Walter Smith

185

In 1986, Walter Smith left his assistant role at Dundee United to take up the same job at his boyhood club, Rangers.  He later became manager, leading the club to six (and a half) of their nine-in-a-row league titles, though like a few other legends, he discovered 10 was out of reach.  He managed Everton, then Scotland, where he left to return to more success at Rangers, including reaching the 2008 Uefa Cup Final.

As an opponent, he was uncompromising, ruthless, even.  He managed to have a congenial nature and to be as hard as nails.  His first period in charge of Rangers saw an era of no contest.  Celtic finished second only twice during those nine seasons, Aberdeen, Motherwell and Hibs were often the nearest challengers, allowing Rangers space to prepare for Champions League football.

His second spell at Rangers concluded in 2011, having won three successive titles against different Celtic managers: Gordon Strachan, Tony Mowbray and Neil Lennon.  He retired the same month that Craig Whyte bought the club from David Murray for £1, with the emerging EBT scandal scattered like confetti over every inch of the Ibrox and Charlotte Square.

Smith was ill advised to get involved in the scrap for Newco a year later, where he was briefly chairman in 2013 before resigning after three months.

For all the battles, my abiding memory of Walter Smith happened days after that Uefa Cup Final in 2008, watching him carry the Tommy Burns’ coffin from St Mary’s, Calton.  Everything that had gone before seemed irrelevant.  Later on, a Celtic supporting journalist, who was moving on from Scottish football, told me he received a call with best wishes from Smith.  No one from Celtic did likewise.  What little we really know of the people we cheer and jeer.

73 is no age, may he rest in peace.

Click Here for Comments >
Share.

About Author

185 Comments
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5

  1. PETEC

     

     

    I was vaccinated against Whooping Cough as a baby and Mumps, Measles & Rubella (MMR Jab) when I was about 3, as were all kids my age. When I started school We were also given the Polio vaccine.

     

     

    Children can take vaccines.

     

     

    It’s no big deal.

  2. Tom McLaughlin, Respect Bro, This is IMO, is a Global ID card being introduced.

     

     

    The Raphael Van Der Vaart anyway. Just my assumption.

  3. TOM MCLAUGHLIN on 26TH OCTOBER 2021 10:35 PM

     

    PETEC

     

     

    I was vaccinated against Whooping Cough as a baby and Mumps, Measles & Rubella (MMR Jab) when I was about 3, as were all kids my age. When I started school We were also given the Polio vaccine.

     

     

    Children can take vaccines.

     

     

    It’s no big deal.

     

     

    ============

     

     

    difference is those vaccines worked

     

     

    Corona vaccine neither stops you getting or passing on the virus

     

     

    Seems a little backwards???

  4. Celtic Mac naw I wisnae at the game, kind of hard being3.5K away, but I did have the luxury of watching it live in my own home.

     

     

    The coverage never missed a trick even mcsleekit having a go at Lenny while naesurname and ding dong bell looked on.

  5. Clunks, I have little doubt that the vaccine will be improved in time,

     

    It is not perfect but it is the best chance we have, it has saved millions.

     

    Like Pete I want to get to Heaven but I’m in no hurry to get there.

  6. Clunks there is no cure to the Corona virus, the common cold is one, but the States have been working on one for 4 years until COVID rudely interrupted them.

     

     

    However, what the current vaccine does is help you avoid death just like the flu vaccine, nobody died of the common cold as far as I know.

  7. Walter Smith 121

     

    BY PAUL67 ON 26TH OCTOBER 2021CQN BLOG & COMMENTS

     

    In 1986, Walter Smith left his assistant role at Dundee United to take up the same job at his boyhood club, Rangers. He later became manager, leading the club to six (and a half) of their nine-in-a-row league titles, though like a few other legends, he discovered 10 was out of reach. He managed Everton, then Scotland, where he left to return to more success at Rangers, including reaching the 2008 Uefa Cup Final.

     

     

    As an opponent, he was uncompromising, ruthless, even. He managed to have a congenial nature and to be as hard as nails. His first period in charge of Rangers saw an era of no contest. Celtic finished second only twice during those nine seasons, Aberdeen, Motherwell and Hibs were often the nearest challengers, allowing Rangers space to prepare for Champions League football.

     

     

    His second spell at Rangers concluded in 2011, having won three successive titles against different Celtic managers: Gordon Strachan, Tony Mowbray and Neil Lennon. He retired the same month that Craig Whyte bought the club from David Murray for £1, with the emerging EBT scandal scattered like confetti over every inch of the Ibrox and Charlotte Square.

     

     

    Smith was ill advised to get involved in the scrap for Newco a year later, where he was briefly chairman in 2013 before resigning after three months.

     

     

    For all the battles, my abiding memory of Walter Smith happened days after that Uefa Cup Final in 2008, watching him carry the Tommy Burns’ coffin from St Mary’s, Calton. Everything that had gone before seemed irrelevant. Later on, a Celtic supporting journalist, who was moving on from Scottish football, told me he received a call with best wishes from Smith. No one from Celtic did likewise. What little we really know of the people we cheer and jeer.

     

     

    73 is no age, may he rest in peace.

     

     

    Click Here for Comments >

     

    SHARE.Twitter Facebook Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

     

    PREVIOUS ARTICLE

     

    CELTIC CONDOLENCES AFTER PASSING OF WALTER SMITH

     

    NEXT ARTICLE

     

    ANGE’S CASE FOR THE DEFENCE

     

    ABOUT AUTHOR

     

    PAUL67Website

     

    121 COMMENTS

     

    PAGES:«1234

     

    TOM MCLAUGHLIN on 26TH OCTOBER 2021 10:35 PM

     

    PETEC

     

     

     

     

     

     

    I was vaccinated against Whooping Cough as a baby and Mumps, Measles & Rubella (MMR Jab) when I was about 3, as were all kids my age. When I started school We were also given the Polio vaccine.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Children can take vaccines.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    It’s no big deal.

     

     

    PETEC on 26TH OCTOBER 2021 10:48 PM

     

    Tom McLaughlin, Respect Bro, This is IMO, is a Global ID card being introduced.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    The Raphael Van Der Vaart anyway. Just my assumption.

     

     

    CLUNKS on 26TH OCTOBER 2021 10:50 PM

     

    TOM MCLAUGHLIN on 26TH OCTOBER 2021 10:35 PM

     

     

     

     

    PETEC

     

     

     

     

     

     

    I was vaccinated against Whooping Cough as a baby and Mumps, Measles & Rubella (MMR Jab) when I was about 3, as were all kids my age. When I started school We were also given the Polio vaccine.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Children can take vaccines.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    It’s no big deal.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    ============

     

     

     

     

     

     

    difference is those vaccines worked

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Corona vaccine neither stops you getting or passing on the virus

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Seems a little backwards???

     

     

    TONTINE TIM on 26TH OCTOBER 2021 10:52 PM

     

    Celtic Mac naw I wisnae at the game, kind of hard being3.5K away, but I did have the luxury of watching it live in my own home.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    The coverage never missed a trick even mcsleekit having a go at Lenny while naesurname and ding dong bell looked on.

     

     

    CARDBOARDCSC on 26TH OCTOBER 2021 10:54 PM

     

    Clunks, it may stop you dying though?

     

     

    CORKCELT on 26TH OCTOBER 2021 10:56 PM

     

    Clunks, I have little doubt that the vaccine will be improved in time,

     

     

    It is not perfect but it is the best chance we have, it has saved millions.

     

     

    Like Pete I want to get to Heaven but I’m in no hurry to get there.

     

     

    —————-

     

     

    Which us why am gona wait till its improved.

  8. Not sure what age you are Clunks, I’ll be 74 in Jan Please God.

     

    We all think we have all the time in the World but we haven’t.

     

    Personally I didn’t have the luxury of hanging around for a few years playing cat & mouse with my health & secondly I felt I was doing the right thing for my friends & family.

     

    Each to their own.

  9. MARTIM1980 on 26TH OCTOBER 2021 10:10 PM

     

     

    TOM MCLAUGHLIN on 26TH OCTOBER 2021 9:52 PM

     

     

    You think posting that publicly a smart idea…?

     

     

    =============

     

    Its out there now Martim 😊

     

     

    Its been out there for a while.

     

    If the tech sav kids know how to get round it,you would like to think as a system/software designer it may lead to the info being scanned,confirmed and cross referenced to your seat… instead of looked at.maybe it will at somepoint be exhibited on our season ticket as that is where the cost is goin to be met.

     

     

    HH

  10. tom mclaughlin

     

     

    MMR at three years old?

     

    For some reason I got the impression you grew up in Scotland.

     

    Which would make around thirty six now.

     

     

    ForeverYoungCSC

  11. SAINT STIVS @ 7:23 PM,

     

     

    Apologies for the delay, had to run an errand, calpol for a sickly granddaughter:(

     

     

    Anyways an excellent informative post. I’m no history specialist but some periods and cultures fascinate me.

     

     

    My son has been doing some family tree, dna stuff and it’s been very interesting.

     

     

    The Irish, Catholic identity of Celtic’s origins are indisputable, thanks for the clarification, of course there were many Catholics from the Highlands and Islands at that time in Glasgow. Many speaking Gaelic.

     

     

    Yet as your Maley piece notes, they were not exclusive or anti-Brit. I made a comment a little while back that a Club open to all was a nice sentiment, yet in the twenty first century it is unlawful not to be.

     

     

    Real history can explain a lot and most of the people and bs’ed most of the time.

     

     

    For instance you learn about the Orange Order. It’s stated aims and objectives were protecting the ascendancy.

     

     

    The first walks in Scotland was on July 12th and in opposition to a growing movement to emancipate Catholics.

     

     

    So an all male, Protestant organisation whose main purpose was the Protestant ascendancy and was opposed to the emancipation of Catholics.

     

     

    They created the 12th July Celebration. Originally the 12th July was the commeration of the battle of Aughrim one hundred years before the OO came into being.

     

     

    That like most of these things had faded with time. So the OO had to reinvent it as a means of something to celebrate the ascendancy with. However the calendar had been changed, so they picked the battle of the Boyne as in the new calendar the date for that battle was 11th July – close enough for Jazz…

     

     

    So when people ask, why the OO has to march beside Catholic Churches? It is their whole raison D’etre. The superiority of the Protestant religion and the opposition to Catholic emancipation.

     

     

    That is a bigoted, sectarian organisation. Their whole ethos is now illegal but they are allowed to go about their illegal aims.

     

     

    History is great and fascinating always enjoy reading your informative comments – thanks again for the information.

     

     

    Hail Hail

  12. Neil Lennon on Walter Smith

     

     

    Lennon said: “My thoughts are with Walter’s wife Ethel, his boys and the rest of the family.

     

     

    “Walter was a great man, first and foremost. He was a class act with how he dealt with people and the respect he showed everyone.

     

     

    “No one was ever in any doubt how big a Rangers man he was. What he did for the club, his incredible success, will rightly never be forgotten.

     

     

    “But I always appreciated how well he spoke of Celtic too. He had nothing but respect for the club and its history.

     

     

    “Of course the rivalry was always there, as it should be. But Walter always spoke well, carried himself brilliantly. He was very dignified.”

     

     

    He added: “I learned a lot from Walter. I knew I was going up against a Rangers legend when I became Celtic manager.

     

     

    “I relished the challenge but I was just starting out, while Walter had already done so much and earned the status as one of Scottish football’s best ever managers.

     

     

    “I respected his longevity as a top boss, his success, and more than anything else, his mental strength.

     

     

    “Walter was a really intelligent football guy. He was always immaculate in his appearance.

     

     

    “We had seven derbies in that 2010-11 season. It was a titanic year and we got pipped at the post in the league and also lost to Rangers in the League Cup.

     

     

    “It was still a great learning experience for me and I picked up a lot that season going up against Walter.

     

     

    “There were also a few moments in the heat of battle when he’d glance across the technical area and give me one of his famous glares, as if to say, ‘Are you sure?’.

     

     

    “After derbies we would briefly meet up with our backroom staff. But you hardly got time to really talk.

     

     

    “But I’d study Walter and how he went about the job.

     

     

    “The longer I was Celtic manager the more I understood how good he was under the intense scrutiny and pressure.

     

     

    “It was only after he left Rangers that I’d meet him at functions and events and get to know him better.

     

     

    “Just before the lockdown, I sat with him and Graeme Souness for a couple of hours at a charity dinner. I really enjoyed that.”

     

     

    Lennon was aware of the seriousness of Smith’s illness and he said: “I tried to keep up to date with how Walter was doing.

     

     

    “I knew he hadn’t been well for a period of time.

     

     

    “He turned up at that golf event and it made everyone’s day, we all took a lift from seeing Walter.

     

     

    “Just to see him out and walking about was great. I was delighted to see him, as always.

     

     

    “I’d heard a few days ago that things weren’t great. But the news today has still come as a big shock.

     

     

    “I’m upset because I respected Walter a lot.

     

     

    “He was a massive figure in Scottish football. But people will also speak about him in just as great terms as a person, and rightly so.

     

     

    “I’ll never forget how Walter helped me during some of my toughest times.”

     

     

    HH.

  13. TONTINE

     

     

    At the Irish Club we have a Burns Night(yes i know) the Government are saying maybe by Jan.17 you will not require proof of vax for Restaurants ,Bars etc.

     

    I don’t know if i want to be in the club with approx. 150 people and not knowing if any are not vaxed.

     

     

    Could be a time bomb we need proof for a while yet lets get over the winter with flu season etc.

     

     

    Sorry Petec……….think you are foolish and hope you don’t go outside.

  14. Birthday today wife is allowing me to be in charge of tv tonight.

     

     

    Petec covid stole time from everyone but at my age(76 today) in the grand scheme of things i don’t have a ton left.Goodnight and stay safe.

  15. Never felt so ashamed as our Celtic support, at Celtic Park, sang a version of the filthy der hun scum song about Tommy Burns, “Sad Fenian Bastard”.

     

    That day in question, as we crushed der hun filth on the park, our support in their tens of thousands, directed the same reverse vitriol at Walter Smith.

     

    I didnt’t join in. I cursed the scum around me and left Paradise early on the back of a famous victory.

     

    Took me a long time to go back……. realising our scum were just as bad as theirs.

     

    Walter Smith, Requiescat In Pace.

     

    .

  16. Like some others on here, I don’t really buy into the outpouring on here today. The legned won plenty with a heavily loaded deck. He was well aware of the cheating yet did nothing, content to win tainted trophies and gather his own baubles while slowly killing the club he claimed to love. He admits to belting out the full repertoire of Boyne ditties as a boy, only to ‘grow up’ and ditch the bigotry., but somehow felt comfortable standing by and watching silently as his squads repeated the very same songs in the changing room on TV.

     

    I feel sorry for a family that have lost a husband & father, but I shed no tears for the bigot who openly lauded the ‘Protestant superiority syndrome’ that he felt when in Ibrox…

  17. My favourite memory of Walter was chick young almost crying after the bully in chief told him that that the bank wre running the show. If anyone wants to see a case study on how toxic PR types are in fitba I show them that clip.

  18. AN TEARMANN @ 12:19 AM,

     

     

    Hope All’s Good…

     

     

    Thanks, that looks great, I’ll give it a listen.

     

     

    Think our defense will be worked a bit harder today than recently, still victory to the good guys.

     

     

    Hail Hail

  19. Tom McLaughlin on

    CELTIC MAC

     

     

    Thanks for the compliment.

     

     

    Seriously though, when I mentioned the MMR jab I was thinking of my grandchildren but omitted to include them.

  20. Tom McLaughlin on

    Really looking forward to Easter Road tonight and hoping for another three points and clean sheet.

     

     

    What a difference from last season to wake up with a sense of excitement at the prospect of watching the Celtic play another game. Thanks to oor Ange for that.

     

     

    Fingers crossed for more points dropped by Rangers-2012. Go for it Broony.

     

     

    3-0 to the Bhoys.

     

     

    ☘️

  21. Good morning all Celts across the globe from a windswept and rainy Garngad

     

     

    RIP Watty

     

     

    D :)

  22. An Tearmann on 27th October 2021 7:29 am

     

     

    Absolutely loved that :-) I saw pretty much all of them live at the time, brilliant player.

  23. It’s Good To Be A Tim………………….

     

     

     

    ( must have a quick readback……..)

     

     

     

    HH

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5