Walter Smith - living legend

For all the abuse he takes especially from certain Celtic fans, his record is here for all to see.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Smith_(footballer)


No doubt Jock Stein is a legendary manager but it makes me wonder why Martin O`Neill is so celebrated by Celtic fans when to be fair, he isn't in the same class compared to Walter. Not even close!

I think we should acknowledge that Walter Smith is one of our greatest Scottish managers and should be recognised more for his achievements.

He is a true legend of football in this country.

the job he has done at rangers this time round is remarkable, and domestically did very well 1st time, though his european record 1st time round and time at everton wee blots. did well with scotland too.

Might be controversial but I still remember him as the man who blew eternal bragging rights and 10 in a row against a very average Celtic side.

could be, made some desperate moves around that time too I dunno, could also look on it as the guy that brought 9 I suppose.

well I think he won 7 of them but you get the point.

He is certainly one of the best managers in the history of Scottish Football. In the past 50 years Jock Stein and Alex Ferguson are numbers 1 & 2, but right behind them are Jim McLean and Walter Smith.

I'm aware of that but 10 would have given him legend status.

it would have done.

What a feckin cheek to mention Waletr Smith in the same sentence as Jock Stein and Alex Ferguson who played for Celtic and Rangers respectively.

Walter Smith??????????????????????????

A feckin traitor being carried by an excellent Rangers coaching staffelt
The best the fecker deserves is a no lube in the Barlinnie communal showers.

I dont think his first stint, or what he did at everton was anything special (no real competition in Scotland at the time), i think its remarkable to see the improvement in him since spending that year as assistant to Alex Ferguson, everything he touched since has been pretty much gold, he went from a decent manager, to a fantastic one.

The guy is a very good manager, only the bitter couldn't see that. Mind you after you have experienced Jim McInally anyone is half decent!

He should already be a Rangers legend and if they win the UEFA cup then he should become a Scotland legend, why? - How many European trophies have Scottish clubs ever won, yes 3.

He did a fantastic job as Scotland manager, taking over a shambles. But because he went back to Rangers it was quickly forgotten and he quickly became a 'traitor', which is laughable, but typical of this small-minded, bigoted country.

leave the country alone I get fed-up of that shit any money 95% of the people who called him that were celtic fans, it's never anything to do with scotland. some scotland fans might have been disappointed to see him leave but if you want to talk bigotry scotland is not a word you should be using at any stage atall.

He is a traitor.

Ach, he's not a proper traitor, like Aiden McGeady.

There's a topic exactly the same as this in the Celtic Vs Rangers Forum...

The man's an embarrassment to the national game. Who in their right mind gives up their shot at managing the national team to go and take over a club who previously sacked you despite your staggering success?

Seriously, are all Celtic fans complete imbeciles?

Walter Smith was not sacked, but that's not the least of the errors in your post.

Incidentally, I can't stand the guy, and it would be scant justice if Rangers ended up winning only the league and Scottish cups this season.

Smith wasn't sacked, he left with his head held high after an unprecedented period of success.

His aged squad had simply come to the end of its tether and Rangers and Smith needed a change.

He knew when to go, just like Lazybones did when his Sellick team was falling to pieces - the difference being Smiths aged players had come to the end of their contracts and he didn't use his wife's illness as an excuse to run away

Smith's achievments when in charge of Rangers first time round weren't what they were made out to be. 7 titles from the 9 in a row run, yes, but for 5 of those he had no competition form across the city. It was only when they won 8 and 9 did Smith feel the pressure from a resurgent Celtic. Most managers worth their salt could have won the league with Rangers year in year out.

As MarreZ said though, his stint as assistant boss of Manchester United, has propelled him into the upper tier of British and perhaps European managers to be perfectly honest. His Scotland exploits were one thing, (and I'm still bitterly disappointed as I feel we may well have had it in us to progress under Smith, but should've would've could'ves don't matter.) but to take what is a distincly average Rangers side (let's be honest the teams they had in the 9 in a row run featuring likes of Albertz, Gazza, Laudrup, Goram were far better teams) into a European final and one the verge of a domestic treble eclipses all his previous achievments.

If Walter Smith was a younger man, he'd be headhunted by a host of Big European clubs for next season.

Wait,

Isn't this the same Walter Smith who many Rangers supporters wanted sacked after they were knock out of the Champions League?

Good to see the supporters finally realising how lucky there are having him.

Is this the same man who was at Everton and just kept them up?? I get confused between Walter Smith 1, the brilliant manager in Scotland and Walter Smith 2 ,the guy who couldnt cut it in the Epl.

Anyone who mention him in the same breath as Alex Ferguson should be shot.

Cmon Zenit

People seem to ignore the fact that he's actually spent a fair bit of cash.
And McLeish was better for Scotland than he was.

Walter Smith is a tactical genius, he knows how to get a bunch of players who aren't great but makes them hard to beat. He did this with Scotland and now has turned Rangers from a shambles post Le Guen to UEFA Cup Finalists. But apparently he is a traitor for leaving his national country to manage one of the clubs in this country, so obviously it's a "cheek" to mention him in the same breath as the 2 Scottish greats, Stein and Ferguson, in the same sentence eh folks . Seriously though, I think the guy is a genius as his achievements over the last 2 years have been remarkable compared to when he was hounded out of Everton.

I am assuming Brewster would be first in line for the no luber in the showers??

Unfair comparison!!

Ferguson has a huge transfer budget at his disposal every season, so can easily fill a team full of quality players. When you are manager of the worlds richest club it makes life a bit easier!!

Smith in his first spell at Rangers had plenty funds so could 'buy' the league which he did , coupled with a really poor Celtic team.
At Everton I felt he was out of his depth, but he did inherit the job at a transitional time for Everton.
At Scotland he worked a miracle, and for what its worth I still don't think we would have got through if he had stayed!
Smith is geniunly shocked at what Rangers have achived this season, but he has to be given credit for what he has done with a very average team, to get them on the verge of 4 trophies is a trmemndous achievement and I think him, McCoist and McDowall should receive a lot of credit for it.

Bump

Well done

The day Rangers took Walter back was the day they accepted perennial mediocrity. Most of the signings he makes defy belief.

kenny miller

Honestly who are you trying to convince?

Nobody said he was a crap manager, but right now he is performing like one, based on his teams results.

Martin O'Neil was a legendary manager also. He got a team which has drifted between managers for 3 years and had no consistency.

And left you with a shower of overpaid, over-the-hill players you struggled to get rid of before b*ggering off.

The reason St Martin is held in such high regard at Celtic is for the simple reason that he is Irish. Don't even try and pretend otherwise.

Strachan is a far better manager, and has had much more success. Yet he's hated...

O'Neill is also held in high regard by many Celtic fans that also realise that the total spend during his entire tenure was still less than the boss across the river spent in his first year, and yet O'Neill wiped the floor with him in his first season.

Had O'Neill continued to receive the financial backing in the same manner that Advocaat had at Rangers, I feel that it's entirely possible that Celtic may well have not stagnated like they did and we'd all be looking at another 9 in a row team in the making.

Ahhh so that's why celtic lost the league the first season after he left.

Oh wait...

The Hun is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. All these threads, geez.

Yes and Strachan done an equally great job of turning that team around.

How about the fact he was the first manager to win us the Treble since Jock Stein?

Or Seville?

How about the fact Strachan was the first manager to win three in a row since Jock Stein?

Or that he took Celtic to the last sixteen of the Champions Leage - twice?

Strachan isn't an Irish Catholic, that's the main reason he doesn't get the same hero status as St. Martin.

Think the exact terminology is "sellic man", though "sellic minded" is a close 2nd

You seem to forget O'Neil was not liked by a lot of Celtic fans because of his tactics.

Their have been very few managers who have been accpeted by all.

Smith was/is a tremendous improvement on LeGuen and to be fair to him, he has turned the team around since the LG era.

OK Rangers have started badly this season but remember the SPL league season hasn't started yet. Give the guy a chance before crucifying him.

Oneill is a legend.A think your taking the piss with some of the stuff i've seen you write on this site,fecking wind up merchant arent you. i see thru you,think we're all dafties

No nervous breakdown here Mako!

I`m looking forward to the league campaign starting and like I say, when Walter turn`s things around I look forward to reminding you all.

How is Martin O`Neill a legend? He is in Walter`s shadow when it comes to the trophy count and always will be!

As for me taking the piss as you call it! You need to be clever enough to read between the lines to suss that out!

Funny how your all appearing out the woodwork now though!
I hope your still all here when the `Bears start winning again at your expense!

a know what yer all about Hun,piss taker
And save the wink smarty?If Martin came back tomorrow he'd wipe the floor with you lot

Tbh Walter Smith and Martin O'Neil are the two most over-rated managers in the Scottish game over the past 20 years. Both have struggled in Europe, apart from one run a piece in the consolation cup and both have thrown away league titles that they really should have won (WS - 97/98 & 07/08 MON - 02/03 & 04/05).

There is no doubt in my mind that Strachan is a considerably better manager than either, he has done more with less money in Europe than either (making the last 16 of the CL twice is more impressive than UEFA Cup Final IMO) and has won three straight SPL title (ok WS did achieve this in his first run, but there was no real challengers back then).

But of course Celtic fans will never give him his due as he is an Aberdeen man, just the same as Rangers fans never gave McLeish the respect he deserved.

Based on the composition of the above, it would appear sir that you may indeed be something of a daftie.

Okay, my mistake.

THANK YOU!

Martin O'Neill - handed millions, won a Treble. After that, no more money, team performances suffered as his teams aged, still won the odd trophy but in general suffered when competing with the money on offer to Alex McLeish across the city.

O'Neill was an excellent manager for us and brought us finally out of the shadow of Rangers and established us as the best club in the country. He gave us Seville, he made Henrik Larsson the player he became and he gave us so many European nights.

Smith, as opposed to O'Neill, works better with a limited budget. His Rangers teams in the 90s were impressive in name terms but still struggled often to shake off a Celtic team of much less worth transferwise, eventually culminating in Jansen's team winning the title in 97/98. Last season, he spent little and worked with what he had, and worked miracles. Now, having been given a bit of money, he's blown it on two abysmal strikers and a centrehalf from the Championship, and produced one of the least entertaining Rangers teams ever.

Strachan has worked on a poor budget at Celtic in his first season and a half, and unearthed gems like Artur Boruc, Shunsuke Nakamura and even Paul Telfer. He got Naka in his prime and he's been an influential player for us. Boruc, like the likes of McManus and McGeady, have begun to fulfill their potential - awesome potential in the case of Boruc - under Strachan. When Strachan has spent big, he acquired Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, who has been a success in the SPL so far, reaching the 20 goal mark last season and scoring some crucial goals, as well as Scott Brown, who I have no doubt will explode into form this season after an understandably difficult first campaign. His budget signings have been sucesses too - Boruc, Hinkel, Robson, Hartley and especially McDonald.

To summarise ( ), where O'Neill couldn't nurture youth and Smith couldn't buy big, Strachan has done both and combined this with some canny budget buys to produce a team which has won three titles on the trot, two cups and has reached the last 16 of the Champions League twice.

He's better than O'Neill and Smith.

*braces himself*

I actually agree with that but many won't