Walter Smith - finally doing the job he was brought back to do..?

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It's diffucult to know what to make of the events of the last week. There is no clear picture of right and wrong, no black and white. Or rather nobody comes out with any credit at all..

George Burley should never have given permission for a bevvy session after getting back from Amsterdam. I can appreciate posters pointing out the 'legendary' session referred to by Andy Goram after Rangers beat Leeds, 3 days before playing celtic at Parkhead. But the big difference is - they won. Both games, in fact. They had earned the right to be let off the leash. Getting beat 3-0 by Holland, no matter how good the Dutch are, is not something worthy of celebration.

So Ferguson and McGregor might well feel singled out after being the only 2 who got punished by Burley. And it may have been footballing reasons that were the true motive in the Scotland manager's dropping them. But let's not have any sympathy for these 2, who get paid tens of thousands of fans' money every week, and showed such disrespect to Rangers fans, Scotland fans and indeed other hotel guests, who unlike them had paid to be there.

Perhaps it is more worrying that the rest of the Scotland squad seemed to support the boozers. Maybe they all felt guilty, and at least it shows some unity in the team, but they left Burley in a no-win situation. Of course, a stronger manager would have kicked them out as an example to the rest of the squad (as Walter Smith has done) but 3 days before a big game, Burley was left with the possibility of more top stars pulling out, and wasn't exactly being backed to the hilt by the SFA or media. Indeed Walter Smith may have done Burley a big favour, as these childish international players have learnt that acting like spoiled children can affect your club career, even if you aren't on club duty. These players, and especially 'captain of club and country' Ferguson, have to learn to behave like adults. They have a responsibility, at least when in public, to be ambassadors for club or country. After all, they expect the fans to. Sadly too many footballers nowaydays, pampered and obscenely overpaid, seem to accept this. They seem to think being a footballer, far from being a privelige, is just a job which they need WAGs, big cars, spit-roasting, booze and drugs to escape from. It sums the modern footballer up that they refuse to adhere to the same anti-doping rules that UK Athletics impose on other sportsmen - not because they are all on drugs, but because they are not prepared to make sacrifices for their job.

Rangers have ready-made replacements, arguably Ferguson was only playing due to Thomson's injury, and McGregor for me isn't the keeper he was last season. He looks out of shape, has been dodgy with crosses, and we have a keeper in reserve who is a true professional, and has already claimed his place in Rangers folklore - Scottish Cup winner and UEFA Cup hero Neil Alexander.

The irony is that Smith is now doing exactly what Le Guen did. Perhaps the surprice is that it has taken 2 years! Of course, Le Guen never had the midfield that Smith does, and PSG were waiting in the wings, but the fact is too many of our vocal supporters abused Le Guen and even replacement captain Gavin Rae, at the Frenchman's final game against Motherwell. Part of the reason Smith was brought back, was because Murray knows the fans will accept this decision, whereas they didn't with Le Guen. If these 2 had played at Falkirk on Sunday, however, apart from the stick they would have got from the home fans, it would have been "Oh Barry Barry" from our support, and "George Burley - yer a w@nker" from a vocal section of our support, which would have encouraged them to continue to behave like this. Regardless of the boozing, the gestures they made on the bench made me embarrassed to be a Rangers supporter. Thankfully Smith and David Murray obviously agreed. The boozing was one thing, but this public display of petulance was the last straw. But were they the only 2 who made these gestures? Regardless, they have been made an example of, and rightly so.

Of course there is more than an element of media hypocrisy here, as usual. Le Guen has been portrayed for the last 2 years as almost destroying Rangers, but suddenly the likes of Darryl Broadfoot have decided he was right all along. None of these mhedia parasites stuck up for Le Guen at the time, and they were undecided about Burley. But now uncle Walter has wielded the axe, they are falling over each other to support the same decision. One wonders where this leaves Ferguson's spokesperson, Iain King in the Sun. However, it could at least make an interesting new chapter in the autobiography..

It may not be the end for McGregor and Ferguson though, certainly not at club level. Even in the days of 'the team that drinks together wins together' Smith did act -dropping Paul Gascoigne, and transfer listing Andy Goram. Both got back into the first team once they had proved they were sorry. But do modern day footballers have the stomach for humble pie? If these 2 don't, then Rangers will be needing a new captain, long-term. Then I would look no further than Kevin Thomson. After all, internet posters tell me he is teetotal.. though they said that about Scott Brown as well!