Well done Walter Smith. Rangers chairman David Murray has been laying into the Rangers bigots for a while now, but I can’t recall Smith ever expressing his disdain for the sectarian “bile” that refuses to dislodge itself from the club so bluntly as he did a couple of days ago. Having the Rangers manager and chairman join forces in this way might just be a watershed at Ibrox, in the same way the signing of high-profile Catholic players by Graeme Souness was 20 years ago.
They’ve still got a long way to go, though. The media likes to portray the Old Firm bigots as knuckle-draggers, almost a different species from their ordinary, decent supporters. Yet as I write on the train this morning, there’s a Northern Irish guy a few yards away from me who’s relaying what he describes as Smith’s “disgraceful comments” to a fellow Rangers supporter. Apparently, Smith is to be respected for what he’s done for Rangers in the past, but this attack of Rangers traditions is out of line and it’s time for him to go. This is no Buckfast-swilling neanderthal: he’s dressed in a pin-striped suit, has some fancy-looking cufflinks, and is reading the Daily Telegraph; we’re on the way to Edinburgh and everything about him screams respectable civil servant.
Sectarianism is not restricted to fringe elements at Rangers – it’s part of the fabric of the club. Which makes Smith’s stance even braver.