WALTER Smith and Peter Lawwell didn't agree on everything during the former's second stint as Rangers manager.

Indeed, at times it seemed like they didn't agree on anything. But when it comes to the furore over the so-called 'Gang of Ten' and moves to redraw the 11-1 voting requirement in the SPL, the two men on either side of the Old Firm divide understand each other perfectly. Smith, who has emerged as a figurehead for the Rangers Fans Fighting Fund since the club entered administration on February 14, last night criticised the opportunism of the other 10 SPL chairmen and said their moves would only result in a levelling down of the Scottish game which would inhibit the Old Firm's chances of success in the European arena.

"It is tough enough for Rangers and Celtic in the European environment just now," said Smith. "It is tough enough to keep Scotland up there. The people who are involved at this moment have seen an opportunity to obviously get more finance from their own point of view but if that happened, without a shadow of a doubt, it would impact on Rangers and Celtic.

"Because – make no mistake – they are the ones that have to carry that burden," he added. "And that burden is helped by extra TV money. Take that away and we are not going to have it in Scotland. The other clubs are not bothering about anything other than getting extra money.

"The manner in which they have done it is entirely wrong. If they had faced up to Rangers when they were stronger, and Celtic, you would have had more admiration for them. But what they have done is wait until one of them is in a weakened position and tried to take advantage. That sums up what the rest of them are like."

Having been assistant manager at Dundee United when the Tannadice side reached the European Cup semi-finals back in 1984, Smith has seen both sides of the Scottish game, but he feels the march of the Old Firm – and the other big clubs in Europe – is inexorable and the clock cannot be turned back.

Smith said: "If you spread the Rangers and Celtic money amongst everyone, all you would get is a spread. What the other clubs would be seeing is that they will be bringing Rangers and Celtic down towards them, and that will still not mean you have got a totally competitive environment in Scotland. Rangers and Celtic will still win the league which is natural, but it will inhibit their European opportunities."

Despite the consequences, league reconstruction may still be the least of Rangers' worries this summer. The withdrawal of Brian Kennedy from the race to take over the running of the club, the apparent refusal of Craig Whyte to deal with Paul Murray and the Blue Knights' bid and the confirmation that the preference for the Prometheus/Club 9 Sports bid is for the club to go into liquidation, sees no shortage of question marks over the future of the club.

Any new owner will make up their own mind about the competencies of manager Ally McCoist, but Smith feels his former assistant has more than earned a second season, even if he does feel the odd pang of guilt for unwittingly leaving him and his staff in such desperate circumstances.

Smith said. "They had talked me into staying the year before, when it would probably have been better for them to take over in those circumstances. I had arranged with David Murray that when he did sell the club I would leave. I had made the decision the previous November, so we had no idea then who was going to take over. But I do feel guilty that I left at that particular time, although none of us knew what was going to unfold."

McCoist's role in the last few weeks has been part football manager and part figurehead and Smith feels he has fulfilled both roles with credit. Not least because he has been doing it unpaid. "It is a delicate balance and he has done that very well," Smith said. "You can say the right things, but when things like last Sunday's game come up, you have to do well in it, and he did do well in it.

"No club goes into administration and sits and wins championships, it just doesn't happen. He has had to fly by the seat of his pants in terms of making decisions which affect everybody at the club. You've got to say the players deserve credit for taking the wage drop, as do the staff; Alistair is not taking any wages."

A bit of money from any new owners would also help, even if the timescales on any takeover already seem tight enough to make last summer's transfer market travails seem like a walk in the park. "None of us ever achieve without having good, solid backing," Smith said.

"He has not had that. If you go back to managers like John Greig, when the money had been spent building the stadium, or Alex McLeish, when Dick Advocaat's reign finished he had to get rid of a lot of players and cut back on a lot of wages, when those kind of circumstances hit it doesn't matter who you are, you feel the effects. Hopefully this time whoever takes over has a realisation that if there is going to be a level of success there has got to be a level of investment, without going back to what we had a few seasons ago. Then you would be able to make a judgment on Alistair's own managerial record."