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I’ll be
honest I’m still a little gutted Ian Holloway isn’t at Rangers
anymore, I can see the arguments against him and I’ve seen the
performances in front of me with my own eyes, but he has been
such a big part of my twenty years watching this club that I
still cant get used to not having him jumping up and down on the
touchline. Would I rather he was given a more dignified exit?
Yes certainly. Do I wish he was still in charge? The heart says
yes but the head says no.
Regardless,
he’s gone and Gary Waddock is our man right now and he’s already
finding out the expectation of leading Rangers can be quite a
daunting experience. The poor run we’ve endured has many
doubting his abilities already and the question is can he
continue to take the club forward as his predecessor did season
on season?
Certainly he
talks a good game, Waddo is a very intelligent football man, he
knows the game, has got more coaching certificates than I’ve had
hot dinners and he has worked at every level of the club. In
many ways there shouldn’t be anyone better qualified to be in
charge and certainly I can’t think of anyone more deserving.
There’s no
doubting the performances on the pitch have been poor, shocking
in some cases but, at times, they’ve been pretty damn good as
well. I’m thinking of the home match against Millwall, the
performance against Sheffield United and the first 75 minutes
against Norwich this week. During those times we’ve played some
of the best football I’ve seen this season, in fact some of the
best football I’ve seen in many seasons. If this is what he is
building towards then I’m happy to sit back and see if he can
get it right over time.
Waddo has
openly stated that some of the players aren’t good enough to
play the way he wants to and that this will be addressed this
summer. I’m assuming we can expect several departures and
arrivals over the close season and that’s pretty exciting in
itself. The squad needs a shake up, for me we’ve looked stale
almost from the moment we got back from Ibiza. What was it Olly
always said “when the water stands still in the pond it starts
to stink”.
One of the
problems this summer was Olly seemed to make signings based on
having another successful season but not a successful future and
for similar reasons, deserving young players were ignored in the
reserves in times of injury when they should have been given
their chance to shine.
I’m sure the
pressure was on him from day one to make the play offs or get
sacked and I don’t think that’s a healthy environment to be
working. There are plenty of clubs of equal (and bigger) stature
to us that have milled around this league for much longer than
any of their fans think they should. Wolves, Coventry, Ipswich,
Leicester and Derby are some examples; they’ve all either
recently parted company with their manager or look set to do so
in the near future. Will it make any difference to them next
season? Probably not.
Then there’s
a club like our opponents on Saturday, Norwich. Recently
relegated, had a bad start but headed for a top half finish and
the pressure is heavily on Nigel Worthington despite all his
success in getting them to the Premiership in the first place.
Are these
really the sort of examples we want to model ourselves on?
Living season to season and sacking a manager because we’re not
getting near to a promotion that we have no right to expect?
Or do we
want to look at clubs like Charlton, West Ham and this years
runners up Sheffield United. They’ve all given their bosses the
chance to achieve something and whist they’ve had their failures
at times their boards have stuck with them and their patience
has paid dividends.
I see a lot
of potential in Gary Waddock as Rangers boss, and yeh it might
not work out but then there’s plenty of established, been round
the block football “faces” I could name who equally might not
work out, plus they might not care as much and they certainly
would cost more.
I’d rather
eat my own feet than see someone like John Gregory, Peter Reid
or Gary Megson in charge of Loftus Road. Why take on someone who
is only looking for a job because they’ve failed miserably
elsewhere when you can go for a young, progressive internal
promotion. Surely that’s how every other business in the world
would look at it.
Waddo could
be the biggest failure in Rangers history of course, but there
is just as much chance that he could end up being our Aidy Who,
as the then unknown Watford boss was dubbed when he took the job
towards the end of last season and struggled to get to grips
with it. Look at him now.
So I’m
personally happy to stick with Gary and Macca, and to be fair it
looks very much like they will sign “proper” contracts the
second Ian Holloway’s situation is sorted out anyway but I’d
also like to see the board have a strategic plan for the next
three to five years to take the club forward slowly and
steadily, to gently build us into a side capable of competing
for promotion and then, one day when we’re ready, lead our
return to the top division.
It is
something I’m prepared to wait for if it’s done right and for me
we would be a much more attractive club to follow than if we
just become another ex-premiership side who push the limits
every season to try and chase the improbable dream.
ron@qprnet.com |
