Graeme Murty: Walter Smith gives me '˜brilliant advice'

Rangers interim manager Graeme Murty has been taking advice from Walter Smith. Picture: Craig Foy/SNS

When Graeme Murty earned two of his four Scotland caps under Walter Smith's management, he admits he wasn't fully appreciative of the tactical instruction being dispensed.

“He played me at wing-back, which was a position I always hated,” recalls Murty of his role in Scotland’s Kirin Cup success back in 2006 when he played in the 5-1 win over Bulgaria and 0-0 draw with hosts Japan which secured a rare piece of silverware for the national team.

“I just ran for as long as I was on the pitch and never saw the ball,” adds Murty with a grin. “Walter seemed to think I could keep on doing that. I thanked him for the faith in me, but not the position he played me in!”

Now as an increasingly impressive interim manager of Rangers, Murty has revealed he is more than eager to soak up as much information and advice as he can from former Ibrox boss Smith who is a regular visitor to the club’s training ground.

Since starting his second caretaker stint following Pedro Caixinha’s sacking in October, Murty has been operating with a pared-down backroom staff of first-team coach Jonatan Johansson, head of performance Craig Flannigan and his academy assistant David McCallum.