Rangers boardroom turmoil must end, says Walter Smith

Former manager Walter Smith insists Rangers need to get back to a situation where the team is the priority.

The 65-year-old, who stepped down as chairman in August, said there is "an obvious suspicion" that is not presently the case at the club.

Smith believes the Ibrox club has to "get rid of the boardroom turmoil" and "settle down" if Rangers are to look forward and find a "normal path".

He was also surprised by the loss of £14m in the club's recent accounts.

"I knew they would make a loss but I wasn't quite sure just exactly what it would be so that was quite a surprise when it came out to be such a large figure," said Smith, who won 21 trophies during his two spells as Rangers manager.

"It used to be that the wages of the footballing side was the major problem in clubs' finances, but that's been cut down fairly dramatically from when I was there."

A group of shareholders are trying to force changes on the Rangers board at the upcoming AGM, with the increasingly bitter feud reaching the Court of Session.

When stepping down from his short-lived spell as chairman, Smith referred to a "highly-dysfunctional environment" at board level.

He also voiced support for those hoping to join the board, although he stated that chief executive Craig Mather was doing a good job and wished he would be able to continue.

"Like everybody else, you just get frustrated that nothing seems to be settling down at the club," explained Smith.

"They still have a fair amount of turmoil in the background.

"I don't think that the club can really look forward until that's erased.

"There's the obvious suspicion that the club isn't the main reason why people are running the club at the present moment.

"After the AGM, if we get back to the fact that Rangers are a football club and it should be run for the football club and for the football team, I think that that would be a massive step."

Smith, who had current Ibrox boss Ally McCoist as assistant between 2007 and 2011, insists establishing confidence in the board is vital for the club, who are top of Scottish League One having won all their league matches so far.

"I don't think there's a great deal of turmoil in the current board," he added. "There's turmoil being created because a lot of people want to see a change on that board.

"That, I think, is the main crux of the problem at the present moment. The football aspect of Rangers is going as you'd expect it to go for a big club down in the lower divisions.

"They're back on track, they're playing some good football but we still have this problem surrounding the board. I don't think the club can get back to being a settled club until that is eventually settled.

"If you're looking at the job that the manager's doing at the present moment, who could complain about that?"