Amid all the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the supposedly parlous state of Scottish football this week, Walter Smith afforded himself a wry smile.
Amid all the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the supposedly parlous state of Scottish football this week, Walter Smith afforded himself a wry smile.
The Rangers manager has seen and heard it all before and refuses to entertain some of the knee-jerk nonsense which has emanated from certain quarters. The achievements of Celtic, Rangers and Aberdeen in European competitions last season, not to mention the form of the Scottish national team, created a so-called feel-good' factor.
If Scotland had every right to celebrate the successes of that campaign, there was no evidence that Scottish sides had suddenly become world-beaters. Similarly, this latest sequence of setbacks is not proof that they have metamorphosed into complete duffers. Celtic bowed out to Aalborg BK on Tuesday, Rangers lost in the qualifiers to FBK Kaunas and Hibs, Motherwell and Queen of the South all failed to progress in Europe.
However, Smith regards success and failure as part of the natural cycle for a nation of Scotland's size. "Earlier in the year the national team were at their highest level for many years, the majority of whom were all playing in Scotland. Celtic, Aberdeen and Rangers had qualified beyond the Christmas date that we are now getting criticised for not doing. Celtic lost to Barcelona, Aberdeen lost to Bayern Munich, we lost to Zenit St Petersburg in the final of the UEFA Cup. So it was only a matter of months since everybody was telling us that our game was really healthy. So if it has plummeted to the level that I am reading about now, then that's someone else's opinion.
"I feel that we operate in an environment in Scotland where we don't have a lot of margin for error in terms of the level of games we play, and that means, at times, we will get disappointments. From a Rangers point of view, we are certainly going through a disappointing period in a European sense, so it's my job to try and make sure it doesn't happen again next season. It could quite as easily go to a situation where we could turn in better performances next season."
Smith has more pressing domestic issues today when his side visit Tynecastle on league business. The home side are coming off the back off four straight victories and Smith knows Rangers will need to be on their best form to emerge with the points. "We've had varied fortunes there," he reflected. "Last season we turned in one of our worst performances in the early part of the season and then one of our best later on in the season. I'm just hoping that we can turn in one of our better performances. I've said repeatedly that Hearts have good players and the inconsistency they have had as a team has come from factors outside the football side of things. They were the last team to split the Old Firm and that shows if they are left alone to get on with their football they've got a good chance of beating any of the teams in the league. So it's a big game and they will be at as high a level, in terms of confidence, as they have been this season. It is a game I am looking forward to."
An injury to Kenny Miller will see his promising partnership with Kris Boyd put on hold for another week, but the re-emergence of Jean-Claude Darcheville offers Smith another option in attack. The Frenchman scored in the 2-0 victory over Aberdeen and Smith believes the striker has found his feet after an indifferent start to the season. "Darcheville has had a slower start to the season but he is now picking up a bit. He was pleased to get his goal last week. When you consider he scored a good few goals for us last season, it has taken him a little bit of time to get started this season, but he is a player who is capable of producing a good level for us. We had a long season last year and it took him a while to get started, but it wasn't just him. We all took a little bit of time to get up and running but we are playing better now."
Madjid Bougherra will make his return to the first team today after injury and faces a familiar opponent. The Algerian internationalist will come up against Hearts' Christian Nade, whom he faced during his time in England and France.
"I know Christian. I played against him in France when he was at Troyes and I was at Guegnon, then in England when he was with Sheffield United. I know he is a big lad, very strong, and I need to be careful. I remember we drew when we played in France and also when it was Charlton against Sheffield United. But I won when Hearts came to Ibrox earlier this season, so I am ahead at the moment."
At the start of the season, Csaba Laszlo, the Hearts manager, mistook Nade for an overweight student when he first saw him at the club's training centre at Heriot-Watt university. The striker has shed weight since then, but Bougherra claims the Hearts striker has always had an imposing physical presence.
"Nade was like that all the time. He's not fat - he's very strong. You can see he has a natural strength and build. In the summer he can put on some kilos, but that doesn't affect his football. He was exactly like that when he played with Troyes."
Bougherra's meeting with Nade will be a clash of the titans, but the Rangers defender claims he is happier playing against a big striker. "In Scotland and England, many teams have big lads up front. It's a different game to France, where the forwards are usually small and very technical. I've had to make that change in my career, but I prefer to have these physical battles rather than being up against someone very quick."
