This was the message beaming from the Ibrox scoreboards after the victory over Dundee United at Smith’s final home match. Thanks indeed, for Smith’s service to the club spanned 17 different league campaigns over four different decades. If there was one glaring negative from the STV 2-part documentary on Smith’s career it was that it skimmed too much action. It simply had to. Two shows at 45 minutes a pop were never going to be able to do justice to a career that not only saw such a huge service to Rangers but had to include his formative years, Dundee United, Everton and the national side as well. The announcement that the club would be releasing their own DVD collection gave hope that indeed there would be a document that would do justice to the man.
With four discs and a running time of over six and a half hours, it doesn’t disappoint. It is a veritable feast of memories that one never gets tired of reliving. It truly is a treasure chest of goals, stories and accounts of a journey that every Rangers fan wishes they could take so have no other choice but to live it vicariously in the stands. However where it fails is that a collection of memories is exactly what it is. Memories are selective and rarely analytical. In fairness to the STV documentary, Smith was pushed to explain the huge failings of the European shambles of the 1990’s and it made for interesting viewing. So what of AEK or Grasshoppers or Gothenburg? They didn’t happen according to this account, instead giving a note that there was European disappointment but Rangers were starting to give full focus to NIAR. This is a shame. Nobody would expect such a release to dwell on the negatives but I would far rather we had a full account of such an amazing story than have some kind of whitewash when it got uncomfortable.
This is not to say that it is completely without self-awareness. Smith spends a great deal of time on Kaunas in particular (perhaps easier to give the explanation that when your boys had nearly climbed Everest a couple of months back it was natural that they found it difficult to pack their bags in good spirits, than it is to explain how a multi-million pound side floundered regularly) and even more so on the ill fated season of 1997-98. I had forgotten how much it rankled that we managed to throw away the ‘Ten’ against a Celtic side who only won one out of five encounters that season. Smith, to his credit holds his hands up in explanation. It clearly still rankles with him too.
Disc 1 covers Smith’s early years in junior football, a lot of detail on his time at Dundee United, joining the Rangers Revolution straight up to his last day coming of age against Aberdeen in 1991. This is genuinely interesting and well put together. The contributions from Jim McLean and journalist Ronnie Scott, Craig Brown and Souness give a viewer of my age a real understanding of both how vital a part Smith was within two revolutions in Scottish club football and how the national game structure worked.
The footage is brilliant too, pushing all kinds of nostalgic buttons especially in the other ‘forgotten’ season of that spell 1987-88, although nothing from our European Cup run of that season which was disappointing. The great Skol Cup Finals, the 5-1 and 4-1 are all there. The title-winning day up at Pittodrie is there but annoyingly the caption says that we won 1-0. (It didn’t matter of course but still, the detail counts). The handover of power was dealt with very well before setting the scene perfectly for that last day drama and more importantly giving the match action the space it deserved.
For Disc 2 one should just sit back and lap it up. The push towards the Nine is always good to watch and it is just goals, goals and more goals. Men such as McCoist, Durrant, Hateley, Brown, Knox and Laudrup feature heavily but there are interesting omissions. It is perhaps understandable that Gascoigne is not the best interviewee at this moment in time but there is no word from Goram and none either from Smith’s captain. For such an important figure and one who won all nine medals, there is no doubt that the collection is poorer without Richard Gough’s insight.
In Disc 3 we are taken from the shiny promise of the start of 1997-98 to Manchester and the conclusion of that quite unbelievable season, via Goodison Park, Old Trafford and the Scotland set up. It is probably the disc with the least amount of action but it is arguably better for it. Smith is given time to reflect and explain a very transitional period in his career and this is helped by contributions from Sir Alex Ferguson, Knox and, surprisingly Craig Brown. SDM pops up of course to add his own special brand of flim-flam on how he brought Walter back and in that season “won a cup” immediately. (See what I mean about memories?)
The Road to Manchester is always a joy to watch, although I preferred ITV4 without Jock Stein’s fiery haired lover at the microphone. The final itself is surreal - as I haven’t seen any footage since being there - but given the space you would imagine. The frustration we all felt about the close to the league that year is palpable without spilling over into bitterness. This is Walter Smith after all.
The final instalment obviously centres on our current three-in-a-row era. Again the memories are given free reign and space to enjoy those moments in the fullest, especially the cup finals and league deciders. The backroom staff are given time to contribute as well as McCulloch, Weir, Naismith and McGregor and as you’d expect some are insightful, others not so much. As with 1993-98, the Champions League humiliation of 2009/10 and Unirea are given a wide berth. It might be my copy but the quality of the wider shots used in the match footage on this disc wasn’t that great.
If you were still in any doubt as to what this collection was all about then the concluding thoughts and images will settle them. This isn’t a sports documentary. It’s not something for the football analyst. It’s a tribute to a man as much as a manager. As much as this viewer would have preferred a full and fair, warts-and-all account of someone who has given as much to Rangers FC as any other, I can’t argue that the final product is still in its own way very fitting. All contributors speak of the man, his personality, his man management, his dignity. His teams, for better or worse, are built mostly on spirit and that is in abundance in the pictures we can enjoy in this collection. The goal celebrations, especially in the newer era, are testament to that spirit. And it is something that we as fans relate to as well. They are our memories too and we cheered just as much as Walter did.
This collection is a must have for any fan, even harsh critics of Smith like me. It’s not without fault but it has an endearing quality. Just like the man himself. I give genuine thanks for the good memories Walter. Sometimes you forget how many there are. With this box set, you won’t be able to.
Walter Smith – The Story Of A Rangers Legend (4 Disc DVD Boxset) is out now.