Rangers boss will work without contract

Walter Smith has agreed to work without a contract when his current deal ends next month, Rangers chief executive Martin Bain has confirmed at the club's AGM.

Smith is reportedly the Scottish FA's top target along with Craig Levein in their hunt for a national team coach, despite ruling himself out of a return to the role he vacated in January 2007 to begin a second stint as Rangers boss.

But confirmation of his willingness to work without a contract will be a blow to SFA board members, who thought they could take advantage of the uncertainty surrounding his future.

Smith, 61, led Rangers to the Clydesdale Bank Premier League title in May and has also won three cup competitions and reached the UEFA Cup final in his two full seasons since returning to Ibrox.

Meanwhile, chairman Alastair Johnston received generous applause from shareholders when he ruled out the re-naming of Ibrox Stadium.

Rangers are £31million in debt but Johnston insisted they would not follow the likes of Newcastle by selling the naming rights for the club's home.

He said: 'One thing we will not be putting in this business plan, or in future business plans, there is no plan to sell the naming rights to this stadium. Ibrox is non-negotiable.'

Florida-based businessman Graham Duffy recently outlined his plans for a possible takeover of the Ibrox club.

That included the possibility of Rangers supporters investing and becoming involved in the running of the club.

However, Johnston warned against such a plan, saying: 'I had a meeting several weeks ago with the senior officers of the Rangers Assembly and I told them that I was not in any way alien to the concept of a Rangers' supporters' sanctioned group participating in ownership of the club and that the board would entertain proposals from legitimate and credible parties representing such interests.

'The Rangers board and I, as chairman, are less concerned with the price of the club and much more concerned about the ability of the new owners to continue to finance the ambition of the club on an ongoing basis.

'An ownership change with a commitment by a stable owner to a source of reliable and regular source of unencumbered cash is vital to the club moving from the surviving to a thriving mode.

'Rangers supporters are the lifeblood of the club, they dig deep and finance the club. This commitment is hugely important to the club. I am therefore very sceptical about any scenario which relies on these same stalwarts to allocate more of their limited resources by writing a cheque each year to fund our ambitions.

'There has been much talk about the Barcelona members' model but we must keep in mind that in Spain and in Germany there is a significant underpinning of media rights to fund club operations.
This is luxury that cannot be exported to Scotland.'