Requiem for Walter Smith.
By
Mickey Blue Eyes.

So Smiffy's gone. And it is all very sad and very necessary. That said, I would have preferred season end for the departure. Back in early October I said:

"The Smiffy debate proceeds at full ebb and flow: Should he stay or should he be, well, fucked off? Me, I'm happy to let events take their course for another six games…… which takes us to the end of November. It is an interesting spread of opponents, three home, three away. Forecasting is basically silly but fascinating too, so I'll put my head on the block and say we should get at least nine points therefrom. Anything less and Smiffy should say sayonara before it gets out of hand. I have much sympathy for his predicament but enough is enough. Playing matters are in his hands, nobody else's, and the squad, though slight, is perfectly capable of playing some reasonable and effective footy if properly motivated and organised. On top of that he is now living on time borrowed from the fans' phenomenal patience and good will during his tenure. Though he puzzles me, I like Smiffy a lot. But there's no question it is looking ominous for him."

That was at the time of the Ipswich away match. Subsequently we got seven points out of the available eighteen. Given my reasoning, he should have gone then. Our playing fortunes since provide even more support for the opinion. But hindsight is easy. Judgement in situ is much harder and fraught with the caveats of chance. The further past Christmas we went the less likely I thought his dismissal. I couldn't see a newcomer making much difference so late in the day………………still can't in fact, though I stand to be corrected by events. Football is quite unforgiving if you forecast and get it wrong.

Unfortunately the manner of the Middlesborough defeat was so awful it made certain an extreme emotional reaction. Nor could the fans reasonably be asked to ignore previous similar displays. The cumulative affects have completely destroyed their confidence in Walter Smith. Nor could anyone accuse the fans of lack of patience or loyalty. The truth is the dismissal is not startling at all. Only the timing is open to raised eyebrows.

Whatever anyone says, there are no mitigating factors in Walter's favour. He has had money. He has bought players. They are paid well. They have not performed to an acceptable level. The manager apparently cannot motivate the players nor they him. That indefinable mutual chemistry simply isn't there. In fact it has only surfaced a few times during Walter's entire tenure. Furthermore, some of the team selections have been baffling even allowing for injuries. All of this has been patently obvious to regular fans who have paid good money only to watch the situation worsen, not improve.

And we should get this clear: For the majority of fans a modest league placing would be considered a welcome improvement. There has never been a concerted anti-Smith campaign. Nobody I know expected miracles, only some sense of hope, or a sign we are about to break out of the loop. (The only exceptions are perennial malcontents or those with vested interests, those I have dubbed the Melledrew Tendency. Some people will never be satisfied but most fans instinctively identify them and leave them to stew in their own bile.) Walter got it badly wrong when he implied expectations are too high. It is one more count against him if he can't or won't acknowledge reasonable ambition amongst the fans. There's no point engaging in a competitive sport if you don't compete.

Most fans too acknowledge the dignity he has shown in difficult circumstances, especially during the unlamented Johnson era and within six months of his appointment. Had he faltered then it is conceivable our club could have collapsed from the top division. We are deeply indebted to him for that contribution and we should never forget it. Ironically it was his obduracy which stood him in good stead at the time, the very trait many fans found intolerable in his conduct of team matters.

This dignity also helped him with the media, a fact he knew and used. He admitted as much at the Annual General Meeting when someone asked him why he didn't show more feeling. He said it was a conscious decision made when he started out in management. Unfortunately this resulted in a manufactured, stiff and monotonous TV persona and maddeningly frequent use of the words "disappointed" and "disappointing." For many Evertonians this became a mantra to carve on the headstone of Walter's management. It is no coincidence the media never really got on his case despite the evidence of everyone's eyes. Rightly, successful managers basically couldn't give a shit about media leeches and treat them like the coil of turds they are. But for Walter, press conferences were as anodyne as his teams' performances. The fans even came to trust him as much as the media, which is to say not at all, which also means the media's hyped up hypocritical opinions are not worth the proverbial carrot.

In the end it was the way the team invariably played which got the fans down. For the most part fans of all clubs really couldn't care less what goes on behind the scenes so long as the team shows some kind of spark. English fans will forgive you almost anything if you at least look as though you're trying. Which is one of the reasons Tommy Gravesen has an inordinate level of popularity among our fans. Too many of our players are either incompetent or look as though they plain don't care and the sight of one of them waving a fist or two was positively intoxicating to some supporters. Walter's body language never gave the impression he could be bothered to even try to change the players' attitudes. If the players bear responsibility for their self-motivation then Walter has to bear his share of the load for team motivation.

And during Walter's period in charge the majority of team performances were frankly abysmal. We have had three and a half years of waiting, of understanding, of patience, of making allowances. Our gates have stayed high in spite of the situation. Our fans' loyalty has been utterly remarkable. During that time we have not had one perceptible step forward, odd flourish apart. The dam of frustration was bound to break the longer matters continued. Even when it DID break after the Middlesborough horror it was surprisingly, relatively low-key, very far from the muck some of the media would have the uninformed believe. By and large it was limited to a single piece of graffiti at Bellfield, phone-ins and mails. There have been no organised demonstrations, though it might have been different had Walter been here for the Fulham match.

Is there an element of desperation in the sacking? Certainly. But then we are in desperate circumstances and Walter seemed to have not the slightest idea how to counter them, any more than he seemed to have an idea how to orchestrate a Cup encounter of any kind. You always take a chance when you change managers anyway, which is why I would have waited until the season was over. But I can understand why the move was made now instead. Enough is enough.

Is the board to blame for our circumstances? Partly, yes. Their culpability lies in the timing of everything, re-finance included, not team matters. However, given precedents, there is every possibility that earlier availability of money might not have saved us. Walter may have balanced the transfer books remarkably well but what is less clear is whether he could have balanced the team. There is no clear evidence he could. In my book the directors are guilty at not moving much, much earlier. By now the fans have philosophically accepted transfer cash doesn't grow on trees and that the Scab League set-up means there is no magic wand. What they have every right to expect though is that administration of our club will be at a higher standard than it is, that we will not have a CEO who says publicly that we are "no longer a big club" and that ticket sales policies will make sense. What we don't want is a bunch of yes-men amateurs or, much worse, a bunch of corporate Suits like racist, up-to-their-necks-in-debt Leeds. With the next managerial appointment the directors break the last playing link with the Johnson era and finally assume full responsibility for the situation. From hereon in, they too have run out of excuses.

When Walter Smith was appointed by unlamented Peter Johnson, an Evertonian website received a mail from a Glasgow Rangers fan. In it, he said Walter's appointment would be regretted. He went on to list why. If memory serves, the list included defensive team formations, dour performances, baffling selections, players through a revolving door, and no general sense of excitement or progress. He particularly cited poor European performances in spite of large outlays. It was uncannily accurate even allowing for some of the traumatic events at our club. At the time I dismissed it as the ramblings of a disgruntled aficionado. Time has shown otherwise.

Altogether this has been a sad episode in our club's affairs. Nobody except a sadist could enjoy the spectacle. I have yet to meet one of our fans who didn't want Walter to succeed, everyone except the Melledrew Tendency that is. But the fact remains that it simply hasn't worked and stupid name-calling will get us precisely nowhere.

Let's also have the grace to thank Walter Smith for his efforts in keeping us afloat when it would have been so easy to jump ship. At the time, nobody would have blamed him in the least.

It is a pity the rest of his efforts and talents didn't match his personal dignity and strength. So be it. The past is prologue. Let's get on with the future whatever and whoever it contains. (19/03/02)

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