Smith laments fixture pile-up
23 May 2008 - 07:58:29
Walter Smith blamed tiredness and fixture congestion after Rangers saw the SPL title slip through their grasp and end up in the hands of rivals Celtic.
Rangers lost 2-0 at Aberdeen on Thursday evening, while Celtic's 1-0 win at Dundee United secured a third straight league title for the Parkhead club.
Two weeks ago, the Gers had been chasing a historic quadruple but, after losing the league and UEFA Cup Final, they can now only add the Scottish Cup to their CIS Insurance Cup success from earlier in the season.
"We are obviously disappointed with the outcome tonight and obviously disappointed that we have lost out on the championship," said Smith.
"I don't think it was a matter of when it started to go wrong. It was just a period of time when we realised what kind of fixture list we were going to have towards the end of the season.
"That was the realisation after we had had a really good run of games where we went over 20 games without losing.
"I thought then we could maybe go on and take the championship because of that level of consistency.
"But once I saw all the fixtures, I knew it would be an uphill battle and that's the way it was for us. That's where we have fallen down as much as anything else."