Football: Foreign policy troubles Smith

THE MONDAY INTERVIEW; The Rangers manager tells Ian Stafford about the dearth of Scottish talent - and about life with Paul Gascoigne

On the face of it, Walter Smith has much to smile about. The Rangers manager celebrated his 11th anniversary at the club last week, and once again his team are finishing the season as the best in Scotland.

The talk all year in Glasgow has been of achieving the milestone of nine successive league championships, significant because it equals Celtic's run of nine titles obtained during the halcyon days of Jock Stein. Rangers are clearly the dominant club side in Scotland, and have been ever since they turned their own crisis corner under first Graeme Souness and, since 1991, Walter Smith, when he was promoted from assistant manager.

Yet, as he sits in his office, surrounded by wooden panelling and an air of tradition and grandeur, the 49-year-old is only too aware of the problems that face both his club and the game in Scotland. For, while Rangers remain the pike in the Scottish pond, he knows that they are still minnows in the European sea, a situation which will be solved only by hammering another nail into his own country's coffin.

"Don't get me wrong, it's a tremendous achievement to win nine titles in a row," he insists. "I'm the first to accept that the level is not as high in Scottish league football as it is elsewhere, but if it was that easy then why haven't other clubs in similarly small countries repeated our success?

"Having said that, though, it's a bigger achievement for Manchester United to be going for their fourth title in five years in a league such as the English Premiership. What has been satisfying is not only that we've been able to maintain such a level of success, but that we've been forced to do it keeping the same side together when, in a perfect world, we would have changed the personnel."

The players who are over 30 - like Goram, McCall and McCoist - were the potential victims, but, in this sense, the short-lived three-foreigner rule introduced by Uefa hit Rangers a great deal harder than most clubs. "We couldn't replace our elder players with foreigners, because of the rule, and there weren't any Scottish players good enough to take over from them. Next season will be the first when we're really free from the three foreigner rule because, although it's been removed this season, there's still been existing contracts to see through. It's only from next season that we'll be able to compete on a higher level in Europe and on a more consistent basis."

Europe has been Smith's one major blot over the years. He does not need to be reminded of his record in the European Champions' League, and he is the first to accept that a club as big and as recognised worldwide as Rangers should have fared a great deal better than they have.

"One can argue that it's reasonable to have qualified three times out of six for the Champions' League itself from the qualifying stages," he begins, before then admitting the reality of their record. "But it's also fair to say that we've been crap. Our record hasn't been anywhere near good enough and it's been a major disappointment for me, I can tell you. I only hope, now that we have a bigger choice of players to choose from abroad, that we will finally be able to compete."

But why does Smith have to look to foreign shores? Where has the home- grown talent disappeared to? "It's quite simple," he replies. "For too long we've neglected the growth of football in our children. The system we have is inadequate, and has been for at least 15 years, and we're now paying for it. All kids used to do in the west of Scotland was play football. They had nothing else to do with themselves. This has changed, and in many ways it's good, but we've failed to expose the children of the 1980s and 1990s to football. A few inroads have started, but they're too slow and, even if they do reap some benefit, it will be at least 10 years before we see any results. We just don't have the level of player in Scotland required to compete for Rangers in Europe, and this filters all the way from the top downwards."

Strong words from a proud Scot, and a situation Smith, as the manager of a great Scottish club, is sorry to reflect upon. And as Rangers, each year, fail to make significant progress in Europe, so the pressure mounts at Ibrox.

"The last thing we want to do is lose our identity as a Scottish team," Smith continues. "Given the choice, I'd much rather sign up Scottish players. But tell me where they are. If I stick to just home-grown talent, for the good of Scottish football, we probably wouldn't even win domestic honours, let alone get anywhere in Europe.

"I find myself in a Catch 22 situation. We spend pounds 500,000 a year here on a pre-apprentice youth development policy, so we don't exactly ignore the problem, but we're not finding the talent. It's not even as if we're holding back Scottish talent by fielding foreigners instead. Show me one young Scottish talent that Rangers have missed out on. I can assure you that it's nobody's choice to have the vast majority of your team coming from outside Scotland, but the pressures on the club to succeed are forcing us down this road."

Other, small footballing nations, with clubs far inferior in terms of set-up and tradition than Rangers, have nevertheless enjoyed European success. Smith takes this on board. "You're right," he says. "Look at how clubs like Rosenborg and Gothenburg have done in Europe recently, all with home-produced players. It's because countries such as Norway and Sweden have placed great emphasis on youth development. They've realised that by putting in a great deal at the start, they will ultimately get a great deal back in return.

"It's a criticism of Rangers and of me that clubs like Rosenborg have maintained a better standard of football in the Champions' League than we've managed to do. I'd be happier if we'd achieved what they have, let alone Milan, Ajax and Juventus. This will change, although it will mean more foreign signings."

Not good news, then, for the Scottish players currently in the Rangers team, nor indeed for Scottish football. But this has not been Smith's only concern. For while he has remained diplomatically quiet on the shenanigans of Paul Gascoigne, he has suffered enormously from the adverse off-the- field publicity the Englishman has generated.

Some of it he is prepared to dismiss. "There's been a lot of trivialities," he says. "Paul Gascoigne does this, Paul Gascoigne does that, Paul Gascoigne buys a boat, and the next thing is he's speeding on a loch somewhere. He'll always attract interest, and that's of no concern of mine."

You sense, just by his expression, that this statement is about to be qualified. "There are other incidents he's been involved in, though, which have been more unsavoury. I've never condoned him for them, and that's not how I would like to be perceived. Once you get to know him, he's different from the public perception."

In what way? "Well, it's easy for people to look at the daft lad image, but there's a deeper and darker side to him which I've tried to understand. His off-the-field incidents have undoubtedly damaged him, and damaged people's perception of him."

You sense there is a degree of sadness behind what Smith is saying and he more or less confirms this. "Look, the on-field part has been a pleasing aspect of him coming to Rangers, and he's been successful, to a reasonable degree. His relationship with the supporters has been good, too, but the other parts, away from the pitch, have made me seriously question my own decision to bring him here."

Each time Gascoigne has strayed - and the wife-beating allegations come immediately to mind here - Smith has clearly taken it personally. "I was the person responsible for bringing him here. His actions have tarnished the club's and my own image a great deal, and it's been a very unpleasant side for me to have to handle. For all his daftness, he could portray a far better image of himself than he does right now, and the dreadful pity of it all is that he, who possesses so much talent as a footballer, certainly far more than I ever had, may well be remembered for his off- the-field exploits."

Smith is honest enough to admit that he has often looked at himself in the mirror over the signing of Gascoigne from Lazio with some doubt. "Every time something happens with him I feel it myself," he says. "Believe me, there have been many times when I've sat down and thought I'd made a mistake. His off-pitch incidents can only happen so many times to one person, whether it's me, or his previous managers. When I signed him I was 100 per cent clear about my judgement, but the percentage drops by every incident that happens. And so does the level of backing at this club."

What, behind the manager, or behind the player? "No, behind Paul Gascoigne." It must have dropped a fair way after the wife-battering stories appeared, then? "Paul Gascoigne knows that Rangers Football Club were totally unhappy, from all levels at the club, at what happened there," he answers. "On a personal level, he is also fully aware of how I feel about it."

But isn't it like the prisoner who insists that, this time, he's going straight? Smith smiles, with a resigned look on his face. "He says he won't do it again ... but he does."

Problems indeed, then, for the manager of Rangers. He is delighted, of course, by this season's continued success but, as he escorts me to his door, he admits he has much work to do. In a sense, the second phase of Smith's management is only just beginning. You can be sure that foreign players will play a major part in the near future success or failures of the club, but whether this includes Paul Gascoigne must be in doubt.