Walter Smith
The excuses...

5 March 2002

When are the press and pundits going to stop referring to Walter Smith as "a great manager" and realise that this man is ruining a great football club?  For those of you who still can't see the damage he is doing, let us compare the excuses made on his behalf with the facts:

1.  HE HAS NOT HAD ANY MONEY TO SPEND
In his first season, Smith spent more than �20M on a team which, but for the later purchase of Kevin Campbell, would have been relegated.  Since then, he has spent a further �30m without improving the situation.  Indeed, it has got worse!

2.  HE HAS BEEN FORCED TO SELL HIS BEST PLAYERS
Correct me if I am wrong, but the only sale made against Smith's wishes was when Duncan Ferguson went to Newcastle (and, given that he has since bought him back, does this really count?).  The likes of Dacourt, Hutchison, Barmby, Ball, Jeffers, Collins and more all asked to leave (or turned down offers, which amounts to the same thing).  Surely that speaks volumes for Smith's attitude towards players.

3.  HE HAS BEEN UNLUCKY WITH INJURIES
Given the amount of injuries the Club has suffered over the last three seasons, there has to be something more than luck involved.   Is it just coincidence that, when Graeme Souness � Smith's former boss at Rangers � was at Liverpool, they seemed to suffer in the same way?  Why is it that, when players (other than those who are injury-prone anyway) come to Everton, they invariably have long spells out injured, even though they never had such problems at their previous clubs?  Why is it that Abel Xavier, who struggled to string 90 minutes together at Everton, can play game after game as soon as he moves to Anfield?

4.  HE HAS THE SUPPORT OF THE PLAYERS
As has already been shown, the number of players who have chosen to leave gives the lie to this statement.  As for those who recently voiced their support for him, the majority are mediocre or well past their sell-by date and would be soon be out of work if a half-decent manager was appointed.

5.  HE HAS A GREAT RECORD WHICH SPEAKS FOR ITSELF
This old chestnut; he had success in a two-team league at a time when Celtic were in complete disaray.  We can all see what has happened now that they have got their house in order.  Let us not also forget that he was carrying on the work done by Souness � i.e. he started from a position of strength � not from scratch as was required at Everton.

6.  CLUBS SHOULD NOT BE SO HASTY IN SACKING THEIR MANAGERS; THEY SHOULD GIVE THEM TIME TO GET THINGS RIGHT
Smith has been there four years now and the team is no better off than the day he came; indeed, it is in a worse state.  People who make comparison with Howard Kendall's first spell in charge overlook the fact that Howard had built a good YOUNG team which only lacked experience before coming good.  There has been no progress at all under Smith, demonstrated by the failure of his continuing policy of buying injury-prone has-beens hoping to placate the fans.  The result is abject mediocrity and, if Bill Kenwright is satisfied with what he is seeing, then he is not the Evertonian he claims to be.  Continuing with incompetence will only result in disaster.

7.  WHO IS THERE TO REPLACE HIM?
Well, how long have you got?  Firstly, why has George Graham never been approached?  I accept that he doesn't build the most attractive teams in the world, but they were usually winning things and were NEVER fighting relegation.  If you wanted someone to keep you in the Premier League and get you into a position to benefit from the Kings Dock riches, then he is your man.  Secondly,why was David Jones never approached when his Court Case finished and he was out of work?  Typically, we will no doubt wait until he gets Wolves back into the Premiership and is settled with them.  What about the partnership of Rioch and Todd which worked so well at Middlesbrough and Bolton?  Coincidentally, both are out of work at present...  Then again, there are the young managers who are learning their trade at smaller clubs: David Moyes, Gary Megson and � dare I say it � Kevin Ratcliffe.

I have been an active Everton supporter for the best part of 40 years and I have never been as fearful for the future of  this once-great club, nay institution, as I am now.  My biggest fear is that we win the FA Cup this season, because then the powers that be will believe everything is all right; they won't have learnt from 1995...

Geoff Atherton

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