Mission accomplished again for Walter Smith's blue and white army

Published on Sunday 15 May 2011 19:41

HE WOULD be the first to admit to feeling uncomfortable, to feeling unworthy, even. But Walter Smith trod on the toes of the late Jock Stein yesterday at Rugby Park when collecting a tenth title of his remarkable Rangers career(s). It equals Stein's haul at Celtic and proves quite a way for Smith to sign off from his second spell at Ibrox.

From nine in a row, to three in a row. You can imagine Ally McCoist's reaction on being handed the baton: "Gee, thanks Boss." McCoist is the novice manager expected to continue another run of success and it won't be easy, whoever happens to be his opposite number at Parkhead next season. But that concern can wait until tomorrow - or for when, and if, the Rangers coaching team return from a charity white water rafting expedition to Idaho.

Yesterday proved to be a much less nerve-racking test. The fear for Rangers fans had been their team might end up regretting scoring so many goals in recent outings, thus leaving none for when one was really required.

This was made to seem a laughable notion as Smith, a man forever labelled as an arch pragmatist, said farewell in the wryest of manners, beneath an avalanche of goals. His side have now scored 16 times in post-split matches alone. Even David Weir was lining up volleys from the edge of the box yesterday, on the 41-year-old's 57th appearance of the season. They had retired him as well as written off Rangers' championship credentials when the Ibrox side went down lamely at Celtic Park in late February, dropping eight points behind their rivals, albeit with two games in hand. Yet here Weir was yet again, hoisting the league trophy in the air. John Hartson was among those who had suggested he had already passed his sell-by date but it seems Smith knew best, just as he knew best when electing to splurge 4 million on Nikica Jelavic rather than opt for four or five more mediocre squad players. Whatever formed the content of Smith's last pre-match talk, it certainly elicited the desired response. One imagines that there was not much more to be said, however. The players were doing it for the manager even if the manager had asked for them to do it for themselves. The tee-shirts they donned afterwards, on which were written "Walter Smith's blue and white army", seemed to confirm that. Smith had hoped that they might be given the credit after he had allowed himself to be indulged last Tuesday, following his last match at Ibrox. He wanted it to be their turn to be honoured.

The players certainly made sure they could not be accused of ruining the last of Smith's 624 matches in charge. They rolled up their sleeves - and in Kyle Lafferty's case, the tops of his socks - and engaged immediately with the task in hand. Kilmarnock were on a hiding to nothing. You know what they say about the ball being sucked in by the supporters behind the goal? It wasn't just being sucked in, it was also propelled by the force being applied from behind the other goal. There was no way of keeping the ball out of Cameron Bell's net in the opening stages.

Rangers fans were packed tightly into both end stands, as well as occupying large sections of the stands ostensibly reserved for the home supporters. Police and stewards clearly preferred to keep the interlopers in place where they could see them, rather than begin the laborious chore of weeding them all out. Not that it was difficult to spot them. They were handed ever more space in which to themselves feel at home as the Kilmarnock fans began drifting off from after the fifth minute, when Steven Naismith rifled in Rangers' second of a straightforward afternoon.

The Kilmarnock players re-emerged at the end to 'salute the fans' but, given that most of their supporters had already sloped off, it was a rather half-hearted lap of honour. In view of the decent season the Rugby Park side have had, it must have been slightly dismaying. But then no-one could blame the home supporters for leaving Rangers to their party. Within just ten minutes if was all over. In truth, it was all academic after 47 seconds, when Kyle Lafferty gently lobbed Bell and caused all merry hell to break out. Ludicrously, after just seven minutes Lafferty was gunning for his hat-trick. He should have claimed it in 47 minutes when shooting wildly past a post, but finally wrapped it up after he managed to unintentionally back heel the ball into his own path.

Lafferty, as much as anyone, represents why Smith deserves all the acclaim going for this, his third straight title victory. He was the misfit turned into a title-winning specialist, who, even after his contribution to the last two championship wins, continued to have his doubters. He probably still does. But Smith has persisted with him.

It has to be noted that the men who wreaked the most havoc yesterday - Lafferty, Naismith and Jelavic - boast a combined value of more than 10m. This isn't a title won against the odds, although it looked as though it would be beyond Smith as Neil Lennon kept a buoyant Celtic at the top of the league. But the older man kept his nerve and then accepted the opportunity when it arrived, in Inverness earlier this month. Indeed, Terry Butcher was re-accepted as an Ibrox hero yesterday. "One Terry Butcher!", the away fans sang, in salute of the man who helped inspire Inverness to the victory which saw Rangers handed the momentum. They have never looked like they might pass up the opportunity which had been gifted to them. Credit to Smith again.

Not that the Rangers manager was resting on his laurels, even though his side were five goals to the good yesterday. He was spotted complaining about a challenge on Madjid Bougherra, which left the Algerian limping around during the celebrations. He had been drawn down to the sidelines by then, and calmly shook opposite number Kenny Shiels' hand at the final whistle. Unsurprisingly, he goes with the grace of a true champion.