Walter: We'll Build A Team Around Boyd

[calscot 0]

I think it takes a pretty poor manager to lose out to a player...

 

However, I recently read in the press that the initial flash point was in training game when Fergie shouted at a lackluster Sionko for a pathetic first touch and not putting any effort in.

 

Le Guen apparantly didn't like Fergie having a go at his new player...

 

PS things were already pear-shaped when Fergie came back and there was a far more noticible correlation with improved performances when WS came back - and reinstated Fergie as captain.

 

The difference was night and day.

[craig 5,199]

Getting Automatic entry to the CL on a yearly basis is never going to happen in it's current form. It would be great for us if it did but not good for football in general. That being the fact then the years that we don't get automatic entry,it is imperative that our team is ready and fighting from round 1. Taking a gamble on playing so called weaker teams with a severely weakened team should not even be an option. Now that McCulloch has moved back to Centre-back means we had six centre-backs in the team(unfair i know but McCulluch played like a CB even then:) ) The whole engine room was, and was known to all to be extremely weak. Except WS seemingly.

I know buying Davis earlier was not a guarantee but at least he was a real midfield player and that is what we needed.

 

Firstly i don't think Paul le Guen is a ruler to measure the success of Walter Smith. I don't want to bring up the whole PLG argument again but i am still not sure he could not have turned the club round. Walter Smith has spent about 30million(I believe) to get us where we are. PLG spent or was allowed to spend about 4 million. PLG lost the dressing room because he dared to take a stand against Fergie and his cronies and it is a bit funny how it was when Fergie came back into the team that things went pear-shaped.

 

When will i give Walter his credit? When he builds his own team that plays entertaining football and can win things, mainly the league.

 

Pete, I am not the one who is using anyone to measure WS success. YOU were the one who said that we would have fared better in the CL and UEFA last season with a more positive coach. Therefore you were the one who began the measuring process.

 

So who should we use to measure this "positive coach" vs "negative Wattie" ? For me the only appropriate measure is PLG as he managed the team and was positive in his approach. How did that end up ? See, you use very vague terms ("positive coaching") to tar WS the way you want to but the old adage "be careful what you wishfor" could never be truer - just look where we got with that "positive coach" we desired. NOWHERE - actually BACKWARDS.

 

Tell me who we should measure WS against ? I tell you this - with the players we had at our disposal last year WS did a fine job of having them compete on FOUR fronts (you can say we had a poor team and that was due to WS purchases if you like but he isn't the first and won't be the last manager to sign some duds). I don't think there would be many managers out there (positive OR negative) who could have done much more with what he had.

 

Pete, WS HAS built his own team - of the "starters" players signed by WS are : Weir, Bougherra, Broadfoot, Beasley, Thomson, Mendes, Davis, Miller - so 8 players from 11 bought by WS (you could possibly even throw Lafferty in there). Playing entertaining football ? I think so. Excellent performances against Celtic and, it would seem, Hibs away (never saw it) and also the most dominant 1st half performance I have seen us put in at Pittodrie too. Sure there have been some matches which we haven't performed great in but no team performs to very high standards every week.

 

Winning things ? Check. He won the two domestic cups last season - they are still there to be won and he did just that !

 

The ONLY element that he hasn't met your criteria yet is in winning the league. His first 6 months the league was gone anyway and last season had extenuating circumstances (I HATE using excuses but it is definitely valid that the wheels came off right when we had a ton of games to play).

 

There are some supporters that STILL wouldn't give WS credit even if he DOES win the treble this year. And that, for me, is a nonsense.

 

We need to look at where we are now with where we were 18 months ago and just realise the transformation that has been made in our club on the pitch - it is like night and day.

[pete 2,499]

Pete, I am not the one who is using anyone to measure WS success. YOU were the one who said that we would have fared better in the CL and UEFA last season with a more positive coach. Therefore you were the one who began the measuring process.

 

So who should we use to measure this "positive coach" vs "negative Wattie" ? For me the only appropriate measure is PLG as he managed the team and was positive in his approach. How did that end up ? See, you use very vague terms ("positive coaching") to tar WS the way you want to but the old adage "be careful what you wishfor" could never be truer - just look where we got with that "positive coach" we desired. NOWHERE - actually BACKWARDS.

 

Tell me who we should measure WS against ? I tell you this - with the players we had at our disposal last year WS did a fine job of having them compete on FOUR fronts (you can say we had a poor team and that was due to WS purchases if you like but he isn't the first and won't be the last manager to sign some duds). I don't think there would be many managers out there (positive OR negative) who could have done much more with what he had.

 

Pete, WS HAS built his own team - of the "starters" players signed by WS are : Weir, Bougherra, Broadfoot, Beasley, Thomson, Mendes, Davis, Miller - so 8 players from 11 bought by WS (you could possibly even throw Lafferty in there). Playing entertaining football ? I think so. Excellent performances against Celtic and, it would seem, Hibs away (never saw it) and also the most dominant 1st half performance I have seen us put in at Pittodrie too. Sure there have been some matches which we haven't performed great in but no team performs to very high standards every week.

 

Winning things ? Check. He won the two domestic cups last season - they are still there to be won and he did just that !

 

The ONLY element that he hasn't met your criteria yet is in winning the league. His first 6 months the league was gone anyway and last season had extenuating circumstances (I HATE using excuses but it is definitely valid that the wheels came off right when we had a ton of games to play).

 

There are some supporters that STILL wouldn't give WS credit even if he DOES win the treble this year. And that, for me, is a nonsense.

 

We need to look at where we are now with where we were 18 months ago and just realise the transformation that has been made in our club on the pitch - it is like night and day.

 

I totally agree that this is now his team and i mentioned before that things are looking a lot brighter since Mendes has transformed the team. I also said one player can't make a team but one player can make a big difference in joining a team together. If you measure WS against PLG then it still doesn't make him a good manager it just makes him better or worse than PLG. Walter Smith should be judged on what he produces on and off the park at Rangers.

This season is still far too early to make judgement.

Last season while being a reasonably high point for lifting two trophy's and a superb Euro run was for the football connoisseur a nightmare. The fact that our CB and Goalkeeper fought for player of the year underlines that fact. If we keep playing this football and can at least fight to the end as last year i will funnily enough feel better about the team than i did last year. The excitement and sensations of last season will be hard to duplicate.

[Zappa 0]

The excitement and sensations of last season will be hard to duplicate.

 

And yet WS is criticized for it? WTF?