Is Walter Smith right to moan at Michel Platini?
Passing the blame is a great Scottish skill.
Deflections are a terrible thing for goalkeepers and defenders but sometimes deflecting attention away from failings can be a good thing for a football club.
Rangers have been poor in the Champions League this season. All of Scottish football has failed to perform on the European stage this season but given the fanfare at the time of the Champions League draw, more was expected of the Scottish champions.
It wasn’t only their fault though, Michel Platini didn’t help matters. At least, that’s what Walter Smith thinks;
“It’s getting more and more difficult with every passing year.”
“You look at the Champions League now and you can see it’s becoming increasingly difficult for teams from Scotland and other smaller countries.”
This is no doubt an opinion also expressed by the nation of Romania, a country often considered a footballing backwater by the experts of Scottish football. A name like Unirea Urziceni was laughed at when the draw was made but this laughter was drowned out by the boos when they came to Ibrox.
The Romanian team have also defeated Seville this campaign providing proving that positive results can be achieved by smaller clubs.
Yes, Romania has a population much larger than Scotland and their economy is in a reasonable shape but Rangers would consider themselves to be a much bigger club.
As the Rangers fans pointed out so loudly, the conditions and facilities in Romania were so poor, it forced the Rangers fans to riot to draw attention to a stadium they deemed unsuitable for European football. Therefore, can the Romanians be classed as anything other than a small side? And if that is the case, how could they thrash Rangers?
Smith has been tactically naive in this campaign, much like a number of his Champions League campaigns in the mid 1990s and this latest outburst reeks of sour grapes.
Yes, there is dominance by the larger teams but Uefa have moved to see the champions of smaller nations stand a chance of making the group stages. It has hampered the chances of the SPL runner up making the tournament but the champions should be able to qualify.
No one expects Scottish teams to win the Champions League, even the last 16 is seen as a big achievement but there is an expectation to be competitive. Rangers have performed well away from home twice but their chances were obliterated by three horror shows at Ibrox. That is not the fault of Michel Platini, Uefa or any big nation bias.
It is the fault of the club and Smith should carry the can for another Champions League nightmare for the Rangers fans.
Rangers fans, what would you constitute as success in the Champions League?
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You really do know SFA.
What a poor “article”. Take some English lessons, please!
English??
We are Scottish and proud of it!
Well Pat, sorry we let you down…none of us here at WeKnowSFA would claim to be great writers or indeed to be always right.
However, we are passionate about the game and we are trying to create a bit of debate.
So okay, we’ll hold our hands up and admit this isnt the best article on the site….but at least we’ll hold our hands up to that.
Do you think Walter Smith has a valid point or is he hiding his own short-comings?
I completely agree with the point you make that UEFA have done their bit for making it easier for actual league champions, to advance in the Champions League.
It is actually one of the few good things, that I can think of, that UEFA have done recently.
Again, I agree with your point that the path for smaller countries, non-Champions, entrants in the Champions League will be more arduous. Perhaps that’s what he is really concerned about?
With your reference to boos, that reminded me of my surprise at the boos ringing from the stands after the Romanians scored their third goal at Ibrox. Normally in a stadium you have stunned silence and then an equal amount of shouts of displeasure with others shouting out encouragement. That night, following the second unfortunate own goal, it was just boos and whistles that followed the stunned silence. What kind of psychological effect must that have on players? There is MAYBE a place for that at the final whistle. But that night, at the time, it was only 1-3, with enough time to get back in the game, get behind their team and who knows? But no it was BOOO!!
Finally, I think Walter Smith was facing having to carry the can for his Champions League shortcomings all right, until the following Saturday he let slip to Chic Young on BBC Radio that the bank was running the show at Ibrox. That seemed to take the pressure right off him in the mainstream media. Not amongst the Rangers fans. From what I can see he is quite unpopular with them. I’m surprised by how unpopular he is with some of them because if they are that strapped for cash, what is their alternative?
GC, thanks for the in-depth response, always good to get that level of feedback.
Its a pretty mixed up time for Scottish football at the moment – the level of booing seems higher than ever before, its the same at Celtic Park on occasions.
Is society an angrier place these days? Not that society should take all the blame but is it a factor?
WeKnowSFA can recall games back to the 80s and booing was noticable then…but with the passing of time, it is hard to say if there was always booing at bad results / performances or if it is a more modern matter.
The “alternative” has to be a factor in what Rangers fans wish for. Its discussed on another post, one reader suggests Billy Davies would do the job. He can work on a budget but of course, he is under contract at Nottingham Forest, could Rangers pay off the rest of the contract and then still provide Davies with a workable budget.
Davies has shown he can work with a tight budget but whether he can do it again at Ibrox is another matter.
Its hard for Celtic and Rangers fans at the moment. Things are not right at either club…but there is no magic wand to wave to make it better – a change of management or board members may not be the best thing.
Or it could be….haha, sorry, we’re pretty confused at WeKnowSFA!!
I get used to booing at half time and full time, if the results aren’t perceived as going the right way. Personally I hate it, instead, I prefer at the final whistle, if your team is beat and a packed stadium goes silent, I think that sends as equally a chilling message as booing. But that’s just me.
I think these days, people at football matches, will feel that they are entitled to behave however the heck they want, (within reason, hopefully,) as they are paying top dollar and giving up ever more valuable time, for SPL football. Never mind those that also fork out for Champions League and Europa League football as well. So, when all is not well on the pitch, out come the boos. It was just my aforementioned example surprised me at the time and popped back in my head upon reading this article.
Billy Davies. Interesting. I wonder how much Nottingham Forest would require in compensation for the loss of his services? Can Rangers afford such a fee?
Would a new manager and paying a subsequent compensation fee for him, be a priority for the people running Rangers in January? Unless of course, Walter Smith leaves when his contract runs out in January, then obviously, it would be a priority. Apart from that, it makes no sense to me. I would have thought all at Rangers would be keen for him to stay until the summer at the very least, to provide stability in their current crisis?
There is no real rush for the Scotland post, only one friendly before the Summer.
Perhaps Gordon ‘Wiggy’ Smith should pick the team for the Czech Republic friendly and then Walter can come in at the end of the season?