GERRARD NEEDS NEW BLUEPRINT

No big personalities like Greig or Cooper at

SHORTLY after Gordon Smith was transferred from Kilmarnock to Rangers for a £65,000 fee back in 1977 his new manager Jock Wallace took him aside and laid out exactly what was required to be a success at Ibrox – ability and character.

It is fair to say the attacking midfielder wasn’t short of either quality; he scored 27 goals in his debut season as the Glasgow club completed their second domestic treble in the space of three years.

Yet, Smith appreciates he was helped greatly in that memorable campaign by having outstanding individuals, the likes of Davie Cooper, John Greig, Sandy Jardine, Derek Johnstone, Alex MacDonald, Tommy McLean and Bobby Russell, who flourished when the pressure was on around him in that allconquering side.

“I actually loved the demands there were on you,” he said. “I enjoyed playing at Kilmarnock, but getting the opportunity to go somewhere that you could win things was great.

“I adjusted quickly to it. But I was playing alongside guys who had been through the mill. I was fortunate to sign for Rangers at a time when most of the team had been successful.”

Smith can’t see the same sort of big personalities and proven winners in Steven Gerrard’s team at the moment - and believes that is a large part of the reason why they are poised to finish another campaign without any silverware to show for their efforts.

“Look at this Rangers team,” he said. “How many of them have been successful at Ibrox? Steven Davis and Allan McGregor. That is it. They are the two.”

Smith, who went on to play for Brighton, Manchester

City and Oldham in England as well as Admira Wacker in Austria and Basel in Switzerland, feels Gerrard and his new sporting director Ross Wilson must strengthen this summer with players who have competed at a high level and can cope with the intense demands on them for success.

The former Ibrox director of football suspects their failure to reproduce their European performances on a consistent basis in Scotland is down to their mentality and an inability to cope with having to win every match they play in regardless of the opposition.

“They don’t feel the pressure in Europe so much because they aren’t expected to do well,” he said. “There is something psychological about it.

“For Ryan Kent to actually say last week that this

Rangers team prefer being underdogs shows you that he isn’t grasping what is required. They probably do like being underdogs. A lot of them are maybe coping better with being underdogs.

“But when the expectation is there, when they are expected to win against Hearts away in a cup tie, when they are expected to win the league games, they have been found wanting. That is where character comes in. Some of them can’t handle the fact that

they are expected to win. That is a different scenario from being an underdog.”

Smith continued: “The Braga performance demonstrates that it is there. Their ability shows through against quality opposition in Europe. But has Gerrard got the players who can handle playing for Rangers? Do they have the character? That has to be proved.

“That is the thing he will be looking at mostly at the moment – why these players can be successful in a certain environment and show they are capable players, but can’t handle the domestic scene. He has to determine which ones have the character to do that and get them performing on a week to week basis.

“He also has to look at players who can come in and handle it. He needs to have people who have played at a high level and can do it, show they have the kind of character required.

“They have to look at more than the ability of the player. They have to determine in advance who can handle the pressure that is going to come with being a Rangers player.”

Kent, who was signed from Liverpool for a £7m fee in September, typifies the problems Gerrard is wrestling with just now.

The winger netted an outstanding goal in the 1-0 win over Braga in Portugal last Wednesday night that clinched a Europa League last 16 spot. But he, along with every one of his team mates, disappointed in the 1-0 loss to Hearts in the William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final at Tynecastle on Saturday.

Smith believes the 23-yearold, who had spent loan spells at Coventry, Barnsley,

Freiburg, Bristol and

Rangers in the four years before moving to Ibrox permanently this summer, needs time to settle and could come good in time as he gains invaluable experience.

“I know Steven Gerrard tried to dismiss the criticism of him after that Braga game,” he said. “But I don’t think there’s any doubt about it.

You are looking for a more consistent performance from him because you can see the ability.

“The other aspect is the price tag. He should automatically be a star at

£7m. His contribution should not be getting questioned. But he hadn’t really done a lot in his career before he came to Rangers. He is a young player. They have paid a lot of money for his potential, not for anything he has actually done.”