The late great Walter Smith was a hero amongst the Glasgow Rangers faithful, delivering a grand total of 21 major honours across two spells managing the Ibrox side, leading the club to some wonderful achievements.
Smith was also a dab hand in the transfer market, somehow managing to lure the likes of Brian Laudrup and Paul Gascoigne to Rangers during the mid-90s in what was an all-conquering era of success.
He transformed the club during his second spell too, although he had some major financial constraints to work with, especially when it came to delving into the transfer market, relying on loans and free transfers for the better part.
In August 2010, Smith made his first permanent signing for two years when he signed James Beattie from Stoke City for a fee of £1.7m and he was looked upon to shoulder the burden from Kenny Miller in the Gers attack.
Little did he know, Beattie would turn out to be one of his worst-ever signings.
How did James Beattie perform at Rangers?
The Englishman had, at one point, been one of the best strikers in the Premier League. During spells with Southampton, Everton and Stoke, he scored 90 top-flight goals in 329 appearances, with 23 coming in the 2002/2003 campaign. This form even earned the striker five England caps, although he failed to score for his country.
Arriving in Glasgow following a term where he had bagged just twice, Smith still obviously felt that the player could offer something different to the first team. It soon became apparent that the £1.7m was to be a giant waste of money.
Beattie started the first four league matches, however by the end of the year, he had featured just ten times in total across all competitions, scoring zero goals and grabbing just one assist.
The forward was sent out on loan to Blackpool back in the Premier League until the end of the season where he displayed little of the form expected of him by Smith and by the start of the 2011/12 campaign, Beattie had left the club.
Every penny was a prisoner during that period and spending over £1m on the former Saints striker was seen as a risky move, and it soon turned into a nightmare, costing the club a massive amount.
Smith is a Rangers legend, absolutely no doubt about it, however, even the best sometimes make mistakes.
