http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/16/rangers-walter-smith-celtic-neil-lennon
The departing Rangers manager, Walter Smith, has fired a parting shot at Celtic, accusing them of setting the wheels in motion for a fractious Scottish season.
Smith took charge of Rangers for the last time at Kilmarnock on Sunday, securing the Scottish Premier League title with a 5-1 win. The 63-year-old has said he will be glad to see the back of his final campaign, during which he was particularly upset by Celtic's complaints about referees and to the Scottish Football Association.
"It seems to me that all of the focus has been deflected from what it should have been on, which is football players, what they do, who wins, who loses," Smith said. "We've not been talking about that this season. The season got off to a bad start, in that respect, when Celtic put up a challenge to referees and to everybody else. That got the season off to a bad start and it went downhill after that.
"From my own point of view, I hope everybody would realise that people who work in Scottish football – referees included – are always under terrific scrutiny. It was an unfair circumstance they were placed in this season and I just hope that now everybody gets on with it."
The Celtic manager, Neil Lennon, was outspoken against the referee after the season's first Old Firm game in October, which Rangers won 3-1. That was one of several occasions on which Lennon or Celtic complained about match officials.
There were also legal challenges from Celtic towards the SFA, including over a touchline ban handed to Lennon. Throughout the season Celtic have defended their actions vigorously.
"I hope Celtic realise that, if their team is good enough, they will win," said Smith, whose title was his third in succession. "If they're not good enough, they'll not win and they can't look at anybody else, whether it's referees or any other influence. I don't say that in a smug way. I just felt that it set the tone for what it has been a poor season for our country, in terms of publicity overall."
Smith will spend time in the United States but has no set plans to return to football thereafter. He has ruled out another role at Rangers. "After the season we have had here I am ready to get out of here, out of Scotland," he said. "It has been a fraught year for everybody; I don't think there has been any doubt about that.
"I'm never going to be a director of football. One of the reason why I won't be back at Rangers again is that I won't be sitting there looking at lads that I have worked with. So you might see me at Dumbarton or Forfar or somewhere like that, plus the occasional Rangers game.
"I'll go to watch Rangers as a fan. But it's not right for me to be hanging around the club when there is new people there. I'll go as a supporter. I'll be buying season-tickets, four of them actually. I will be investing in the team."
Smith is also confident his successor, Ally McCoist, will be a success at Ibrox. Intrigue surrounds how much advice McCoist will seek from his predecessor. "People keep asking me: 'Will he ask you this, or ask you that?' But I still speak to people like Jim McLean and Sir Alex Ferguson," Smith said. "That's what you do, you ask questions. So Ally will do just as I've been able to do, to ask people who I have worked with before. Ally can ask me, but he will make up his own mind what he is going to do. I don't need to tell Ally anything. He will be able to handle the situation as it comes along."
Celtic, meanwhile, have cancelled a planned tribute match for their former defender John Kennedy on Sunday. Kennedy had to retire due to a knee injury in 2009. The game was set to take place between the current Celtic team and members of the one who progressed to the 2003 Uefa Cup final. Celtic feel it would be inappropriate to hold the match now, after a turbulent few months during which there have been security threats towards Lennon and Celtic failed to reclaim the SPL. It could be played in August.
The 19-year-old Celtic winger James Forrest will earn a first Scotland call-up on Tuesday. Forrest will be named in Craig Levein's squad for the upcoming Carling Nations Cup fixtures.