HOPE FOR AN ICON
Gerrard sends best wishes to his Rangers mentor Smith
STEVEN GERRARD has sent his best wishes to Walter Smith as the Rangers icon remains in hospital.
The legendary Ibrox boss was admitted for an operation last Monday. The winner of 21 trophies — including ten league titles — across two spells as manager, Smith is idolised by supporters and remains the last man to take Rangers to a European final.
Speaking as his side seek to secure a place in the last eight of the Europa League at Ibrox tonight, Gerrard admits Smith has served as a valued mentor since his own appointment as manager three years ago.
And, after extending a message of support to the Smith family, the Rangers boss said: ‘Walter is a fantastic man and he’s gone out of his way to be a help and a support to all of us. We’re very thankful of that and everyone is thinking about him right now. We all keep our
fingers crossed for him to make a speedy recovery. ‘When you come into a club of this size there are certain people that you obviously need to speak to, to improve your own education of the club but also to bounce certain things off. ‘I’ve had many a private conversation with Walter in my office, and also at Ibrox. ‘He’s also been around my staff from time to time. ‘Just to be around someone of that aura and presence, given the success he’s had and the experience he’s got, is gold dust for myself and my staff. ‘I was only on a Zoom call with him days before he went into hospital. Everyone is right behind Walter and wishing him well and hopefully he is out of hospital before too long. ‘He still plays a massive part at
this club, he is an iconic figure and he is someone who I have got a close relationship with.’ Rangers placed a foot in the quarter-finals of the Europa League with a 1-1 draw away from home against Slavia Prague last week. Leicester City also drew with Slavia in the Czech capital before losing 2-0 at the King Power Stadium and Gerrard insists his team have to avoid the nightmare start they made to the first leg. ‘I want us to really come out of the blocks quicker,’ said the Rangers manager. ‘I want us to really show we can play both sides of the game. I want Slavia to really feel us. I want us to be aggressive but at the same time show we’re a good team, with good players, international players who can handle the ball at this level, because we didn’t do that for the first 20 to 30 minutes. ‘Once we started to show we could handle the ball for longer periods we got some better periods of success. ‘It will be interesting if we can find our level on both sides and that will give us a better chance.’ Ryan Jack is an injury doubt for Sunday’s clash with Celtic after Gerrard ruled the Scotland midfielder out of tonight’s game. Named in Steve Clarke’s squad for the World Cup qualifiers with Austria, Israel and Faroe Islands, Gerrard said: ‘I had a chat with Steve Clarke and obviously that will remain private. We’ve been in touch over Ryan and a few other players for some time now but I’m not going to divulge what gets said in the conversation. I don’t think that’s fair or respectful. ‘Ryan won’t be involved tomorrow night, that’s all you guys need to know right now. We will make a decision on the weekend when we need to but he is ruled out for tomorrow’s game.’