Our attitude towards Walter during our TIAR season

Walter did get serious stick that season with some atthe front door. But it was for another European failure, actually 2. Gothenburg then Strasbourg.
Murray compounded the anger by charging £30 a ticket for the Gothenburg game at Ibrox which at that time was a rip off.to compound it he put out adverts of radio that basically said if you couldn’t afford or unwilling to pay £30 you weren’t a true blue.
 
Murray compounded the anger by charging £30 a ticket for the Gothenburg game at Ibrox which at that time was a rip off.to compound it he put out adverts of radio that basically said if you couldn’t afford or unwilling to pay £30 you weren’t a true blue.
Was after the Strasbourg game that I remember people at the front door calling for Walter to be removed. Different times as we were big spenders even in European terms at the time and we underacheived in Europe on the whole under Walter 1st time round.
 
So would you have preferred winning 10 that season knowing Kilmarnock lay down to us because Williamson was and still is a bluenose. Don't know about you mate but I prefer winning titles by honest endeavor, I also don't call and ex player a rat. But maybe that's just me
Williamson if you can remember hated us with a vengeance, suppose that came with the fact he was a third rate player for us anyway. So is the Presbyterian way not to except a gift horse?
 
I don't rember any frenzy like there is today,I was disappointed we didn't win the league we were the better team,I think we beat them twice,drew won and lost one against them that season.We gifted them the league because of results against other teams.
I was always confident it was a blip and we won.d win it the following season.
 
Were we not ahead for quite a bit of that season? If we weren't it was certainly close. If there was an 11 point gap though, even with us having 2 games in hand, we certainly wouldn't have been protesting. Fans have always had the upmost respect for Walter.
 
had a wee look there - 52 games played that season

these probably include any appearance not just starts:


Gattuso 37
Porrini 37
Stensaas 28
Amoruso must have been 10 max, didn't debut till April 1998
Thern 28
Negri 40 (after January was a jersey wasted)
Johansson 8
Niemi 7
Gough 30

taking Gough out of the equation as its was really just a continuation of the previous season
Stensaas & Thern was a season worth between them
the Italians except Amo were regulars but Negri etc etc

rest only contributed in a few games

the bulk of the team was made up of guys who'd ran thru walls for years previously and a few were at the end of their careers - McCoist, Durie, McCall, Ferguson, Goram etc
and Laudrup switched off once he was confirmed to be leaving
Negri was the key for me. Had he not gone in the huff and scored even half the amount of goals in the second half of the season as he’d done in the first, we’d have won it.

You could also look at Amoruso and ask how different it might have been had he been fit and hit the ground running.

Smith did all the right things in the summer of ‘97 to be fair, signing more or less the core of a new team, but aside from the two mentioned above there were just too many other factors that prevented us from winning it that season.

Laudrup suffered niggling injuries and never really had the same impact as previously, Gascoigne was a fat mess and blowing out of his arse, Thern was a ridiculous waste of money and it was just a season too far for the rest of the NIAR guard.
 
We wanted the 10, make no mistake about it.

And it's been done to death the reasons we didn't get it. But we moved on and moved forward, and celebrated a Treble 12 months later.

Them on the other hand, I think us doing 55 will absolutely rock them to the core. It won't just be Lennon that carries the can for it, they'll be gunning for Liewell too.

Factor in the likes of Brown coming to the end of his career, and probably a whole host of other players who'll want away, and the plethora of shite they've bought over the years that are kicking their heels at home ...... there is a vast rebuilding job required there, much the same as we had to do at the end of our failed attempt at 10.
 
We had a song back then...

Eight it was great, nine will be fine, but it's gonna be ten in a row.

It didn't happen, there was no meltdown like what's going on just now.

#Hughknew wasn't in the slightest frothing about it on radio catholic every night, quite the opposite - he was orgasmic.
 
And the plus point to that, for me, is the fact that we have an enduring image of Mr Richard Gough, a TRUE leader and captain, lifting that trophy at Tannadice with tears in his eyes. We have the defining footage of the King thrashing a header into the top corner. We have the memories and all that came with winning a 9th title in a row, they don’t have that. They never will have that feeling in the modern era, they never will be able to truly savour how that felt.

Yeah, it's a reminder that when we are told that CFC have just won nine-in-a-row, we can still ask the questions:

"What league match saw you win the title ?"
"Who scored the decisive goal(s) in that title-winning game ?"
 
Yeah, it's a reminder that when we are told that CFC have just won nine-in-a-row, we can still ask the questions:

"What league match saw you win the title ?"
"Who scored the decisive goal(s) in that title-winning game ?"
I do that all the time :)) :)) :))
I never get an answer, ever.
 
I remember being disappointed that Walter said he was retiring going into that season after winning 9. There was no frenzy and obsession about a possible 10 in a row, as we're witnessing now. If anything, the media were all about Celtc stopping us from doing so.
Thats right, the media narrative was that Celtic beating us to the title that year was best for all of Scottish football.
 
We’re fortunate social media wasn’t around when we were going for 10 in a row. It would’ve been full of fans wanting Walter replaced.
 
I remember the opposite. Setting a new record was huge for us and our ultimate failure to achieve it was hugely deflating.

We never really dwelled on it though because the next two seasons were two of the best ever.

Of course, winning the title that season would have been incredible, but we were never endlessly obsessing about ten in a row as both they and the media are at present. That mob will take to the streets if they lose the chance of 10 this season. We didn't, which says a lot. In fact, we were more gutted after the CSKA Moscow game when we should have been in the first ever CL Final.
 
I'm not old enough to remember our 10IAR season - but I would bet that people weren't talking about 10IAR after the first title in 1989.

This has been built up since 2012 for them. Because we were being demoted to Division 3, they knew they had a chance to do it. And to some extent, it was an expectation. It isn't really an achievement as such.

Rangers' 9IAR in 1997 was an achievement built by one of the greatest Rangers teams of all time - featuring some of the best players ever to have played for the club. Not getting the tenth title, while disappointing, came after years of achievement.

For them, not getting 10IAR is a failure to take advantage of the situation. This 9IAR will be a reminder of something they failed to do, rather than a period they remember fondly for achievements.
 
Williamson if you can remember hated us with a vengeance, suppose that came with the fact he was a third rate player for us anyway. So is the Presbyterian way not to except a gift horse?
He's a bluenose, always has been. And give me peace about the Presbyterian way, ffs. Rangers have never needed anyone to lie down to them to be a success, maybe bear this in mind
 
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I was gutted we did not win that season, but it did not get under my skin or dwell in my thoughts.

I felt proud of what we had done, and it far outweighed any disappointment of losing that title.

I think Rangers fans mostly accepted the situation and looked forward to the next season.
The arrival of Advocaat and the reset of squad and culture of the club certainly cushioned the blow of not getting 10 and the Scottish cup
 
The 10 was a disappointment.

9 was the big one.

I accepted it and moved on.

The squad was all older and there didnt seem the same desire and spirit in the 97/98 season.

Walter left well, returned 10 years later with more experience and took us further than before in europe. Okay there were some bad evenings under him too but won 3 in a row and Manchester. His legacy is always to be admired, even tho we never done 10.
 
He's a bluenose, always has been. And give me peace about the Presbyterian way, ffs. Rangers have never needed anyone to lie down to them to be a success, maybe bear this in mind
Try turning the clock back to the time, he hated us with a vengeance, or can’t you remember.
 
Try turning the clock back to the time, he hated us with a vengeance, or can’t you remember.
Mate, he was a neighbor of mine in Cheshire when he was Chester manager, always spoke well of the club, both as a player and supporter. Also as I said Rangers have never needed any team to lie down to them for success and tbh not one Rangers manager would have ever looked for anything like that.
We are successful because of our own work ethic, nothing more or less.
 
That’s not how I remember it at all.

TIAR was a huge thing for us. We spent a record amount in the summer of ‘97 going for it and Walter didn’t announce his retirement until it was essentially forced upon him by ENIC following the double Euro disasters at Gothenburg and Strasbourg.

There’s a part of me that still thinks he should have been jettisoned there and then, and at the time that’s what I wanted, but because TIAR was such a big deal for us there was a belief we needed continuity to achieve it.


I hope I'm not coming across like Tommy Sheridan here but Walter and the squad had earned the right to go for 10
 
Make no mistake, us winning the league this season sees:
Lennon hunted
Brown retired
Lawell hunted
Fans boycotting and season tickets handed back
Player exodus, all wanting to get away from the shot show

I can’t wait!!!
 
Was after the Strasbourg game that I remember people at the front door calling for Walter to be removed. Different times as we were big spenders even in European terms at the time and we underacheived in Europe on the whole under Walter 1st time round.
Murray always seems to get an easy ride when it comes to why we didn't get the ten.
 
Fk sake I remember sitting steaming greeting my eyes out the night we got beat 2-0 by that mob at new year that season. Had a feeling in my water it was the beginning of the end that night, end of an era I’d been brought up with. Got a feeling this season is payback and karma for that season, it just wasn’t meant to be.
 
Murray bottled sacking Walter outright - the compromise of agreeing he would leave at the end of the season did neither Walter or the club any favours
 
looking at the transfers - it might have been a record amount but it was on very few players

Amoruso was injured for the most part
Stensaas was terrible
Negri disappeared half way thru
thern contributed relatively little
Did Gough not also leave after nine in a row and Laudrup was really poor going into the tenth season.
 
I wanted Walter sacked - I was also mega critical of our European record at the time.

I was possibly wrong.

That said, I still thank my lucky stars for Walters return and I'll admit I was too stupid and spoiled the first time round.
 
I wanted Walter sacked - I was also mega critical of our European record at the time.

I was possibly wrong.

That said, I still thank my lucky stars for Walters return and I'll admit I was too stupid and spoiled the first time round.
Walter should have left after 9. We were running out of steam that season and we desperately needed to freshen up as we went for 10.

If not then he should have been sacked after the Gothenburg and Strasbourg fiascos.

This is not to dismiss his achievements in the 90s. We should all also thank God that he returned in 2007 - no one can argue with his achievements in his second spell. However in 97 the time had undoubtedly come for a change.
 
Mate, he was a neighbor of mine in Cheshire when he was Chester manager, always spoke well of the club, both as a player and supporter. Also as I said Rangers have never needed any team to lie down to them for success and tbh not one Rangers manager would have ever looked for anything like that.
We are successful because of our own work ethic, nothing more or less.
If your down in Chester and he was a Neighbour, you didn’t get his attitude we got then, there again he may have been suited to manage Chester.
 
Did Gough not also leave after nine in a row and Laudrup was really poor going into the tenth season.
Both true but they weren’t three only issues.
Gascoigne was burst, was allowed to burst himself.
McCall, McCoist, even Durrant looked tired and, almost, unmotivated.
Laudrup’s drop in form would have seen him slated had it not been for his performances in the previous three seasons.
The new signings just didn’t work for us that season, Porrini aside.
Amoroso got injured pre season, Thern was injured far too often, Negri brilliant then a joke, Stensaas poor.
Nothing went right then we didn’t help ourselves.
Of course, the announcement of Smith leaving, if not the idea itself, was a disaster.
 
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I wanted Walter sacked - I was also mega critical of our European record at the time.

I was possibly wrong.

That said, I still thank my lucky stars for Walters return and I'll admit I was too stupid and spoiled the first time round.
Don’t be too hard on yourself here.
You were correct on both counts.
The mark two Smith was a much better, more resilient man than the previous one and streets ahead as a coach.
 
Williamson if you can remember hated us with a vengeance, suppose that came with the fact he was a third rate player for us anyway. So is the Presbyterian way not to except a gift horse?
Utter garbage.
You really think it’s “Presbyterian” to cheat?
He never hated Rangers.
One sickener from him was the day at Ibrox, last day of the season, McCoist’s last game and he refused to use him as a sub.
 
As I remember it, 9 was the target. Not winning 10 in a row was a blow but not as big a disaster as blowing it the previous season would have been.

The European stuff you read on here 2 decades after the fact is probably misleading for anyone not old enough to remember, all most people cared about was beating Celtic and winning the league.
 
I was raging that we blew it because we clearly had a better set of players but for some reason they just stopped winning tight games.
I never really blamed Smith but felt the players just couldnt seem to get going.
Gazza was unfit, Negri went from hit man to zero.
Within weeks of them winning we were up and running with Advocaat and a host of top players coming in.
 
Walter should have left after 9. We were running out of steam that season and we desperately needed to freshen up as we went for 10.

If not then he should have been sacked after the Gothenburg and Strasbourg fiascos.

This is not to dismiss his achievements in the 90s. We should all also thank God that he returned in 2007 - no one can argue with his achievements in his second spell. However in 97 the time had undoubtedly come for a change.
Smith should have been sacked after the defeat to AEK Athens in ‘94. Europe was our supposed yardstick back then and three first round knockouts in four years simply wasn’t good enough for a club with our ambitions.

But we had NIAR firmly in our sights then and domestically Walter was the man.

Having eventually secured NIAR it was obvious he would want the chance to create history so I don’t think there was any likelihood of him stepping down after that famous night at Tannadice.

ENIC didn’t give a rats ass about nine or ten Scottish titles in a row though, they wanted Champions League money as a return on their investment and it was clear Walter just couldn’t deliver. For me that had been apparent since those games against AEK three years earlier, but the double losses to Gothenburg and Strasbourg were the straws that broke the camels back for Lewis and Levy.

Again though, with the possibility of creating history, was binning the man who’d equalled that record the smart thing to do and run the risk of blowing a once in a lifetime’s opportunity?

Probably not.
 
Today’s amusing gathering of Seans and Kierans in the car park at Parkhead has made me think of how we reacted towards Walter during our bid for a proper, full ten titles in a row as that started to hit the skids.

Having spoken to people about it and read up about it, while the fan base was rightly pissed off about Gothenburg and Strasbourg alongside the squad’s lack of consistency that year, we never turned on him in the way that they have on Lennon.
Arguably we had more reason to be angry about the state of the team given the context we operated in but even until the game against Kilmarnock at Ibrox, we still rallied behind him and the team.

Just shows you the night and day difference between us and them.
My feeling at the time was Walter announced his retirement too early in the season and it affected the players attitude
 
A mixture of bad luck, injuries and too many players running out of steam at the same time meant we came up short that season, despite still getting the better of the scum in head to heads.

I don't remember being too disappointed or there being a huge outcry, I think most of our fans were fairly pragmatic and recognised that you simply can't win everything all of the time. Then we had the excitement of one of Europes top coaches arriving in the summer.

The continued European failures were an irritation but losing that league was absolutely nothing like their current toys out the pram stuff.
 
I wanted Walter sacked - I was also mega critical of our European record at the time.

I was possibly wrong.

That said, I still thank my lucky stars for Walters return and I'll admit I was too stupid and spoiled the first time round.
Walter came back a better manager because he had to set up his Everton side as hard to beat and then he went and worked with sir Alex at Man Utd before taking the Scotland job and when he returned he was the complete package.
 
My feeling at the time was Walter announced his retirement too early in the season and it affected the players attitude
Walter squeezed every last drop out of that squad and nearly all then knew that it was there last season.looking back Andy Goram was just a fat mess that season and gave away some horrific goals.
 
Wow. My recollection is that Murray was turning the financial screws on Walter. We sold Gazza to Middlesborough late in the season then had a really close run thing with the Scum when Gazza may have been the difference.
 
Wow. My recollection is that Murray was turning the financial screws on Walter. We sold Gazza to Middlesborough late in the season then had a really close run thing with the Scum when Gazza may have been the difference.
I think with an eight figure budget the summer of 97, it’s fair to suggest that is bunkum.
 
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