Walter believes the cycle can't be broken until Ibrox men up a gear
SMITH ON RANGERS
It’s a hard task for everyone at Rangers but it is one that they have to meet
CELTIC hired a manager on a salary of £2million a year to deliver Champions League football and keep Rangers at arm’s length. On both counts, Brendan Rodgers has delivered generous returns.
A run of nine games undefeated against Rangers equals the record of Walter Smith’s Ibrox side against their Old Firm rivals between September 1995 and March 1997.
For the late Tommy Burns, the psychological scars of failing to stop Smith’s run of six wins and three draws proved hard to shift. The Parkhead legend emerged from one defeat to predict his headstone would be inscribed with the words: ‘Andy Goram broke my heart’.
After Rangers failed to beat a Celtic team playing with ten men and their third-choice goalkeeper at Ibrox less than a fortnight ago, Graeme Murty will have some idea of how he felt.
Given the choice, Rangers fans would happily install Smith in the Hampden technical area for next month’s Scottish Cup semi-final. Turning down a recent chance to come out of retirement to manage Scotland, however, the veteran boss has served his time.
Celebrating his 70th birthday two weeks ago, it’s time for others to shoulder the burden of beating Celtic.
Assessing the psychological impact on Rangers of that 3-2 league defeat ten days ago, he is honest.
‘I don’t think it helped,’ said Smith. ‘I would not go as far as to say it will be a major factor in the semi-final game. I would hope it would be motivating as much as anything else from a Rangers perspective.
‘At the start of the game they played very well and were on the front foot. I don’t think it will inhibit them in any way. If they have anything about them, they will take it as a challenge.
‘After the disappointment of going down 3-2 they had a couple of opportunities to get a draw. So I don’t think the game itself was one where Celtic looked that far ahead — they have done so in a couple of other games in the last two seasons. I don’t think that was one of them.
‘I don’t think Rangers will be badly affected. They can use it as a motivating factor because they did look as if they could score a goal or two.’
Over two spells as Ibrox manager, Smith’s formula for success never changed. Significantly less complex than an Einstein field equation, it involved three core principles. Spending money wisely. Winning more games against Celtic than he lost. And storing league titles in the bank.
Mark Warburton and Pedro Caixinha failed to master any of the three. And the jury is still out on Graeme Murty. For Rangers to transform their fortunes and stop Celtic reaching ten-in-a-row, Smith suspects the Ibrox board have to pick a manager capable of delivering on all three. And, ideally, it has to happen fast.
‘The managerial situation has to shift,’ he said. ‘And in my mind there has to be an investment in players. If that happens then Rangers will get into a situation to challenge again.
‘If it can’t happen — and there are many reasons why it maybe can’t — then what’s happening at the current time will continue to happen.
‘Celtic will continue to dominate and Rangers are the team left to take up that challenge in the same way Celtic were left to take up the challenge when it was happening from a Rangers perspective.
‘That’s where Rangers needs to take up the challenge. They need to make sure they get back to a circumstance where they challenge Celtic on a regular basis.’
For fans, the definition of challenging Celtic on a regular basis is winning trophies and league titles. Yet Smith believes Rangers have to walk before they can run. Even during the nine-in-a-row years of the 1990s, Celtic still won Old Firm games.
Smith believes the current team must overcome their mental block and start doing the same.
‘They have to get back to winning games against Celtic on a more regular basis,’ he said. ‘In saying that, they’ve had a change of management in midseason and are having to bed in half a team of new players. ‘When you mention the psychological aspect of it, getting a win would be a good thing for them. The previous game at Ibrox would have been a good time to get a win.’ Promoted to manager when Graeme Souness left in 1991, Smith sympathises with the situation Murty has inherited. ‘A couple of weeks ago everybody was saying he was doing well,’ noted Smith. ‘He has won a good few games and it was looking as though they were getting a level of consistency, maybe for the first time this season. ‘But then you have a couple of home games you lose and, of course, everybody turns the opposite way. ‘Overall he’s handled it well. Whether he’ll be considered to be a Rangers manager or not, it’s not my place to say that.’ Describing the selection of the next manager as the most vital decision the current regime faces, Smith says two things are needed. A solid managerial appointment. And cash to improve the team.
‘In my first spell as manager, Graeme Souness and I were looking at proven international players such as (Terry) Butcher, (Brian) Laudrup, (Gary) Stevens and (Richard) Gough,’ he added.
‘In my second spell we weren’t operating at that level, so we were able to get guys such as Carlos Cuellar who cost us a couple of million from Osasuna and we transferred him later on.
‘He came in and did a good job, we were looking at a slightly lower level — but it didn’t stop us finding a way of putting them all together.
‘We might not have been the prettiest team in the world to watch but found a way to win. When you offer that, then a manager can look and say: “Okay, I’ve got a basic level of investment and I can go on and find a way to win”.
‘Celtic have everything in their favour — stability, a terrific manager. It’s a hard task for everyone at Rangers — but it’s one they’ve got to meet.’