Walter Smith comments on Rangers boss Graeme Murty

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Rangers have thrived under interim manager Graeme Murty in 2018.

Former Rangers boss Walter Smith has told the Daily Record that Graeme Murty must show that he can handle the pressure of Old Firm derbies in order to land the Gers job permanently.

The Gers have been in blistering form in 2018, having won nine of their ten games in all competitions, giving Celtic something to worry about in their pursuit of the Scottish Premiership title.

Rangers are now just six points adrift of Celtic, and the two teams meet at Ibrox this weekend, meaning the Gers can cut the gap to just three points with a victory.

Manager Graeme Murty has impressed since taking the job on an interim basis following Pedro Caixinha’s exit in October, and is now pushing to land the job permanently.

The 43-year-old had no managerial experience before two caretaker spells in 2017, but the Rangers youth coach is now the hot favourite to be handed the reins on a permanent basis this summer.

Murty hasn’t quite landed the job just yet, and still needs strong results between now and the end of the season to ensure he is in the job next season, with former Rangers boss Walter Smith now offering his view.

The Rangers legend – who won 10 league titles in charge of the club – has told the Daily Record that he will leave the decision to the Rangers board, but feels that Murty had nothing to lose when he took the job, and that has stood so far.

However, Smith believes that Murty has another hurdle to clear, in that he must show he can handle the pressure of challenging for the title and taking on Celtic in the Old Firm games – and if he can do that, then he may well land the job permanently.

“Managers are not always great at picking other managers. We should probably leave that to the board members,” said Smith. “But when Graeme took the job he had nothing to lose and it’s the same going into these games. If he goes and wins them then why wouldn’t he deserve the job on a full-time basis?”

“He has shown he has settled into the job. That hasn’t been a problem. But between now and the end of the season he’ll have to show that he can handle that aspect of it and the pressure that comes with it. If he can handle all these things then why not?” he added.