Rangers did it their way on road to final
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The journey from Glasgow to Manchester is not particularly challenging, whether by road, rail or air.
But try telling Walter Smith and Rangers that.
Forget the route, it has been an extraordinary trek to the Uefa Cup final, one in which they have played 18 European matches already this season and been accused of corrupting the game’s purity.
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi called it anti-football as the Catalans left Glasgow in a huff after a Champions League snore draw, and Fiorentina president Andrea della Valle accused Rangers of playing for penalties throughout the second leg of their semi-final.
But any critics of Rangers will need to bite their tongue tonight as Smith’s side take on Zenit St Petersburg in their first European final for 36 years.
David Weir was an infant, Smith was still a player, and Ally McCoist’s football experience amounted to schools football when Rangers took on Dynamo Moscow in the European Cup Winners’ Cup showpiece in 1972.
Smith’s Rangers almost reached the 1993 Champions League final but fell just short, however this time the manager nailed his tactics to the board and his players have flourished under his instruction.
“There is pride in how it has been achieved,” said Smith.
“A lot of people were critical of the way Rangers played but they must give us a bit of credit for getting there.
“Whatever faults we have, no one can say we don’t have a commitment and an attitude which has seen them through some very difficult games.”
Rangers have made some shrewd signings in the past 18 months but Smith’s capture was undoubtedly the masterstroke.
Yet reputations were at stake when Smith bolted from his Scotland job after being offered a return to Ibrox in January 2007.
Smith, 59 at the time, had been enjoying comfortable employment with the Scottish Football Association and had been out of club management, aside from a short spell on Manchester United’s staff, for almost five years.
However in 2006 Rangers chairman Sir David Murray had appointed a manager with a formidable reputation, Paul Le Guen, who turned out to be a dud.
Murray, for all his achievements at Rangers, knew it was imperative he appointed the right man to succeed the French flop.
Rangers could have looked for new blood and chosen a rising talent in British management. But instead they turned to an old flame, and silver-haired Smith came dashing across the city on January 10, dumping the SFA, by letter no less, and embracing the club for who his affection never faltered.
The emotional reunion was one thing, and the 5-0 win against Dundee United in his first match suggested good times ahead.
But going back in football is a risky business, as Howard Kendall discovered at Everton, and as Kevin Keegan may still learn following his Newcastle return.
Smith set out to disprove the popular theory and now stands on the brink of his greatest triumph in football.
He may often be dour of demeanour, but that front masks a burning passion for management.
He helped Rangers complete their nine-in-a-row dominance of the Scottish league before moving to Everton in 1998.
Less than four years later and Smith’s Goodison days were over, and for a while his career as a top-flight manager seemed finished.
It was in Manchester Smith took the first steps towards rebuilding his career, taking on the role of Sir Alex Ferguson’s number two during the 2003-04 season.
The pair had worked together when Ferguson managed Scotland at the 1986 World Cup, following Jock Stein’s death.
Later that year the Scottish FA head-hunted Smith to succeed Berti Vogts, the German whose spell in charge of Scotland the Tartan Army will never forget, for all the wrong reasons.
Smith improved the national team and had achieved a famous win against France at Hampden in late 2006 to raise hopes of Euro 2008 qualification.
But while Scotland under Smith had taken a leap forward, Rangers were imploding under Le Guen, with on-pitch results as wretched as the dressing-room spirit.
Smith could easily have snubbed approaches from other clubs, but not Rangers.
“This club has always been in my blood and I can’t wait to get started,” he said.
The resounding first victory against Dundee United kick-started a run of encouraging results which allowed Rangers to cut Celtic’s lead in the Scottish Premier League, which by the time of Smith’s arrival was so vast, 17 points, Rangers were simply playing for second place.
A spending spree had begun in January and extended into the summer, as Smith cleared out many Le Guen signings and brought in his own men, including Scots Lee McCulloch, Kirk Broadfoot, Kevin Thomson, Steven Whittaker, Steven Naismith and David Weir.
A little-known Spanish defender, Carlos Cuellar, also joined from Osasuna. He and veteran Weir have gone on to establish one of the strongest central defensive partnerships Rangers have known.
Given that Smith turned 60 in February, he could quite reasonably retire this summer, and the temptation to bow out on the high of a European trophy would be hard for most to resist.
But just as his friend Ferguson decided against going when Manchester United lifted the Champions League trophy in 1999, in sensational fashion against Bayern Munich, so Smith will not be quitting while he remains ambitious.
Assistant McCoist will surely eventually get his chance, but not yet.
“I keep reading it will happen,” Smith said.
“But when I came back to Rangers from the national team job I signed a contract for three-and-a-half years and my intention is to see that out.
“That’s just the way it is. For any manager it’s always good when your team has a level of success. We have had it this season and we are now at a stage where we can turn it into something a little more tangible.”
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