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Steven Smith was confirmed as a member of Danny Röhl’s backroom staff recently and the former Academy coach is delighted to be operating at first-team level.
The 40-year-old worked tirelessly in order to graduate to the Light Blues senior squad when he was a young defender at the club and he has now progressed to first-team coaching after years of hard graft with the youth groups.
Smith, who has always been a huge supporter of RYDC, is enjoying working with Röhl and his team but he is not there to simply make up the numbers as an ex-Rangers player, he has earned the right to join the German’s staff and is there to add value.
Steven has certainly played his part in the recent run of positive results and he says everyone will continue to work hard to secure vital wins during the business end of the 2025/26 campaign.
He told RangersTV: “It’s a role that I’m enjoying. It’s a role that I probably knew I was ready for, for a period of time, so yeah, I’m really enjoying it so far.
“I think I’ve done it the right way. When I first came back to the Academy I was coaching Under-9s and Under-10s and I’ve worked my way through so I think I’ve also earned the right to be in the role I’m in just now.
“I think the results have been really good in the main but we also know, as a staff, that there’s a lot of work to do as well. It’s always good to develop and learn while you’re winning so we’ll hopefully continue that.
“It’s been good working with Danny. I didn’t know him or the staff when they first came in but the relationship has been built through time, not just with the manager but the staff in general so, as I say, it’s been a really positive start.
“As a coach you never stop learning and when you meet new people who work in a different way you learn new things all the time.
“One of the benefits in working in an Academy, especially the younger age groups, is you get to make mistakes out of the limelight if you like.
“But I feel like I’m now more than ready to step into the first-team environment and I have been for a while now.
“There is always talk of being part of the first-team staff and somebody with the Rangers mind, who knows the club and the league and all that sort of stuff, but I’d like to think that I bring more than that.
“I like to think that I bring detail on the pitch, obviously knowing the league, players, and the club is a bonus, but you also have to add value on the pitch.
“Whether that is taking training sessions, unit sessions, video and analysis sessions. I’d like to think I bring a mixture of a lot of things.
“I’m now throwing myself into this new role.
“I’ve said it since I came back to the club, there are good players here within the Academy.
“It is just about finding the right time to give them that opportunity, and we saw Zeb [Lawson] come on against Annan, but there are loads more in the Academy that hopefully will get the opportunity soon.
“Talent is the thing that everybody talks about, but for me, when you get in the building, we know you have got talent, it is about what you are doing after that.
“How are you pushing yourself?
“Do you have the character, the mentality to go and push yourself into the first-team.
“Whether that be in a training basis and then finding your way to push somebody out of the first-team and cement down a position, so I don’t just want players to come round to the first-team and train or play one or two games.
“I want players to come round and push and play 100/200 games, and then that’s what it means, you have been a successful Rangers player.
“It is a benefit, I probably know every player in the academy from the age of 10 right through.
“That gives me an advantage if the manager is looking for a player to come and train or is thinking about a player to put on the bench.
“I do have the advantage of knowing most players and most of the staff in the academy.
“It is exciting, I think we have put ourselves in a position where we have earned the right to go and challenge and push, but we know we have to take it game by game because every game is difficult.
“The results have been great, but we know that as a staff and as a group of players, there is room for development, and we need to make the performances better.
“The be-all and end-all is you just need to keep winning and put pressure on the teams above you.
“It is an exciting (time in the season) and I think we’ve put ourselves in a position where we’ve earned the right to go and challenge and push but we know we have to take it game by game because every game is difficult.
“The results have been great but I do think we know that, as a staff and as a group of players, that there is room for development and we need to make the performances better.
“But the be all and end all is you just need to keep on and put pressure on the teams above you.”
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