Ferguson salutes Smith's Ibrox revival

THE congratulatory text Walter Smith sent to Sir Alex Ferguson immediately after Manchester United's Premier League championship triumph on Sunday will not be reciprocated in the event of the Rangers manager taking possession of the Uefa Cup tomorrow night.

Instead, the Old Trafford manager will be on the premises at the City of Manchester Stadium, ready with the bear hug he reserves for old friends for whom he has deep affection and admiration.

Smith would almost certainly have been at the JJB Stadium in Wigan two days ago for the same purpose, but was engaged in accepting his Manager of the Year award at the Scottish Football Writers Association's annual dinner with a gloriously humorous and, in the case of his emotional tribute to and heartfelt hope for the recovery of Tommy Burns, extremely poignant speech.

Ferguson and Smith go back a long way, their relationship forged more than three decades ago when they were members of an extraordinary group of future coaches and managers at the SFA's school at Largs. It is a measure of the Govan man's respect for Smith's capabilities that he tried unsuccessfully to take him to Aberdeen as his assistant and that he did recruit him for Scotland's World Cup finals campaign at Mexico 86 and, later for half a season at United.

He is quite immovable in his conviction that Smith is single-handedly responsible for the improbable resurgence at Ibrox that has taken the team from the dark days of Paul Le Guen's abortive tenure to their present pre-eminence, in contention for four major trophies at home and abroad.

"Walter has a good football brain, developed over the years by his experience in an exceptional coaching background," said Ferguson yesterday, still glowing at the memory of his astonishing tenth league championship.

"He had a great learning experience with Jim McLean at Dundee United, a club that was always very well run tactically.

"He was also at Largs for the courses at a fantastic time. It was a time that produced a stack of top coaches and Walter was up there with any of us. But getting the offer from Rangers to be Graeme Souness's assistant initially gave him the challenge to go on to higher things.

"At the time, I was in need of an assistant manager at Pittodrie and when I asked him to join me with Scotland after big Jock (Stein] died, I asked him about the chances of him coming to Aberdeen. But he'd already been sounded out by Rangers.

"That was a feather in his cap, because Graeme himself didn't know Walter at that time. It wasn't until the World Cup, a little later, that they got to know each other.

"But when Graeme was offered the Rangers job, the club knew that, because it was his first appointment as a manager, the choice of his assistant would be very important. They wanted somebody with experience and who was very knowledgable. When they made inquiries, Walter's name obviously kept coming up as a recommendation."

Ferguson is not surprised at the change Smith has effected in Rangers' fortunes over the past 17 months, providing an insight into the means by which he has achieved it.

"A very big part of management is to understand and work to the limitations and possibilities of your team and Walter has that. I know there has been criticism of the way Rangers have played so defensively in the European tournament. But that is part of his realistic assessment of his players' capabilities.

"Let me put it this way. What you're seeing from Rangers now is not necessarily what you'll be seeing a year or two from now. As his resources get better and he gets in other players, you'll see a re-shaping. That's how exceptional teams are developed, over a period of time.

"Walter also understands, in the way a lifelong supporter would, the demands and the ethos of Rangers Football Club, what it means to so many people and the need to respect the history of the club by continuing to win trophies. And he has been very clever in the way he has restored a proper Rangers identity at the club.

"You look at the guys he's surrounded himself with. There's Ally McCoist as his assistant, you look at matches and you see Ian Durrant sitting beside him in the stand. I think taking Kenny McDowall from Celtic was a declaration that he was back and that he meant business.

"On top of that, you see the number of Scottish players he has now. That's very significant. After what had gone before, with the foreign influence, it was an intelligent piece of work to make Rangers so identifiably Scottish once again.

"McCoist in particular was a brilliant choice. He is a very talented man in so many ways, and he is very, very serious about his coaching work. He has proper ambitions in that direction and he has the dedication that might surprise a lot of people who see him as a comic. He is funny and bright, but serious about football.

"He was another one I tried to sign for Aberdeen when I learned he was keen to get back to Scotland from Sunderland. But I couldn't get the money and Rangers moved in. Mind you, I had my chance years earlier, when I had Ally at St Mirren. He was only a kid and I let him go because I thought at the time that he was too wee. You won't be surprised to hear that he still tells people I'm the worst manager he ever had."