Smith keen to stay on at champions Rangers

Walter Smith says he expects to be in the Rangers hotseat next season unless Chairman David Murray sacks him after he clinched his club’s first Scottish Premier League championship in four years with a 3-0 final day win over Dundee United.

Speculation has been rife that Smith, who returned for his second spell as manager of the Ibrox club in January 2007, would walk away at the end of the season regardless of the outcome of the battle for the title.

Goal-scoring legend Ally McCoist is his right-hand man at Ibrox and is widely tipped to take over when Smith decides to step down.

But the 61-year-old manager says he has no plans for retirement yet and is already plotting next season’s assault on the Champions League after the title win guaranteed them a place in the group stages.

“I will be chatting to the chairman about the whole situation and [I’ll be here] unless he sacks me,” Smith said.

“Whether the subject of my tenure comes up or not that’s not for me to say but a lot of managers have won league championships and been binned.”

Rangers’ finances have been in the spotlight this season with the Ibrox club trying to offload players, such as top-scorer Kris Boyd, in the January transfer window to service the debt.

And Smith says the guaranteed income from the Champions League will now alleviate some of the pressure on the club.

“The aim was to win the championship this year because the qualifying games for the Champions League next year are going to be really tough games to go in to,” Smith said.

“At the end of the day we have qualified and that’s all we wanted to do. We have a financial situation at the club which made it important for us to win this championship.

“It was a big thing for Rangers this year. We were always aware of the financial situation and this was a benefit to everyone.

“I’m pleased for the team that aspect of it has maybe helped to alleviate a little bit of the pressure.”

Smiths comments were backed by Chief Executive Martin Bain, who acknowledged the championship win was an important one for the cash-strapped club.

“It makes a big difference. The stakes were high (on Sunday) and fortunately we have come through.”

Rangers can now claim a league and cup double with a Scottish Cup Final appearance against Falkirk next weekend.

Captain David Weir is now looking to write his name into the club’s history books by picking up the famous old trophy at Hampden on Saturday.

And the 39-year-old, who claimed his first league championship medal in the win at Tannadice, says he wants to continue his playing career with the club next season.

“It’s a remarkable achievement to win the league but if we go on to win the double it will mark us down as a special team,” Weir said.

“The cup final is coming round quick and is another big game for us. That will be the focus for us.

“It’s not about me. I want play on and it’s just a matter of speaking to whoever wants to speak to me.”

Former captain Barry Ferguson joined Weir in lifting the championship trophy aloft at Tannadice after he made an appearance off the bench but the 31-year-old’s future at the club is uncertain.

The midfielder’s Ibrox career looked over when he was stripped of the captaincy and suspended without pay for two weeks after an early early-morning drinking session while with the national team.

Although heavily linked with a move away from Rangers in the summer, when asked if he wanted to stay Ferguson said: “Of course. Rangers is my team. I’m just going to go and enjoy the night.”