Rangers: The will they, won’t they, and should they?

By: sazmclean | November 18th, 2009

So, firstly, hello. I’ve just taken over the writing of this blog and hopefully will be doing so for some time to come. It’s my first blog so any comments, criticisms or passing thoughts as to how I’m doing would be great. As well as being a life-long Rangers fan I’m also a full-time student so with plenty of time on my hands I’ll be able to update this a few times a week with a bit of luck. But without further ado, I best get on with it.

I’ve been trying so hard to think of something that could be my first blog entry. I’ve been reading through the previous entries and I’ve noticed that my predecessor left off just at the end of last season, but so much has happened since then. We’ve lost a lot of players. The words “crisis” and “turmoil” are being bandied about by the tabloids in regards to our financial situation on an almost daily basis. Sir David Murray stepped down (again) as Chairman and the will they/won’t they buy the club debate about every millionaire that has even the most tenuous link to the club rages ever onwards.

Then, this week, after a long time coming, George Burley was sacked as Scotland manager. Since then a lot of memories of his disastrous tenure as boss came flooding back, many of them surrounding our own players. Lee McCulloch announced his retirement from international football; Kris Boyd declared himself unavailable for as long as Burley remained manager; Kirk Broadfoot got a bit upset and then “Boozegate.”

Now, reports of the past couple of days suggest that should Kris Boyd decide to get over himself he’ll be welcomed back into the fold. More controversially, in a staggering display of backpedalling (serving only to make themselves look idiotic), the SFA have decided that “Banned for Life” means only the managerial lifetime of George Burley when it comes to Allan McGregor and the recently-departed-from-Ibrox Barry Ferguson. My own personal opinion is that they shouldn’t have even been banned in the first place, a hefty fine and a suspension would have been more than sufficient but in a blatant case of shooting themselves in the foot, the SFA lost arguably three of the best players who could currently be playing for their country when they were needed most.

I can see Boyd and McGregor going back into the set-up. McGregor, especially, given his recent performances for Rangers has proven his worth and ability. However, Ferguson made it perfectly clear in interviews following his move to Birmingham City that he would no longer consider being part of the Scotland team even if the bans were revoked. Maybe he’ll change his mind, maybe not.

Of course, as soon as the news broke that Burley was for the off, heads started turning towards Ibrox for another reason: Walter Smith. Though today, thankfully, Smith has pledged his allegiance to Rangers once again, stating that he has no intention whatsoever of going back to Scotland. In a further statement he has cemented his loyalty towards the club in his intention to remain manager even when his contract expires in January. Whatever your opinions of Walter may be, and as stressful as some of his decisions sometimes are, (4-5-1, anyone?), I think it would be difficult to argue that there could be a better manager to get Rangers through the current difficulties which the club faces.