WALTER Smith today lauded his managerial protégé Steven Gerrard for leading Rangers to their first Scottish title in 10 years - and predicted that returning to the Champions League will enable the Ibrox club to break even after years of financial hardship.
Smith was delighted when Rangers were crowned champions for the first time since 2011, when his second trophy-laden stint in charge of his boyhood heroes ended, yesterday when Celtic were held to a 0-0 draw by Dundee United at Tannadice.
Liverpool and England great Gerrard has been grateful for the help and advice he has received from the Scot since being appointed nearly three years ago and considers the Nine-In-A-Row-winning coach to be a mentor.
The 73-year-old feels the current directors deserve enormous credit for bankrolling the Rangers revival in the past six years and is hopeful the money they receive from winning the Premiership will help them to operate within their means in future.
Rangers, who play Slavia Prague in the last 16 of the Europa League in the Czech Republic of Thursday night, will go into third qualifying round of the Champions League in the 2021/22 campaign as a result of their title triumph.
Speaking to The Essential Scottish Football Podcast, Smith said: “It has been a long wait for every Rangers supporter. It is one of those things that when you do achieve it is always really nice. The circumstances are ones that it has been a very strange time for the club over the last 10 years or so.
“This is us just getting back to what every Rangers supporter would consider to be a little bit of normality. I mean everybody goes on about Celtic getting 10-In-A-Row or preventing Celtic getting 10-In-A-Row, but the most important thing for Rangers was to win a championship again.
“The whole aspect of winning a championship now is the financial gain that it gives the club and Rangers badly needed the financial input.
"The directors at Rangers, the current directors, have done a fantastic job getting the club back up to a level. But they need help and they are getting help on the pitch now.
"While not being an accountant in any way, the financial aspects of the club are fairly straightforward. If you get to the Champions League the club makes money and Rangers are badly in need of that success on the field and Steven Gerrard has brought that to them.”
You can listen to the full Walter Smith interview here: https://essentialpodcasts.co.uk/
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