Former Rangers, Everton and Scotland manager – and sometime Sons player – Walter Smith has died.

It is fair to say his best days were with other clubs. He joined Sons from Dundee United in 1975 but in 1976 became one of the select few players ever to appear in a Sons jersey in a Scottish Cup semi-final. Arguably he and that squad appeared in two since the first game (against Hearts) ended in a 0-0 draw. We’ll draw a veil over the replay, though. 64 games for the Sons isn’t a meagre tally, though.

It was as a manager that he made the biggest impact on the football world. His Rangers teams won ten league titles in total, five Scottish Cups, six Scottish League Cups and reached the UEFA Cup final in 2008. He is also the only manager of the Scottish National side to win an international trophy (excluding British Isles only competitions,) the Kirin Cup in 2006.

Walter Ferguson Smith, 24/2/1948 – 26/10/2021. So it goes.

I’ve just seen a report of the death of Jim McLean, the man who led Dundee United to the greatest successes in their history (bar a Scottish Cup win.)

Following two earlier League Cup wins (themselves the club’s first major trophies,) in 1983 his stewardship found them winning the League and becoming champions of Scotland. With hindsight that seems even more remarkable than it did at the time. As I recall (but don’t quote me) they achieved that using no more than 15 players in total over the whole season.

The next season saw an even more incredible achievement, a European Cup semi-final (matching the effort of their city rivals, Dundee, from 1963.) Then there was a UEFA Cup final appearance (thereby eclipsing their neighbours) in 1987. The most astonishing statistic of the club’s European games under McLean’s leadership is their two wins against Barcelona (OK, they were not the force at the that time they were to become but it was still a huge scalp) in that EUFA Cup run. Curiously the club had also beaten Barcelona home and away in the equivalent competition, the Inter Cities Fairs Cup, in 1966.

Some controversy surrounded McLena’s treatment of players, especially as regards the details of their contracts, but he nurtured many who went on to forge big careers in the game. His relationships with members of the press were not always rosy though. He was a personality, no doubt.

As a pure manager, though, his record is nothing short of amazing.

James Yuille (Jim) McLean: 2/12/1937 – 26/12/2020. So it goes.

Champions League,* Ibrox Stadium, 24/11/10

Paint could have watched this game dry.

What a (lack of) advert for the football tournament proclaimed to be the world’s best. Even better than the World Cup, forsooth.

I don’t normally bother with it, in televised club football I prefer Europa League – UEFA Cup as was – matches; but this was a Scotland-England contest. Or rather it was a seven-or-eight-plodding-Scots-plus-some-equally-plodding-mercenaries – bunch of overhighly-paid-mercenaries-made-to-look-pedestrian contest.

I’ve seen football that was more creative in the Scottish Third Division.

* So-called.