LAST WEEK, both Old Firm managers once more found themselves at the centre of attention. First it was Gordon Strachan with his idiosyncratic interviews after the St Mirren defeat. That story was still hot off the presses when Walter Smith was hot on his heels with his reaction to Kris Boyd's less than enthusiastic attitude before, during and after Rangers 5-1 demolition of Hamilton.
This was not the first sighting of Boyd's bottom lip, as George Burley will testify. Even at Rangers the striker has previously displeased the management with his scowling, but afterwards he has usually managed to up his game and was even seen to per
spire on the odd occasion.
Judging by his facial expressions when he came on as sub last Sunday, however, the old resentment was back.
In that it is supposedly Ally McCoist who is in charge of the team for the CIS Insurance Cup, it also raised a few questions about Scottish football's Mr Popular himself. Boyd's behaviour may not have amounted to insubordination to the McGeady level, but it was still clearly unacceptable. Even though it was the week of a cup final, it still provided McCoist with a perfect opportunity to stamp his authority within the squad.
Most managers, particularly young ones or those new in a job, generally love these situations. They are in fact tailor-made to emphasise who is in charge.
If the spat happens publicly on the pitch after a substitution, on the training ground with enough prying eyes around or even just in a dressing room with enough gossiping players to spread the word, then counterintuitively, it is even better for the boss.
Then it is not only the individual but also the rest of the players, the media and the fans who get to witness the birth of a manager capable of leading.
Some even attempt to provoke such a situation. The truly Machiavellian ones do not leave it to chance, they choose precisely the player to single out and when he reacts, the boss, as they say in the game, will come down on him like a ton of bricks.
It is impossible not to draw a comparison between the McCoist relationship with Boyd now and the previous problems that he had with Graeme Souness, when the mustachioed one was manager at Rangers.
At the time I remember chatting to Ally at a Scotland squad about his problems and the most surprising thing to me was that such a sharp cookie as Coisty couldn't see what was happening to him.
Maybe he was too close to the situation, too emotionally involved to get a clear view of the bigger picture.
For all that Souness may have been jealous of his striker's popularity, the chance to underline who was top dog at the club while simultaneously improving the work-rate and the team play of a free-scoring striker was not only too good to miss, it was manna from heaven.
In British football the manager almost invariably prevails, often because he is right, but sometimes because it would be financially catastrophic to sack him over one player's grievance. It could be Sir Alex Ferguson taking on Norman Whiteside, Paul McGrath and Lee Sharpe or Gordon Strachan versus Derek Riordan and Aiden McGeady – there is usually only one winner. It is only the very odd exception that stands out – Barry Ferguson may have trumped Paul Le Guen but failure on the park did it for the Frenchman as much as the disgruntled skipper.
So with all these positives and all this history on his side, why was it Walter Smith and not Ally McCoist who allegedly took Boyd into his room for a dressing down? Granted, a one-to-one with an incandescent Walter Smith is a far more intimidating notion than facing his apprentice, but if Ally is going to be a good manager, he will have to be a hard one as well. Some managers get the reaction they want through respect, others through fear – in football, although it isn't particularly politically correct, the great ones know they need both.
Today's final will be yet another great opportunity for Ally McCoist to learn on the job and you get the feeling he is capable of using the education positively in the long term. This week could end up being the making of him. A more pertinent question is whether or not Kris Boyd has the nous to learn from the mistakes that he has made?
I fully understand why he felt George Burley had treated him unjustly, even though he made the wrong decision by turning his back on his country. If precisely the same message about attitude, team spirit and work-rate is ignored again, this time coming from people who work with him every day and who know his game inside out, then it is likely no-one will ever get through. That would be a great shame for Scottish football, Rangers and for Kris Boyd as well.
Of course he may well move on, there will always be clubs down south willing to take on a natural goal scorer and the fans will love him there as long as he is scoring, but these will be clubs outside the elite. Any player who is merely perceived to be either troublesome or lazy will not tempt a top manager; it would not be worth the risk to their own jobs.
Moving to a Championship side and becoming a very wealthy young man might feel like enough for him, but at the end of his career he will look back at days like today and wish there had been more of them and he had been more involved.
What if Rangers start with Kyle Lafferty centre stage today, a player who has shown a faultless attitude since signing last June? In such an important match, can they take a chance on Boyd as a sub after his 25 moping minutes against Hamilton? Managers do not need imponderables like this and this is precisely what will continue to hold him back.
With his natural talents he can still go so much further but only if he listens to the right people. McCoist, on the other hand, has listened and learned over the years and for that reason he is likely to be involved with more cup finals in the coming years than Kris Boyd will. That said I still wouldn't bet against him scoring if he gets a chance today.
The full article contains 1104 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
