Tartan Army Soldier

It’s final and clear: Walter Smith has resigned as Scotland coach. Rangers fans may be happy, but the SFA and many fans are far from pleased. The SFA are threatening to sue and one fan has emailed me to express his disgust with Walter’s hypocricy.

Is Walter Smith still the Scotland coach? Or is he now manager of Glasgow Rangers? Your guess is as good as mine.

Reports about the Scotland coach’s future have been contradictory. The Scottish Football Association were reported yesterday to have refused Smith’s request to be relaeased from his contract. However it is also understood that at the end of the same meeting Smith said his farewells to the SFA staff. So, it is far from clear.

Regardless, it doesn’t look good for the Scotland Squad. What now? Will Walter Smith stay taking on both positions; or has he gone, not to return, having left his efforts for someone else to carry on?

Scottish FA chief executive David Taylor has confirmed that Rangers have asked about Walter Smith’s availability. With the departure of Paul Le Guen the Glasgow side are looking to fill the current management vacuum with the skills of the current national coach. They are also hoping to employ Ally McCoist as Smith’s assistant.

As Graeme Souness’s assistant Walter Smith helped Rangers to 9 successive championships before leaving shortly after Souness, to manage Everton. McCoist famously played his part as a foward during this time.

The SFA and many fans will not be pleased by the Rangers move. Smith and McCoist, have helped raise Scotland’s form to a long-time high. Scotland supporters have recently watched the national team defeat World Cup finalists, France, and see their team sitting top of Group B. Smith has been widely applauded for his efforts and any move to Rangers will be viewed with great dismay.

One suggestion is that Smith could remain coach for the remainder of the Euro 2008 campaign while managing Rangers. However, this may be the best the Scotland fans can hope for. As Stuart McCall stated “The chairman is very, very close to Walter Smith and Ally McCoist and they would make an excellent appointment in my opinion”. The only likely consolation is that others have managed club and country in the past such as Guus Hiddink who managed PSV and Australia.

For the sake of the Scotland team I sincerely hope Walter says no to Rangers. The Scotland Squad are doing great and we want Walter Smith to keep it that way!