Walter Smith yesterday closed ranks around the football managers’ union, openly defending Jimmy Calderwood, the Aberdeen manager, on the eve of the two teams’ clash at Ibrox tomorrow afternoon. After Aberdeen’s halting start to the season, which included last week’s home defeat to Motherwell, Calderwood has been on the receiving end from a number of fans, despite guiding to the club to third place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League only four months ago.

Both clubs were involved in European action in midweek, but Aberdeen’s 0-0 home draw against FC Dnipro at Pittodrie on Thursday did not stem the tide of Calderwood’s critics. Smith, in his two terms at Ibrox, has not been immune to criticism either, and he leapt to Calderwood’s defence.

“Jimmy’s been getting stick from the Aberdeen fans since he went there, or so it seems from the outside,” Smith said. “I remember last season they were giving him a bit of stick but then he got them to their best finish in the league for a number of years. I think Jimmy’s done a great job at Aberdeen over the time that he’s been there.”

The Rangers manager believes that, for people in his position these days, the flak flies from all sides. “It is an aspect that I find difficult to understand but it is a manager’s life these days,” he said. “It is just a situation you have to accept and get on with. It doesn’t matter how well you do the previous season, if you start a new campaign in a manner that some people think is unacceptable, then you come under pressure.

“I think Aberdeen spent a great deal of effort achieving third spot last season, and there was bound to be a bit of a hangover from it. I think they’ll come out of it, though hopefully not against us on Sunday.”

Yesterday Smith was still modestly basking in the achievement of Rangers beating VfB Stuttgart, the German champions, in the Champions League at Ibrox on Wednesday night. As the Rangers manager was keen to point out, Wednesday’s heroic 2-1 win was set apart from the usual nature of Rangers’ home victories.

“Unless it’s an Old Firm game, people tend to dismiss the effort that is required for Rangers to win games in Scotland,” Smith said. “So when you go and win in the Champions League like we did against Stuttgart, then, yes, there is a sense of achievement about it. Since I came back to Rangers I’ve had a good reaction from the players. I think there is a good determination about the team, and the Champions League is obviously a very high level, so to come back after losing the first goal as we did against Stuttgart was a big thing for us. You can do that in league games, but doing it in the Champions League is quite an achievement.”

Victory over the Germans notwithstanding, Smith and Rangers have their own domestic gremlins to overcome following last week’s abysmal defeat to Heart of Midlothian at Tynecastle. After a good start to the season Rangers were both out-fought and out-smarted in Edinburgh and it was an experience the club’s manager found discomfiting.

Smith also said his team faced the challenge of playing a European-style game one day and then a more familiar domestic game the next.

“It was a slipshod performance from us last week and what we’ve got to do is get a level of concentration back in our play,” he said. “But if that defeat at Tynecastle is something that gives us a wake-up call in the championship, then it will have been worth it. But I think quite a number of [Premier League] teams are stronger this season than last, so this could be a more difficult campaign.

“We have to play different styles in Europe and in the domestic arena, and it is an ongoing problem for teams from countries the same size as Scotland, where you are expected to win all your domestic matches. You put your team out to that end, but then you play at the Champions League level and suddenly you have to find out how to defend. So it can be awkward.”

–– Allan McGregor, the Rangers goal-keeper, yesterday confirmed that he had signed a new three-year contract with the club.