Work to be Done
The 22nd of April 2007 – the penultimate month of the season calendar and still with over a week left of its duration.
The location – Rugby Park, Kilmarnock; the home side with little to play for, bar pride – and the opportunity to wreck the Champions’ elect Celtic’s party.
A win for the visitors would secure the SPL championship after a stuttering conclusion in which chance after chance to close the league for good was blown.
Their city, and fierce OF rivals, Rangers, had added a small amount of pressure with a credible comeback and victory at Ibrox against Hearts, but of course, it was not a case of if Celtic would win the league, but when.
When Kilmarnock equalised Celtic’s opener, it looked like the Bhoys had failed again to capitalise on a clear chance to win the league, until Nakamura broke Rangers’ hearts with an injury-time winner to clinch the title at long last.
The worst-kept secret in Scottish football was out; Celtic were officially the champions, and the Ibrox men were left to rue a chronically disappointing domestic season with no silverware to boast.
Of course, the damage had been done as early as the previous summer with the appointment of arguably the biggest failure as Rangers’ manager, the Frenchman Paul Le Guen. The ‘Pencran Potato’ was hailed as an incredibly glamorous appointment, having guided French cracks Lyon to several titles as well as impressive displays in the Champions League. After a year hiatus out of the game as a football analyst on French channel Canal +, Sir David Murray brought the prized young manager back into the game and to the Marble Staircase in Govan.
It simply did not work out, and by December the anticipation had turned to despair, before both parties parted company and former manager Walter Smith took the reigns with trusty assistant Ally McCoist.
It led to stability, and a winning mentality, but a chronic lack of prizes, especially the game’s grand trophy, eats at the Rangers fans, bitter at such a poor season and capitulation to Celtic.
It goes without saying the fans demand much more. To lose the league so weakly irks at the very soul of bluenoses. Next season must deliver a vast improvement; Rangers will not settle for anything less than pushing Celtic all the way for the league, if not winning it. A radical overhaul of the playing staff seems a no-brainer, with a fair chunk of dead wood to ship out, and a real influx of quality required.
There is no question Smith is a good SPL manager who knows how to win domestically, and his record since taking charge has been literally exceptional, with only 2 draws as blips since his return. Even Celtic have been dispatched in their own back yard. The question of European competition is a separate entity, with a pretty poor exit at the hands of Spanish side Osasuna in the Uefa Cup. A small consolation is they have now made it to the last four of that competition. Historically, however, bar Smith’s excellent 92/93 side, his record on the continent is less than impeccable.
However, regaining domestic credibility is surely the priority, and with Celtic so far ahead, serious work must be done to close that gap.
The location – Rugby Park, Kilmarnock; the home side with little to play for, bar pride – and the opportunity to wreck the Champions’ elect Celtic’s party.
A win for the visitors would secure the SPL championship after a stuttering conclusion in which chance after chance to close the league for good was blown.
Their city, and fierce OF rivals, Rangers, had added a small amount of pressure with a credible comeback and victory at Ibrox against Hearts, but of course, it was not a case of if Celtic would win the league, but when.
When Kilmarnock equalised Celtic’s opener, it looked like the Bhoys had failed again to capitalise on a clear chance to win the league, until Nakamura broke Rangers’ hearts with an injury-time winner to clinch the title at long last.
The worst-kept secret in Scottish football was out; Celtic were officially the champions, and the Ibrox men were left to rue a chronically disappointing domestic season with no silverware to boast.
Of course, the damage had been done as early as the previous summer with the appointment of arguably the biggest failure as Rangers’ manager, the Frenchman Paul Le Guen. The ‘Pencran Potato’ was hailed as an incredibly glamorous appointment, having guided French cracks Lyon to several titles as well as impressive displays in the Champions League. After a year hiatus out of the game as a football analyst on French channel Canal +, Sir David Murray brought the prized young manager back into the game and to the Marble Staircase in Govan.
It simply did not work out, and by December the anticipation had turned to despair, before both parties parted company and former manager Walter Smith took the reigns with trusty assistant Ally McCoist.
It led to stability, and a winning mentality, but a chronic lack of prizes, especially the game’s grand trophy, eats at the Rangers fans, bitter at such a poor season and capitulation to Celtic.
It goes without saying the fans demand much more. To lose the league so weakly irks at the very soul of bluenoses. Next season must deliver a vast improvement; Rangers will not settle for anything less than pushing Celtic all the way for the league, if not winning it. A radical overhaul of the playing staff seems a no-brainer, with a fair chunk of dead wood to ship out, and a real influx of quality required.
There is no question Smith is a good SPL manager who knows how to win domestically, and his record since taking charge has been literally exceptional, with only 2 draws as blips since his return. Even Celtic have been dispatched in their own back yard. The question of European competition is a separate entity, with a pretty poor exit at the hands of Spanish side Osasuna in the Uefa Cup. A small consolation is they have now made it to the last four of that competition. Historically, however, bar Smith’s excellent 92/93 side, his record on the continent is less than impeccable.
However, regaining domestic credibility is surely the priority, and with Celtic so far ahead, serious work must be done to close that gap.
posted by RangersMedia @ 6:34 PM
