.

 

I think we could achieve far more, including flair if we had 50,000 real supporters in the stands. Like Walter says, you need MORE support when you're playing badly.

 

Come on guys, let's remember what supporting a team is all about.