Rangers carry financial strain into must-win European tie

While the manager sought to focus on the professional pride involved in trying to lead Rangers into the lucrative phase of European football's elite club competition, his chairman Sir David Murray ensured the pressure will be at its most intense for Smith and his players in tonight's second qualifying round, first leg assignment against Montenegrin champions Zeta Golubovci at Ibrox.

Rangers' annual audited results for the 12 months up to 30 June this year show that their net debt has risen by more than 10million to stand at 16.5million. That figure had been reduced to 5.9 million in 2006, thanks to Rangers' successful Champions League campaign which saw them become the first Scottish club to reach the last 16 of the tournament.

Last season, however, they had to content themselves with UEFA Cup football from which their run to the last 16, where they were eliminated by Osasuna, earned them just over 300,000 in prize money. Celtic, by contrast, collected 10.6million in prize money alone from reaching the same stage of the Champions League last season, a figure maximised as they were the only Scottish club involved in the group phase.

Rangers saw advertising and sponsorship income fall by 8.2million to 3.1million from the previous year and suffered an operating loss of 5.1million compared to an operating profit of 4.4million in 2006.

"Our performance in the UEFA Cup, whilst credible, was disappointing financially compared to the previous year's achievement of reaching the last 16 of the Champions League and underlines the importance of participation in that competition," said Murray.

The timing of the club accounts being released is hardly ideal for Smith, although he was well aware in any case of how crucial it is to grab a slice of the Champions League bounty this season if Rangers are to close the financial gap on Celtic who make their entrance to the tournament in the third qualifying round.

Earlier in the day, at his pre-match media conference, he had made his own reference to the fiscal significance of negotiating a path to the group stage.

"It's the same for all clubs involved in the qualifying rounds," said Smith. "You see the difference it makes to Celtic's accounts in comparison to Rangers in the past few years. That, effectively, is the difference. That, if anything, is what brings the pressure to it.

"From the footballing side of things, you can't afford to get involved in that. We just have to concentrate on the games and wanting to get there for football reasons." Then, with tongue firmly in cheek, he added: "I tried telling that to the chairman the other day."

With clubs who lose in the second qualifying round not even given the scant compensation of dropping into the UEFA Cup, a sop available only to those defeated in the third qualifying round, the scrutiny on Smith and Rangers will be at its most intense tonight and in the second leg against Zeta in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica next week.

"It's not the game itself which brings the pressure, it's the fact it comes so early in the season," said Smith. "There is a necessity to win the game and the pressure is there.

"The Champions League, for clubs from smaller countries, gives them the benefit of achieving something in a financial sense which is always on everyone's mind. From a purely footballing point of view, never mind the financial aspects of it, you want to be involved at the top level. It is where you want to be, playing against the better teams. It gives everyone in the place a lift to be involved in that level of football."

The level of progress in Europe will also determine how much more money is available to Smith to further strengthen his squad. He declined to comment on reported moves for French striker Daniel Cousin and Hibs full-back Steven Whittaker yesterday, insisting he was thinking only of the tie against Zeta who arrived in Glasgow last night.

They were surprise first qualifying round winners, defeating Lithuanian champions Kaunas 5-4 on aggregate, and the club from the former Yugoslavia have already earned Smith's respect.

"They look like quite a tidy football team," he said. "In the two games against Kaunas, they tried to play a passing game. They came through difficult spells in the tie and were not really affected by them. Even when they found themselves 3-0 down after 17 minutes of the second leg, they showed that not a lot bothers them mentally.

"We will have to play well against them and I don't think they are going to have any fear of playing here. We are looking to win the game at Ibrox, but you don't go into a game looking to score a specific amount of goals. We just want to give ourselves a good opportunity to qualify for the next round.

"We have to try and get a good start on all fronts this season. We can't afford to stutter along in one competition and do well in another. We have to put up a better challenge in the league championship, we know that, and we want to be competing in the Champions League.

"The squad have been doing well in terms of how they have applied themselves right from the start of pre-season. We have a decent group of players now and it's down to me to pick the right 11. We have been getting towards a first choice 11 in the friendlies against Ajax and Chelsea, which was an intentional thing, but there will always be room for change if I feel it's the right thing for a certain type of game.

"You have to get a resilience into a team, especially at a club with an expectancy level like Rangers, and they are showing that now. We still have improvements to make football wise, but that will come in time."

Rangers probable team: McGregor, Hutton, Cuellar, Weir, Papac; McCulloch, Hemdani, Ferguson, Adam; Boyd, Darcheville.

WHY QUALIFYING IS ESSENTIAL

THE difference between playing in the Champions League compared to the UEFA Cup can be as much as 10million.

That was the discrepancy in prizemoney between the Old Firm last season when Celtic reached the last 16 of Europe's elite competition and Rangers had to settle for the same stage of the second tier tournament.

In reaching the knockout phase of the Champions League for the first time, Celtic earned 10.6m. In contrast, Rangers received just over 300,000, for making it to the round of 16 in the UEFA Cup.

The figures, revealed by The Scotsman earlier this month, lay bare the importance of negotiating the qualifying rounds in the Champions League. While Rangers begin their bid tonight, Celtic do not enter until the third and final qualifying round next month.