McInnes has opened up on his massive amount of respect for the Ibrox icon

You can divide Derek McInnes’ memories of Walter Smith into two parts.

The first involve Smith the manager, the father figure who could just as easily give you a hug and a pat on the back as he could strip the paint from the walls with one of his famous rollickings.

Then there's Walter the mentor, the man he’d turn to for advice as he looked to navigate his own path through rigours of a career in coaching.

But in both stages of his life, the late Rangers great - who passed away five years ago today - always had the knack of finding the words which would strike a chord with McInnes, invigorating him with the confidence to attack the next challenge.

During his days as a player at Ibrox, Del’s main task was trying to force his way into a midfield already bursting at the seams with men who would become club legends.

He certainly wasn’t shy when it came to self-belief having racked up almost 250 appearances at Morton.

But being top dog at Cappielow hardly compares to walking into a Rangers dressing room featuring big beasts like Paul Gascoigne, Brian Laudrup and Ally McCoist.

One chat with Walter, however, was all that McInnes needed to be assured he belonged at Ibrox after making his dream move to his boyhood heroes in November 1995.

“I think I’ve said this often enough that my relationship with the Gaffer when I was a player wasn't overly close,” said the Rangers boss on the fifth anniversary of Smith’s passing at the age of 73.

“It was just a normal relationship you have with your manager, but a manager that respected me and certainly I respected him.

“There were players in the dressing room who were a lot closer to the Gaffer than what I was. That built up over the years.

“But I do feel once I became a manager, our relationship became a lot stronger.

“His eagerness to help and involve himself in my career was pleasing.

“I enjoyed all those moments I had with him face to face, whether he invited me up to the training ground to spend a bit of time watching training or just time on the phone.

“I always thought that he was keen for me to do well.

“I remember when he signed me. He said Rangers had watched every Morton game that season. He said, "We wanted to sign you from the very first one, but we didn't want to just bring you because we had a lot of midfielders at the time.’

“Then the club had a few injuries which opened the door for me.

“He said, ‘Every member of staff, every report we've had done say you’re ready to play.’

“That was that first day, and he said, ‘You'll do well here. Just be yourself.’ He gave me that confidence.

“I did feel confident, but I knew how difficult it was going to be.

“I knew for the sake of my career, I had a lot of work to do to get in the team because it was just internationals everywhere you looked, particularly in midfield.

“So it was a tough ask but I enjoyed how we worked.”

McInnes wasn’t the only one who lapped up the manager’s methods.

Across two spells at Ibrox, Smith provided the Rangers faithful with memories of 22 major trophy wins, nine-in-a-row and the UEFA Cup run to the final Manchester in 2008.

And if he were still here prowling touchlines today, McInnes has no doubt he’d be capable of recreating the kind of success he is now striving for at Ibrox.

“The Gaffer was the type of manager who could always adapt,” Del said. “He could manage in any era.

“As for stats, you can use them any way you like.

“It was all about the winning for him, stats were secondary. But he did have the adaptability to take in a change, work differently and still be successful.

“People want to talk about him because of how successful he was.

“We had a lot of good players in the building and he had a lot of advantages the first time but the second time around, he didn't have those advantages.

“Every dressing room he had, there was always a bond.

“He was always big on togetherness as well as simplifying it. It wasn't overly complicated.

“He dealt with people and players brilliantly. Like a dad really, chastising you and coming down on you when you needed it, putting his arm around you, and knowing when to encourage you and get behind you.

“All these things are people skills but his knowledge of the game was second to none.

“He knew tactically what to expect from the team but he didn't over-elaborate a lot.

“What he was good at was getting a tune out of players time and time again.”

Smith didn’t give up on his act of encouraging and advising those he held closest, even in his final days before succumbing to a battle with cancer.

He was still in contact with McInnes the week before his death, proffering one last moment of counsel gleamed from a career that spanned almost half a century.

Del said “I spoke to him about three or four days before he passed away. Even then, he didn’t let on how ill he was.

“I remember I was sitting in my conservatory and we spoke about loads. He wasn’t one for hanging up or cutting the conversation short.

“We were talking for ages and I just assumed he was getting better because he didn’t really mention his illness.

“I remember one of the last things he said was when he was talking about going to LMA meetings and there would be wee English know-it-alls walking into the room and giving a big presentation.

“He said they were full of themselves but had done f**k all in the game.

“But he said they carried themselves well.

“He said to me ‘we’re not great at that Del’. He said Scottish managers had to walk into a room as if they owned it.

“He felt that cockiness was knocked out of you as a wee boy in the west of Scotland - ‘right you, stop getting ahead of yourself, rein it in, who do you think you are?’

“But he felt you actually needed that confidence, you really needed to portray yourself that way. He said it was something we needed to get better at in Scotland and I’ll always remember that.”

There weren’t many times when Smith left McInnes disappointed.

But when he did, the legendary Ibrox gaffer made sure to repay him with a medal, a bonus check and a lesson in management that has stood test of time.

McInnes felt he deserved a space on the bench for Gers 1995 League Cup Final win over Hearts - having played in every round, even bagging a semi-final goal against Dunfermline too.

But with only three subs allowed at the time, the midfielder was gutted to be left out as Smith brought a crocked Davie Robertson in from the cold to sit on the bench.

Del recalled: "Back then there were only three subs. Normally one was a striker and one was a goalie.

“So it was always Theo Snelders, a forward player, and one other.

“I remember the day before the cup final, me, Craig Moore and Charlie Miller had said, ‘Doing the math, one of us might be left out.’

“I said, ‘Why don't we split two full bonuses between the three of us then?’

“Big Oz right away was like, ‘Nah, I'm not having that idea. Let's just see who he picks.’

“Charlie was up for it, but we didn't hadn’t agreed yet.

"The Gaffer named the team on the Sunday at Ibrox in the dressing room before we headed over to Celtic Park. Oz and Charlie were starting but it was Theo, Peter van Vossen and David Robertson that came from nowhere.

“I remember looking at Charlie looking for a bit of sympathy and he gave me the finger!

“I'm trying to walk onto the bus, going, ‘Did we agree that deal?’ He said, ‘Did we f**k!’

“I was buzzing for the players winning the final.

“But I remember sitting there with all my family and I was just a bit embarrassed I wasn't playing.

“We went back to Ibrox after it to celebrate winning the Cup. As the night went on—they were amazing nights when we won a trophy—I remember being on the dance floor at one point and the Gaffer grabbed me.

“I didn't really want to engage with him because in my head, I was going in to see him the next day.

“He said, ‘Come see me at 11 o'clock tomorrow.’ I said, ‘I'm going to!’

“He said, ‘I know you will.’

“We were enjoying ourselves, but it had bothered me.

“So the next day I walked in to his office. I had all this stuff to say: ‘I played every f**king game, scored in the semi-final, Van Vossen couldn't spell f**king Rangers, f**ing David Robertson only came to train on the Friday.’

“But before I could get it out, he went, ‘Here's your medal because you've earned that,’ and shook my hand.

“He said, ‘I'll give you the full bonus because you deserved it.’

“So that calmed me down a bit!

“He said, ‘I need to give you my reasons for leaving you out.. My loyalty to David Robertson has built up over a few years. He'd worked really hard to get fit—I was in his ear to work to get fit for the cup final. It wasn't an easy decision.'

“Then he said, ‘One day, if you sit this side of the desk, you'll understand that. In time, hopefully you'll get rewarded for that."

“So he explained it all and when he explained it, it made sense.

“But it was such a low because I was desperate to play in a cup final for Rangers.

"I learned that when you’re on this side of the desk as a manager, you’ve got to be brutally honest with players when they are asking you why they’re not playing or whatever it is.

“They might not always like it or agree with you, but as long as you’re being honest, they’ll respect it. Because players can smell bulls**t from a thousand paces.

“I was on the other side as a player when I knew a manager was just spinning me a line and telling me what I wanted to hear.

“But the gaffer didn’t need to come in the next day after that cup final, he could have been enjoying the moment, but he obviously felt it was important enough to explain it to me."