A Walter story told to me by an Evertonian

davyloyal

Well-Known Member
I work in Liverpool and it seems most Everton fans have a Walter story, mainly around how much of a thoroughbred he was. Anyway, one story in particular stuck out and made me laugh.

As we know, Walter’s time at Everton was largely unsuccessful on the pitch. At half time in one game when Everton were losing, serial scorer of own goals, Richard Dunne decided to turn on Walter, saying “you’re a shit manager, a shit coach and you shouldn’t be at this club”.

Up steps Archie Knox and uppercuts Dunne, putting him on his arse. Walter went running over and shouted “what the fuuk are you doing Archie - he’s the only fit centre back we’ve got”. :))
 
Like it, however for those of us that can remember his days at Everton, they Everton were a right mess, and should have been relegated. The job Walter done there was remarkable to save them being a Championship Team, and should never ever be forgotten!
I was really young at the time so don't really remember his time at Everton. How did he go from Rangers, who at the time were big spenders, arguably the top team in Britain, and having won what he won, to a team in the state you describe Everton?

Was it just a case of the only opportunity available at the time?

I've always found his move to Everton, and not one of the bigger teams, a bit strange.
 
Like it, however for those of us that can remember his days at Everton, they Everton were a right mess, and should have been relegated. The job Walter done there was remarkable to save them being a Championship Team, and should never ever be forgotten!
He was treated terribly by the board, not given funds and they sold Duncan behind his back.

I was living in Liverpool at the time so I went to quite a few games when he was in charge.
 
I think it was between 15 and 20 million average per season, which is f*ck all for The Premiership even back then.
Was reading an Everton forum yesterday and the way they were all talking he got a few bob the 1st season but very little after that so I would think you are well off with they figures mate.
They needed money and sold big Dunc behind his back also.
 
I was really young at the time so don't really remember his time at Everton. How did he go from Rangers, who at the time were big spenders, arguably the top team in Britain, and having won what he won, to a team in the state you describe Everton?

Was it just a case of the only opportunity available at the time?

I've always found his move to Everton, and not one of the bigger teams, a bit strange.
Man Utd had Ferguson, Arsenal had Wenger, Liverpool had Houllier, Chelsea had just won the ECWC with Vialli having taken over from Guillet mid-season and Tottenham hadn’t long appointed Christian Gross
 
I think his time at Everton is always unfairly remembered. His hands were constantly tied behind his back financially. His chairman sold his best player behind his back. He then left and things changed financially at Everton and they were able to spend a bit more and challenge further up the table.

It was a miracle he kept Everton in the league each year. Without him I think they would've got relegated.
 
Like it, however for those of us that can remember his days at Everton, they Everton were a right mess, and should have been relegated. The job Walter done there was remarkable to save them being a Championship Team, and should never ever be forgotten!
My uncles an Everton season ticket holder and always says this. The club were a complete disaster.
 
Walter apparently gave someone in the Everton boardroom a right mouthful for selling Duncan Ferguson without his knowledge. can't remember who it was, but the individual didn't remain in place long after.

After he was sacked Everton he phoned them a few days later and told them to go for David Moyes.
 
Not only was his net spend at Everton minimal, after his first year he was forced to sell rather than buy just to keep Everton afloat. In the words of Neville Southall, 'Walter Smith should have been given the keys to the city of Liverpool for his part in saving Everton'.
 
I was really young at the time so don't really remember his time at Everton. How did he go from Rangers, who at the time were big spenders, arguably the top team in Britain, and having won what he won, to a team in the state you describe Everton?

Was it just a case of the only opportunity available at the time?

I've always found his move to Everton, and not one of the bigger teams, a bit strange.

Someone posted a link to an Everton forum and I had a read through some of the comments. Just about everyone admired the job he done given the circumstances at the time and although they tend to say the football was dire at times, they still appreciated how he held the club together.

From what I gathered he was promised all sorts of backing from the chairman at the time that never materialised.

They said he recommended Davie Moyes instead of some ex Everton player to be their next manager as well.
 
He made a load of signings in his first year then the chairman realised he had overspent & flogged Duncan Ferguson to Newcastle behind his back.

He stayed on when he could have walked & saw the then chairman off.
If I remember correctly, he was forced to sell Nicky Barmby, Don Hutchinson and John Collins in one go. That a top midfield to lose in one hit - as well as a quality six-pack.
 
He was unfortunate at Everton. Think he was sold the job on the promise of money which never materialised.
He made good money for the club through the sales of the likes of Ball, Ferguson, Barmby and Jeffers but was given barely anything to reinvest in the squad and had to shop around for free transfers.

Nevertheless , he kept them up and players he brought in like Weir, Graveson, Carsley and Campbell would be the spine of the
Moyes team which would did well for a few years.
 
Made me laugh.He had his hands tied down there, however he still kept them afloat under extremely testing circumstances.
 
Bill Kenyon done the dirty on Walter on budget and playing staff. He was fortunate his skullduggery didn’t get Everton relegated as the great man kept them up.
 
He did a terrific job under trying circumstances. Everton at the time were a confused club with no real investment, they were a selling club.

Plenty big teams went down around those years Walter was in charge and rarely if ever came back up. He saved Everton from a fate many teams didn't recover from.
 
I was really young at the time so don't really remember his time at Everton. How did he go from Rangers, who at the time were big spenders, arguably the top team in Britain, and having won what he won, to a team in the state you describe Everton?

Was it just a case of the only opportunity available at the time?

I've always found his move to Everton, and not one of the bigger teams, a bit strange.
Only available option at the time, I think.

IIRC, Smith & Knox were going to Sheffield Wednesday, before Everton came in.

There was a common opinion that Smith was only good in the Scottish backwater, and his then European record (one spectacular season apart) seemed to support that. I’m sure Ian Doyle, manager of snooker’s Stephen Hendry, was quoted at the time saying he thought Smith would get “found out” at Everton.
 
imagine Richard f*cking Dunne having a pop at the great man
the very definition of no-mark footballer

Saw him interviewed recently and he looks like he’s fond of the marching power or a complete bevvy merchant.

Looked rough as chips. Certainly not the image you would expect from a fairly recently retired professional athlete.
 
I was really young at the time so don't really remember his time at Everton. How did he go from Rangers, who at the time were big spenders, arguably the top team in Britain, and having won what he won, to a team in the state you describe Everton?

Was it just a case of the only opportunity available at the time?

I've always found his move to Everton, and not one of the bigger teams, a bit strange.

Mentioned this in another thread earlier, but his other option was Sheffield Wednesday, who were so confident that they'd got their man in Walter that they had everything lined up to formally announce him. Kenwright lured him to Everton at the last minute with some big promises that, as his time there would show, were a load of hot air.

Everton and Wednesday shared a similar status in the Premier League around 1998 and it feels like a turning point for both clubs. Everton got Walter who steered the ship away from relegation despite circumstances that might have sunk them under anyone else. Wednesday ended up with Danny Wilson, a failure to control the Di Canio situation and relegation in 2000 - which they've never recovered from 21 years later.
 
The Italy side that won the World Cup in 2006 had two players Walter signed. Rink Gattuso for us and Marco Materazzi (the guy Zidane head-butted in the WC Final) for Everton. Both were unknowns when he signed them. Everton sold Materazzi to Inter for a healthy profit when the Chairman (Agent Johnson as he was described by Liverpool fans) started to pull out of Everton and started selling everything. Had Walter had the £500M Everton have spent in the last 5 years who knows what he might have achieved
 
That was in Davie Moyes's time .. Walter signed him as a youth, though....
correct, also the rules stated that Rooney could not be played. You had to be 16 to play in premier league and rooney was only 15 during Smiths tenure there.

Im sure I read that from an interview with Davie Weir?
 
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