The great debate on the manager’s strengths and weaknesses has gathered momentum as we’ve seen the team slump from one sloppy performance to another and it is not overstating the case to say there are some out there (maybe more than we imagine) who want the Freckled One to clean out his desk here and now.
A radical point of view, in my humble opinion, but one they are entitled to, although I don’t see such a knee-jerk reaction doing anything other than diverting attention away from Murray’s mis-management which is the real reason our club is in its current sorry state.
But Big Eck can be under no illusions here. The Minted One is recognised as the man to blame for Rangers’ problems but if the manager continues to go about his business as if all in the garden is rosy he will soon become part of the problem and, when push comes to shove, he will be the expendable employee, while Mr Chairman skulks back to his ivory tower with an ever-growing smirk on his face. And knowing the Minted One as the opportunist bastard that he is, it won’t be too long before his spin blames it all on McLeish and the real villain wriggles off the hook.
The big issue in previous FFs and on the Messageboard has been the quality of players he has brought to the club. Now I’m not daft enough to try to defend the efforts of Capucho, Emerson or Ostenstad but, as has been pointed out before, we are now applying the all-encompassing wisdom of hindsight to the situation. I certainly applauded the signing of Capucho, expecting the presence of one of Porto’s Seville heroes to work it up the Mhankies week after week. And remembering that Martian O’Kneel was also chasing Emerson, I certainly preferred it that he came to us instead of them. No, it didn’t work out for either of them but these things happen. Some you win, some you lose and, remembering the quality and quantity of players who were sold off in the build-up to the new season, I was quite happy with the way McLeish cobbled a side together at such short notice, one which did remarkably well to qualify for the Champions League, made a good start to the Euro campaign and opened the defence of our SPL title with seven straight wins.
Of course, things went pear-shaped from October onwards and various individuals were found wanting. Yes, the buck stops at the manager’s desk but, unlike Timperleybear in FF152, I really don’t think anyone else would have done much better with the same resources. This is the same manager who took on a squad of under-achievers and turned them into Treble winners. By turning things around so quickly, he has probably made a rod for his own back, with the board happy to sell off the backbone of the Treble winning team in the hope that the manager would be able to pull another rabbit or two out of the hat.
As we look over the debris of the 2003-04 season, most of us can see that the manager has not had the tools to do the job. He too must see this and, unless he is prepared to fight the board and their ongoing downsizing programme, he will know there is little prospect of the situation improving. This is where McLeish should be judged as a manager. If he lets non-football people like Murray, McClelland and Bain continue to slash his budget, he is little more than a yes-man. And don’t kid yourself Alex, real football people will note this and your reputation will suffer accordingly.
However, if the Freckled One speaks up for himself, he will also be speaking up for the more ambitious members of his squad and for us long-suffering fans. Even outwith the Rangers family, he will be acknowledged as a man of integrity, a football manager who is not prepared to let boardroom beancounters muck him about, a guy who knows the score and his prepared to fight the good fight for what he believes to be right.
Events at www.scumoftheearth.com cannot have passed unnoticed in the manager's office. For the third time in four years, Septic have had the league wrapped up long before the end of the season and, while they have been myth-making all over Europe, we’ve had our passports packed away in a drawer before the dark nights have drawn in. While we can’t allow ourselves to become obsessed by what the Mhankies get up to, it stands to reason that our club will be judged against our main rivals’ efforts. Apart from the obvious football reasons, trailing so far behind Sellick is commercially disastrous for Rangers so the manager would show himself to be a sound judge if he used this as the main plank of his argument in any confrontation with the board.
As things stand, I don’t know which way Big Eck will jump. When it became clear he was pissing into the wind (probably as long ago as last October), he should have demanded a meeting with the three blind mice, pointed out what was needed to get the team sorted out, laid it on the line good and proper, even going public if need be to protect his own reputation. He has missed that opportunity and now I detect a hardening of attitudes regarding McLeish.
He must know that, unless there is a dramatic improvement in Rangers’ fortunes next season, he will be held responsible. The consequences of another grim effort don’t need to be spelled out here. Does McLeish want to be remembered as the toothless Rangers manager who let himself be pushed around like his team has been so often recently? Or does he want to be acclaimed as a Ranger in the best traditions of our club, a guy who got his priorities right - get the team right, keep the fans happy, the rest will fall into place - fought his corner and brought the trophies back to Ibrox?
Two stupid questions, I know. But I think we should hold back with our judgement until we see what course he takes. Besides, if we do bump him now, who takes over? What sort of chaos would that cause? Lets trust the man who brought us five trophies in his first eighteen months at the club. He can’t go from maestro to dud in such a short time - but the longer it takes for him to stand up and fight, the more likely it will be that his early success, not the last season’s failure, will be seen as the flash in the pan.
No real Ranger wants that, do they, Alex?
LITTLE BOY BLUE