Walter Smith signs off with title and a warning for Craig Whyte

Published on Sunday 15 May 2011 20:17

WALTER Smith celebrated with his players yesterday on the pitch at Rugby Park as he signed off from Rangers on a high.

But his comments afterwards reflected his belief that the work has to start now if the Ibrox club wish to build on his last, and perhaps, finest title triumph, with Rangers preparing to enter a new era.

His side were easy victors at Kilmarnock yesterday, and had wrapped up their 54th title by the seventh minute - by which time they were three goals up. Two more goals followed, with Kilmarnock managing just one in response to the irrepressible form showed by their opponents.

It is not only yesterday where this has been apparent. Rangers' surge to the title has seen them score 16 times since the split, while they dropped only two points since what many had considered the critical blow of a 3-2 home defeat to Dundee United.

Another 3-2 scoreline proved the defining moment, but it didn't involve Rangers. Celtic's defeat in Inverness meant Smith's side were given another chance, and his prediction has been proved correct. Rangers did need to garner 28 points from 30, with the only points dropped coming in a 0-0 home draw with Celtic. Even this result was interpreted as being of more worth to their opponents, although this was before it all went wrong again for Neil Lennon's side in Inverness.

"After we lost to United I did say we would need to win something like 28 points out of our last 30," said Smith. "But I felt it was a tall order and, at the time, I didn't really believe we would manage to do it.

"But we have done and the credit for that must go to every one of our players. They have knuckled down and played extremely well. The goal we lost at Kilmarnock was only the second goal we have lost since losing the game against United and that says a great deal about how well they have played."

However, Smith made the point that more than Rangers could have reasonably hoped for has now been squeezed from the squad. By achieving what Smith described as a "tall order" the players had exceeded even his expectations. He claims serious investment is now an imperative if Ally McCoist, his successor, is to have a chance of continuing the success.

"The key factor will be the level of investment that the team gets," he continued. "Obviously there will be a new manager and I think Ally will do a really good job for Rangers. but like every other manager - myself included - he'll need help to do that. The help he requires will be funding to bring in at least five players who have the capability of taking the burden off the players who have been here for three or four years."Smith believes they need "a Jelavic" in a number of positions prior to next season, when Celtic can be expected to redouble their efforts to stop Rangers extending this recent period of dominance. This might be another tall order, since Nikica Jelavic was one of Smith's extravagances in his second spell as manager at Ibrox. It required an outlay of 4 million to bring the Croatian striker to Ibrox and already there are reports that he could be a target for clubs in the English Premier League.

He was pinpointed by Smith as being crucial to his side's success this season, despite missing over three months of the campaign due to injury. "You see the difference Jelavic makes to the team when he's fit," he said. "Well, we need a Jelavic in quite a number of positions to try and keep us on the right track."

According to Smith, Craig Whyte, who only bought the club ten days ago, knows what is required, though he might blanche slightly at his exiting manager's parting words. Players of Jelavic's calibre do not come cheaply.

"The new owner is aware that the club needs quite a large level of investment into the team," said Smith. "He's also aware that if they don't get that they will not continue the success they've had. There is a new manager so hopefully he's able to bring in a level of player who will help him continue the success we've had. Historically if you look at Rangers over the last 20-odd years, every three or four years they have needed a fairly large investment in the team to boost them.

"When the team's not had that it's not been successful. The new owner is aware of that, he's had a good length of time over six months to sit and study the level of investment which is necessary. Sir David Murray needed to find the money every three to four years - and it's now needed again. The team needs a boost. I think he (Whyte] would be blind if he didn't realise that."

Smith snorted at the suggestion that rather than fill the team with Jelavics, Rangers might lose the one that they have got. Whyte's first fight could be to hold onto the Croat, who scored his 19th goal of the season yesterday. "I don't think Jelavic will leave this summer," he said. "I don't think it would be the brightest thing for the new owner to come in and sell one of our best players - especially when everyone is expecting him to come and spend money.

"Since Jelavic has come back we've been a different team attacking-wise. At the start of the season we were only just getting him bedded into the team. But since he has come back from injury we've had a better knowledge of how he plays and what he does. He's been great for us - he's been the focal point of everything we've been doing over the last few weeks and everybody can see that we have been far better as an attacking force."I just wish we could have had him all season. Jelavic gives us something different up front - a focal point that we've never really had before. Kris Boyd could score, Kenny Miller could run through defences and, in the later stages of his time at Rangers, he was scoring a lot of goals as well. But Jelavic gives us a mix of everything. He can run through, he can link up, he can score a goal and it has brought a different dimension to our team. Since he has regained his full match fitness you can see the difference it has had to Rangers as a team."

"More than anything else, it's been about Jelavic's influence on the team and his ability to make them link from middle to front. That has been the biggest factor. If we had had that over the season there is no doubt we would have been much better. Getting him back to his best has made the biggest difference to our team."