It was one thing seeing tears in the eyes of Rangers legend Ally McCoist as he paid tribute to his former manager, colleague and “second father” Walter Smith on Tuesday. What really brought home Smith’s status as a football man of such substance, though, was the sight of Steven Gerrard welling up too.
Today’s Rangers manager only knew Smith in his final years, as the older man sprinkled wisdom over conversations between the pair, yet Gerrard offered an emotional reflection when remembering the architect of 10 Scottish title-winning campaigns at Ibrox. “He was honest, he was genuine, and he’s made me a better person,” said Gerrard.
Long before managing Rangers, Everton and Scotland’s national team, Smith – who started his working life as an electrician and ended it as the second-most successful manager in Ibrox history – began exploring a calling for coaching. He was still in his mid-20s, and a modest centre-back with Dundee United, when attending his first Scottish FA coaching courses.
It was on his return to Tannadice from Dumbarton in 1977 that he took up his first role as player-coach, initially with the youth team. As Smith recounted in an interview last year, Jim McLean, then United manager, told him: “At some stage in your career you’ve got to face up to the fact of how good you are. And let’s face it Walter — you’re s___e. But I think you’ve got a real talent as a coach.”
Smith would assist McLean as the Tannadice club won their only Scottish league title in 1983. By then he had already made his mark with Scotland, joining forces with Andy Roxburgh to guide their U18s to the 1982 European Championship. Pat Nevin, a member of that team, had felt Smith’s influence even earlier, as a brief triallist at Tannadice.
“He was a player-coach for the first team and he came over, took me aside and deconstructed my shooting action,” he remembers. “He was always interested in bettering people. He says, ‘Here, I’ll show you how to kick a ball correctly’ and spent 15 minutes doing that.”
Steve Watson, a full-back in that Everton side, remembers: “It wasn’t an easy time at Everton at the time but he was such a good man to play for – very honest, very genuine, very fair. He had a toughness about him as well which you probably wouldn’t see unless you were in the dressing room
“I remember when Walter got sacked how devastated the whole squad were. He’s the only manager with whom I’ve knocked on their door afterwards and almost apologised. He was humble about it and said, ‘look Steve, that’s the game’.”
Smith would later revive Scotland’s fortunes, replacing Berti Vogts and transforming the mood among a dispirited set of players. He brought in McCoist and Tommy Burns as his assistants – one a Rangers man, the other Celtic. In 2005, the year of his arrival, Scotland sat 74th in Fifa’s ranking. By October 2006 they were beating France 1-0 at Hampden Park.
Yet in January 2007 he returned to Rangers for a second time, leading them to the 2008 Uefa Cup final, which they lost to Zenit St Petersburg. On stepping down in 2011, Smith had won Rangers 21 trophies in all. And his influence continued to be felt, as Gerrard outlined on Tuesday. “We had many lunches and dinners and coffees and chats… private time with him in the office,” he said. Bettering people until the end.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3EqY6QN
Post a Comment