Walter Smith warns off-field woes will worsen for Rangers

WALTER Smith may be happy with Rangers' short-term progress as they chase a domestic treble this season, but the Ibrox manager warned last night their off-field problems "will only get worse".

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After guiding Rangers to his fifth successive domestic cup final since rejoining the club for a second term in January 2007, Smith admitted that he feared for the future of the club both as manager and as a supporter.

Smith saw his side beat St Johnstone 2-0 at Hampden on Wednesday to reach the final of the Co-operative Insurance Cup, while they lead the SPL by ten points from Celtic, and travel to face St Mirren this weekend in the last 16 of the Active National Scottish Cup.

However Smith fears that securing the title, and the guaranteed Champions League place that comes with it, will not alleviate their financial issues.

The club are about 31million in debt and are seeking a new owner amid pressure from Lloyds Banking Group for the deficit to be repaid. And despite the recent good results on the pitch, Smith insisted: "It doesn't take away from the fact that we have a problem.

"I think you need to be blind to think we don't have a problem that for a team of our standing we should not have, and my concern is that that will continue.

"We are only left to do what we have to do on the pitch and try as hard as we can and we are doing that.

"Anyone that has seen us play would say that, for whatever faults we all have from myself all the way down through the players, they don't lack a desire to try as hard as they can to win the game and they are managing to do that.

"But everything will not be all right at the end of the season. It will only get worse."

The club sold midfielder Pedro Mendes to Sporting Lisbon at the weekend, but Smith was still unable to make his first permanent signing since August 2008 before the transfer window closed.

The former Scotland manager added: "We are delighted to be in the final, but anybody who thinks it is going to get better in the summer is deluding themselves.

"My concerns for Rangers for the long term – not even in the long term, for the end of the season – are genuine concerns as being a supporter as much as being a manager.

"So we don't have to expand on it, you can all have your own ideas about what the problem is."

Meanwhile, Andrew Little says Rangers are desperate to make amends for last year's Co-operative Insurance Cup final defeat to Celtic by lifting the trophy this time around.

The loss to Celtic is Smith's only defeat in a domestic cup tie since his return and Little has revealed how that disappointment still rankles almost 12 months on.

"We want to win every competition that we enter," said the 20-year-old forward. "It was disappointing last year, we didn't perform in the final and we don't like to lose anything, especially to Celtic. Hopefully we can keep doing what we are doing in the league and the cup competitions are a bonus."

Little's main concern at the moment is staying in the manager's plans long enough to play at part at Hampden, and he believes teenagers Danny Wilson and John Fleck are leading the way for the rest of the youngsters at Rangers.

"I'd love to be back here for the final and we'll just wait and see what happens," he said. "Danny and Flecky have shown the way and I want to follow what they have done and make a real impact on the team and not just make up the numbers."