THE most successful manager in the history of Rangers will now leave the Ibrox club after the one and only season where he has been unable to deliver a major domestic trophy.
Walter Smith, though, knew from the time he decided that it was time to quit that the year just over was going to be the most difficult of his reign. He had recognised that the team required a major overhaul, which he started last summer and which will now be completed by his successor, Dutchman Dick Advocaat.
He does not wish to dwell on the unhappy end of his reign, but as he prepares to clear out his desk and move out of the office at the head of the marble staircase at Ibrox, Smith refuted suggestions that the timing of his own decision had affected the team performances.
He explained: ''The basic problem that we had during the season - apart from the injuries we suffered, and I am not making these an excuse - was that we had nine players who were going to be out of contract this summer and, because the club was in a state of flux and changes were going to be made, most of these players realised that they would be leaving.
''Therefore, when I made my decision public in the autumn, it was never going to affect the lads. Their futures were already uncertain and anything that I did could not change that.
''In essence, I suppose, what it told them all was that I was in the same position as they were. I was going to be leaving, too, and it simply underlined to them all that this was an end of the good times we had all enjoyed together.
''There was no way at all that it caused the inconsistency which created the problems for us this season. That came from the fact that we could never play any kind of settled team because of the injuries and the changes which had to be made.''
Smith will spend this week adding to his coaching credentials by taking the European course that is now essential and then for part of the summer he will be working with the Scotland World Cup squad in France, looking at possible opposition teams for the international team manager Craig Brown and then, following that stint, he will decide on his future, with the Rangers option on offer to him still favourite.
However, as he goes, Smith believes that his tenure at Ibrox will probably be the last of its kind. He points out: ''If you look around Europe nowadays then you will see that there are not too many managers or coaches who have long-term contracts with clubs. There are the exceptions - there are always those - with Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and Lippi at Juventus, but in the future I think that coaches will be like players now are after the Bosman ruling.
''They will be at a club for a short spell and then they will move on and a two or three-year spell will become the norm. In some ways, I can understand this. Last season I felt that I was losing a little bit of an edge, losing a spark which I had had when I started off with Rangers. That's when I told the chairman that I thought it was time for me to move aside.
''It was just that some of the freshness had gone and, when that happens, then you have to think about doing something else and that will be the way it goes in the future at the major clubs. Managers will come and go as players do. I have had 12 years here with Rangers and they have been good years but I just don't see anyone else filling a job for that length of time in the future. Times are changing.''
Smith may be moving out of the front line at Ibrox, but he sees a European future for the club and he believes that a league set-up will be in operation and that this will be the salvation for the Old Firm. He points out: ''There have been problems getting players to come to Scotland at times because they look at the league and don't fancy the set-up, even though Rangers and Celtic can command bigger crowds than most European teams.
''But a European league in some shape or form is on the way and, if we can be a part of that, then the players will be more easily attracted. I see the format being a league which will run alongside the domestic league with European involvement just about every midweek. It might still be difficult for Rangers or Celtic to get into the top flight because of the market considerations which are a part of the Champions' League right now, but we shall be there somewhere and that will give us the opportunity of broadening the appeal of the clubs and also to improving the standards.
''If we are playing against European sides week after week then that will be more beneficial to development than playing Scottish clubs four or even more times every season. That is the way forward and I think that, in the same way as the other changes we have seen in the European competitions, they will come quickly. I believe some type of league structure will be in place by the turn of the century.''
Smith also believes that the new Premier League, with its accent on youth development, will aid the home-grown players. Clubs look sure to concentrate on youth teams instead of reserve teams from next season onwards.
Says Smith: ''On the Continent, it has always been the case that the top clubs have a first-team squad of 18 to 20 players and then they drop down to the youth level and it is something which has been seen to work for them.
''That is the way our game will go and I think that is a good thing. It is worrying at the moment that so few players are coming through and this will help. Coaches in Europe spend almost all their time with the top group of players and that will be the case here in Scotland, too.''
Smith will soon decide on his own future after further discussions with chairman David Murray on the role envisaged for him. However, it will not involve him on any day-to-day basis with the players. That era has gone and Smith will not disturb the neue ordnung. He will give it his support, but it is not in the nature of the man to interfere.
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