Source: FOOTYMAD
Smith's Croatian gamble is in trouble but the next move should be all-in on Ulster.
Options for the months without Jelavic. Walter Smith is a rock fan, but I’ve no idea if his musical tastes extend to Kenny Rogers, far less if in the dark days of autumn he turns his attention to Russian novellas. But he is on record: "With the budget that we had to spend, I have taken a wee gamble on not bringing in a number of players," he said. "I've gone for one in particular in Jelavic who I hope will bring us a level of goals and compensate for the loss of Kris Boyd. The gamble from my own point of view is that we are now sitting with about 18 or 19 players. If we avoid injury and suspensions to a great degree, then we should get through okay. That's the gamble I'm prepared to take.” Nikica Jelavic was taken out of the Scottish game by the violent, premeditated lunge from Ian Black, but his operation has been a success, and we now wait to see how long it will be before he can return to a blue jersey. In the meantime, there is a decision to be made. To make matters a little more complicated, Kenny Miller is, has been and indeed may always be a streaky goalscorer, and it wouldn’t do simply to remove one goal-scoring striker from the payroll only to overly depend on another. He’s also, and let’s have all the fingers crossed, a player who has often played in recent times when not 100% and is in permanent danger of suffering new variations on an old injury. But let’s leave that aside for now. Bought entirely for domestic football – barring the unlikely notion of Rangers advancing in the CL – Jelavic’s place in the side is now up for grabs, and the two most obvious candidates inspire varying levels of enthusiasm and reservations. James Beattie hasn’t done much wrong, but has looked a little off the pace, and hopefully when all return after the international break he will be close to a return to the side and a little further along the road to full fitness. His lay-off for Miller at Easter Road ably demonstrated his footballing intelligence, but he will have to add more to his game to come close to being a worthy fill-in for Nikica. Still, his attitude, sometimes in question elsewhere, doesn’t appear in question, and we can remain hopeful he will play a part in turning this season into a success. Then there is the other guy. Big Kyle has a Facebook, and a Twitter account, and probably a Bebo, MySpace, and Dawkins knows what other type of social networking account. He’s not mentioned the golf, but I hope he enjoyed the performance of his fellow Ulstermen at Celtic Manor. Note, please, the difference in class in the picture above. Football fans often tolerate, condone and simply ignore the deficiencies of players they like, and forgive and place to one side the serious character flaws of those who are good enough to make their performances on the pitch make up for what they do when not in the club jersey. Kyle Lafferty’s problem so far has been that his Rangers performances haven’t been consistently good enough, and that is before we even consider the astronomical fee involved. (See Smith, W. High-stake gambles, 2008, Glasgow) It is pointless to go over old ground, but with every setback comes an opportunity for someone else – and that someone should be Lafferty. His free-kick and general impact at Tynecastle was impressive. After his last indiscretion Walter Smith was generous yet firm and the player is surely running out of opportunities to indulge the displeasure of senior staff at Ibrox. This may not be his final chance to really make a sustained impression, but it may be his best. Even allowing for natural conservatism, and with due notice to the prospect of Fleck returning and offering a nice tweak to the preferred system, Walter will need a striking partner for Miller and Kyle offers more at present than the competition: in terms of goalscoring, mischief and general unpredictability. He must take this chance. Our season may depend on it. No pressure? This is The Rangers. If you cannot handle pressure then you are in the wrong game. All in, Walter: and hope to develop another Ulster ace.
