SHOULD Walter Smith go ahead with plans to break his self-imposed exile from Ibrox this evening, he is likely to find himself walking back into more of a warzone than ever.

A protest has been planned for the front steps by the Sons of Struth supporters' group ahead of the League Cup quarter-final tie with St Johnstone. The group have also called for a complete boycott by all supporters of the match itself, as a response to the recent developments which have resulted in Mike Ashley effectively taking control of the club. It is the kind of thing that stopped Smith from going to matches at all after he had taken the decision to resign as chairman following a little over two months in the role.

Ibrox has become a place of suspicion, fear and loathing. Which side are you on? Are you with us or against us? What's your agenda?

It is some reflection of the turmoil within the club that one of the most important figures in its entire history is reduced to feeling that he would rather stay at home than watch his team as a result of being confronted by such questions from all quarters.

Events have been leading to this point for some time. Smith walked away in August last year, a matter of days after the largely discredited Charles Green had been re-employed as a consultant despite leaving his job of chief executive over alleged links with the totally discredited Craig Whyte.

Back then, Smith spoke of a "highly dysfunctional" environment. Without naming names, he also released a statement in support of Paul Murray, a director during Sir David Murray's regime, and Frank Blin being voted into the boardroom to help bring "much-needed stability and a level of integrity".

Murray and Blin never made it there. The now-deposed Graham Wallace went on to reveal in his now-infamous business review that the club had somehow managed to burn its way through the best part of £70m during a couple of years in the lower divisions.

Ashley and his men are preparing to clear the decks at Ibrox, having won an increasingly bitter power struggle at the club, and Smith declines the invitation to offer an opinion on what the Newcastle United owner will bring to a business that has been on its knees, begging for loans to keep the lights on for quite a while now. Backing horses in this particular race is a dangerous business. It was Green, after all, who initially convinced Smith to join the Rangers board as a non-executive director in November 2012.

Listening to this 66-year-old Rangers icon discuss his reluctance to return to the stadium he marvelled at as a boy and graced during two spells as manager sheds clear light on one thing, though. Rangers, as an institution, has been left so broken by the events of the last few years that you wonder whether it can be repaired fully.

You must wonder whether the feelings Smith and thousands of others possess for their club can ever be the same again either. "Before I?¯left the board, I was going to a few of the games," recalled Smith. "I?¯have been to one or two, but I?¯haven't been to an awful lot since I?¯left. I?¯watch the TV coverage and read about it but I?¯don't go to many games.

"At first [after leaving the manager's position], I?¯didn't want to go back because I?¯didn't want to be seen to be interfering . . . no, not interfering, but I?¯didn't want people thinking I?¯was going to watch Alastair [McCoist] and the boys I'd left there. That was the main reason for not going back.

"When Charles Green asked me to go on the board, I?¯went back and going to games was another aspect of it. Since I?¯left the board, the reason I?¯don't go back to watch games is because is everybody keeps saying to me: 'You are supporting this side, that side or the other side.' I?¯think I'm better not bothering going.

"I?¯miss going to the games. I'll go to the occasional one and I'll go on Tuesday night to see how they do against St Johnstone."

How different things are from the days when Smith stood on the terraces as a fan. Certainly, the past few days have given him the opportunity to enjoy the memories of those much more settled times.

Smith attended a dinner at Hampden Park on Sunday night to see Davie Wilson inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame and share the achievement with a man who played a significant part in his life.

"Wee Davie worked beside my old man when he was a boy, strangely enough," said Smith. "I?¯went to Ibrox and watched him play in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Rangers had a fantastic team and it was an enjoyable period to watch them. He was one of the main players and the number of goals he scored for a winger was fantastic. We don't have wingers of that type nowadays.

"Davie also came to play at Dundee United, alongside Jimmy Millar, when I?¯was there and he was a fantastic professional. They could have tailed off at the end of their careers, but they had a great attitude and it was great for a young player like myself to see that. I'd never have imagined I'd have played alongside him. It was a big thrill.

"What's more, he was terrific and down-to-earth. Davie was also assistant manager at Dumbarton when I?¯went there for a year. We had a good young team at that time but, unfortunately, they all got sold. That kind of thing happened even back then. Davie became a manager and transferred me back to Dundee United. It's great to see him inducted into the Hall of Fame. His family was there and it was great to see them share it with him."