BLUEDIGNITY 34,322 Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 With his squad stretched to the limit, Walter Smith knows there can be no resting on laurels this season as an era draws to a close at IbroxWalter Smith knows mitigating circumstances are never taken into account when tallies of victories and trophies are madePhotograph: SNS Group/Craig Watson Richard WilsonShare 0 comments 8 Aug 2010HOWEVER this season progresses, in all of its dramas and upheavals, Rangers are approaching the end of something.Walter Smith is to retire next summer, David Weir is likely to follow him, and several other players might find that their time at Ibrox reaches a natural end. This era at Rangers will be remembered as a time of survival, when ambition and authority somehow remained despite the club’s financial woes. Two titles were won almost as an act of sheer bloodymindedness. We wonder now what this last phase will bring, when an element of closure begins to approach, at least on the football side.Everything must endure: stamina, hunger, commitment, even the good fortune of avoiding serious injuries. Rangers can only succeed if their season does not submit to any kind of nostalgia. The imperative, as Smith so emphatically understood during his first spell at the club, is to be restless; renewal, of the pursuit of prizes, of the competitive spirit, is essential.“The challenge for anybody is winning one season, but is that it over with?” he says. “It doesn’t matter how many [titles] you manage to win, you still face a huge challenge to show that you can do it again. Teams can get up there to win the championship, but to win it year after year is a difficult motivation for anybody. In my own mind, I admire guys who can repeat their success season after season. That’s the true test of any team or individual in sport.”If I didn’t still have that determination, I wouldn’t have come back for another year Walter Smith Smith made the decision to leave last season, even emptying his office, but changed his mind during the summer and returned for a final effort. He now must attempt to manage the decline (in personnel) of his squad. Any Old Firm manager must accept that circumstances do not count when victories and trophies are tallied. That constant, unforgiving demand from the supporters for supremacy is one of the characteristics of the rivalry between Rangers and Celtic.A grim perseverance was wrung out of Smith’s squad last season, alleviated on occasion by the imagination of Steven Davis, the goals of Kris Boyd, and Danny Wilson’s emergence as a player of true worth. The latter two have left the club, but the essential core of the team remains, and those individuals will be obliged to revive the squad’s conviction.“If I didn’t still have that determination to succeed, I wouldn’t have come back for another year,” Smith says. “The easiest thing would have been to say, ‘that’s it, I’m finishing’. But the determination’s still there, and I hope that will show within our group.”Some simple truths are already clear: in certain positions the squad is perilously thin; there is not enough money to fully replenish it; and a core of players will be required to make sacrifices – Kenny Miller is already coping with shin-splints – for the team.During the pre-season trip to Australia, Smith essentially selected his strongest starting line-up for all three friendlies. The team is already cohesive, but momentum is a difficult quality to capture, and last season’s league campaign only truly asserted itself following a 1-0 defeat to Aberdeen at Pittodrie in November.The rapport among the players is, for now, self-perpetuating. But new signings are required to shore up the areas of the squad that are threadbare, and Rangers are still attempting to strike a deal with Rapid Vienna for Nikica Jelavic. Smith is also known to be keen on acquiring two wide players, as John Fleck (who is out for six weeks with a hamstring injury), Kyle Lafferty and Steven Naismith are his only options.“We’ve still got a situation that we know is not perfect, we need to bring players in,” Smith said “I’ve been looking at a few, but I don’t know how close we are. I’ve wanted to make sure that it’s the right [type of player]. With the money we have available we could maybe bring in six players, but I’d prefer to bring in two or three of a better level and hope our younger boys can fill the breach.”The loss of Boyd, in particular, is worrisome, as he was top scorer in each of his four full seasons at Ibrox. Smith admits compensating for the loss of his goals will be a significant challenge, and the 4-1-4-1 formation used in Australia suggests a change in approach, rather than a direct replacement (Jelavic is a powerful centre-forward, but not a prolific scorer in the same sense as Boyd) is likely to be the route taken.There is a sense of Rangers regrouping. Celtic are in the throes of a small revolution, but they will adapt to the need to apply pressure on the defending champions and Smith is adamant that their loss to SC Braga in the Champions League qualifiers will have no bearing on the league campaign.“It’s a difficult situation to be put in, when you’re introducing a new team,” Smith says. “I don’t think that will be an indicator of how Celtic will fare once they settle down. If you’re bringing in half a dozen new players, you’ve not got a team or a formation to rely upon. It takes time. We’ve had the benefit, albeit one I’m not that keen on having, that our group’s been together for a period of time.”Both clubs have difficulties to overcome, but the competition between them won’t suffer. Smith, one more time, must show he can exert his will on the outcome. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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