Sacrificing silverware is a price Smith would be glad to pay for breakaway

Published on Friday 16 October 2009 22:54

WALTER Smith admits sacrificing success and silverware is the price the Old Firm may have to pay in a bid to attract major investment and avoid being dragged into further decline by Scottish football.

The Rangers manager has spoken out this week on why he believes both the Ibrox club and Celtic must quit the Clydesdale Bank Premier League, and why forming a European league with other big clubs in small countries is the most realistic option. According to Smith, the clubs they leave behind in the SPL would also benefit, with the Scottish champions given the opportunity to challenge the less successful of the two Old Firm clubs for their place in the new league.

With the likes of Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven and Anderlecht providing the competition, Rangers and Celtic would be less likely to be challenging for honours every year and would find themselves having to adapt to a situation where they may not be winning games every week.

Such a scenario would not be a problem for Smith, who said: "You've got to handle that situation. You make your choice. I don't see any problem with that. You would need to ask the supporters how they would feel about that. From my own point of view, that's the point of going into another league. You're not going to gain an increased level of finance without overcoming what would be looked upon as problems.

"Rangers and Celtic win on a regular basis in Scotland, as do other bigger clubs in small countries. It's something we'd all have to adjust to. Managers' jobs is to win games regardless of where they are anyway. The thing that matters is that we start to raise the profile of our country's football."

While Rangers are open to a European league, Celtic would prefer a move to the Barclays Premier League, but Smith believes such a plan is a non-starter. "I don't see Rangers and Celtic being welcomed in England," he said.

"They have big clubs down there. I think they would more or less be prepared to block that aspect of it.

"Personally, I think a European league is a more viable option for us."

However, the football authorities are less keen. Uefa have said they would not approve of the formation of a cross-border league, and the Dutch FA have also distanced themselves from an Atlantic league proposal.

KNVB director Henk Kessler said Dutch football association president Michael van Praag – described in reports this week as the driving force behind an Atlantic league proposal – had written to the Scottish Football Association to assure them he had "no intention" of raising the issue at Uefa.

Kessler said: "This is not a topic at the moment within the Dutch FA. There are some movements about cross-border competitions. But we are not aiming at such a competition."