? 'We have two games to win the title,' says retiring manager
? 'My last game is not as important as winning the league'
Walter Smith wants Rangers' focus on Tuesday night to be firmly set on beating Dundee United and not the manager's last match in charge at Ibrox.
Smith's second spell as the Rangers manager will end after Sunday's game at Kilmarnock. Wins in their next two matches will give Rangers a third title in succession, which is more meaningful to Smith than any Ibrox farewell.
"Yes, it's my last game at Ibrox but that's not as important as the team going to win the league," Smith said. "In fact I don't think it's very important at all. For me it will be important but I don't think it's important to anybody else."
The manager admitted that a part of him would be sentimental. "I still consider it a big thing to be the manger of Rangers," he said. "You still get that buzz when you are standing in the dug-out watching the game. I'll miss that more than anything else. You experience the highs and lows of a match, so there is no doubt I will miss that part of it."
Smith refused to respond to statements made by Neil Lennon on Sunday, when the Celtic manager questioned the competition given to Rangers by opposing Scottish Premier League teams. "I've got no comment to make about that. So far," Smith said.
"Our concentration ? as I have said, whether it's the new owner or comments by anybody, that's in the background just now ? is on football and making sure we don't have any distractions over the next few days."
A troublesome off-field situation was resolved on Friday when Craig Whyte bought out David Murray's majority stake in Rangers.
Smith would not even consider where winning this season's championship, if it happens, would rank in his management career. "That is for other people to decide, not me," he said. "As a manager, if you are lucky enough to win one, then you are all right. I've been lucky enough to win quite a few, so I'll let everybody else speculate on which one was better than others. I've enjoyed them all so far, and hopefully, if my team wins its next couple of games, then we'll enjoy another one.
"We've had to overcome injuries, suspensions, players moving from one position to another, but they have handled all that very well. We have two games to go now to get a league championship but for the amount they have put in ? and obviously I'm biased ? they deserve a level of success."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/09/walter-smith-rangers-scottish-title
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