Legendary Rangers manager Walter Smith issues stark warning to Steven Gerrard after historic 55th title win

Smith has been a source of constant advice and encouragement for Gerrard during the three years the former Liverpool and England captain has spent in Glasgow and the Scot was as pleased as any supporter when his protégé finally landed the Premiership on Sunday.

The victory, which was sealed when defending champions Celtic were held to a 0-0 draw by Dundee United at Tannadice on Sunday, ended a 10 year drought without a major trophy for the Ibrox outfit and sparked wild celebrations among their fans.

However, legendary Rangers manager Smith, who spent two hugely successful spells in the dugout at the Glasgow giants, knows full well that Gerrard, who has been hailed like a conquering hero by delirious supporters, will not be able to bask in the afterglow of the achievement for very long.

“You can’t relax,” he told the Essential Scottish Football Podcast. "It’s always just a beginning. You win a league championship and you start again. You get no time to sit back, for one reason.

"For Scottish clubs, the finances are totally driven by the Champions League. And the qualifiers are your first games of the season. You win a championship and think: ‘That’s great’. Then you’re drawn against a team from Cyprus or somewhere like that and you find it’s very difficult.

“You maybe don’t get through, as happened to me at times, and it feels like you’ve not won a championship. You think: ‘Where did that go?’ So you don’t have time to sit back and wallow and think: ‘This is fantastic’. You’ve got to look at the next season. You’ve got no time.

“You go away on holiday and you spend half your time on the phone trying to enhance your squad of players by getting a few new players coming in. And that recruitment is a massively important part of your job. Once you win a championship you’ve got to try and enhance your reputation in Europe.”

Smith, who took Rangers to within a game of the Champions League decider in 1993 and then through to the UEFA Cup final in 2008, knows just how important clinching a place in Europe’s premier club competition will be in the 2021/22 campaign.

The Ibrox club have been plagued by serious off-field problems since their financial implosion in 2012 and have required wealthy benefactors to offset their sizeable annual losses every year in order to remain afloat and continue as a going concern.

But making it through to the lucrative group stages of Europe’s premier club competition – an accomplishment which would be worth at least £20m and potentially and awful lot more – could enable them to break even.  

“The Champions League money is vital now after the years they’ve been away,” said Smith. “Celtic have had it their own way during that period whether they’ve been fortunate that Rangers have not been in the league or not. 

“That doesn’t matter – they got their money so were able to enhance their success every season. If they don’t get it, they’ve got to look to invest again. That’s Scottish football. That’s what Rangers and Celtic have to do. That’s the pressure they are under. And their managers are under. 

“You have to win a championship and look to get into the Champions League so you turn around and say: ‘We’ve achieved something because we’ve got the money that’s necessary to help us be successful’. 

“Scottish clubs are maybe restricted in terms of getting players, but Rangers have shown they can be competitive in Europe. Stepping up to the Champions League will be another stage for them. But it’s not easy.”

Smith continued: “People were talking about stopping Celtic win 10-In-A-Row but the most important thing for Rangers was winning a championship again. The whole aspect of winning it is the financial gain it gives the club and Rangers badly needed the financial input.

"The current directors at Rangers have done a fantastic job getting the club back up to a level but they needed help and they are getting help on the pitch now.

"I'm not an accountant, but if you get to the Champions League, your club makes money. Rangers were badly in need of that success on the field and Steven Gerrard has brought that to them."
Gerrard has had an enormous impact on Rangers since arriving at Ibrox amid joyous scenes back in 2018 – just as Scotland legend Graeme Souness did after he took over in a blaze of publicity back in 1986.

There are many similarities between the two men; both are Liverpool greats, both moved into management in Govan and both ended long spells in the doldrums after strengthening their sides with quality players.

Smith was Souness’s assistant and he understood why the Glasgow club’s board targeted such a high-profile former player despite his complete lack of managerial experience.   

“I thought there were a lot of parallels with Graeme at the time (Gerrard was appointed),” he said. “And I would have thought that the people who were responsible for the decision, Dave King or whoever, would have looked at that as well. Steven had that reputation Graeme had as a player.”

“Where it was different was that Steven Gerrard has never really had the kind of early input from the likes of Terry Butcher. Graeme himself played the first year and remember, we had some good players there already like Davie Cooper, Ally McCoist, Ian Durrant. Guys that were really good footballers on their own.

“So when Graeme came we got that lift. Steven has had to work a wee bit harder to get a group of players together and work with those players, so there’s been differences. I think you’re looking at two players who achieved iconic status at the same club, but then they turn themselves to management and I think Steven has handled it really well.

“Like everything else, he’ll have his disappointments, but he’s built up steadily and nearly every player that’s been brought in has improved his standard of play and fitted into the team and I think they’ve had some quite remarkable results along the way.”

You can listen the full Walter Smith interview here: https://essentialpodcasts.co.uk/