Steven Smith

[ian1964 10,457]

This is a story of triumph for the human spirit. It is one of blossoming brilliance interrupted by demoralising adversity, yet replenished by courage and hope. It is the story of Steven Smith.

 

Once upon a time, when Alan Hutton was making his tentative first steps as a Rangers first-team player to widespread apathy, Alex McLeish unearthed a left-back so cocksure and steadfast he seemed destined to endure on an international stage. Quick, cunning and adventurous, Smith appeared every ounce the modern, indefatigable wing back. Reared as a centre-forward and chiselled into an energetic midfielder in the youths, he was already regarded as a complete package by the time he made his first-team debut.

 

His ascent was not without struggle or sacrifice. He had been afflicted by a pelvic problem throughout his teenage years, one that was frequently diagnosed but never remedied. Even as a youth, the pain prevented him from playing two games a week, an ominous situation for a young man in the prime of his life. The grinding wear and tear of the footballer's daily regimen necessitated two hernia operations and an endless search across the continent for a long-term solution to a career-threatening malady.

advertisement

 

Smith has been fit for as long as he caresto remember but, until he made his return to the first team two weeks ago, he was still being stopped in the street by well-wishers with long memories enquiring as to his condition.

 

"The injury wasn't the hardest thing," hesaid, in the staccato style of conversation that became as much a trademark as whooshing deliveries into the box. "When I was injured I couldn't be picked, so it wasn't much of a problem but, when I was fit and not being picked for a squad of 26 boys, it was hard. It was weird. The manager was taking the whole squad to hotels before the game and to the away games in Europe. I just felt like a fan because I knew there was no chance of being on the bench or being involved.

 

"I've had problems in the pelvic area since I was 16. I had two hernia operations in six months and the second one seems to have fixed it. I went to Belgium for three weeks to do a pre-season and have been all over the place for a cure. I'venot had a problem since I had my second hernia operation."

 

Smith is too proud to indulge in self-pity. He was also too proud to knock on the manager's door for an explanation. Thereis a popular theory that perhaps explains his prolonged absence, injury aside. TheRangers manager prefers his full-backs to be sturdy and reliable first, and attack-minded second. It is why Kirk Broadfoot has prospered over Steven Whittaker. Smith's flaw is his lack of stature, a drawback that would be exploited by opponents. There is another strand to this: Smith is a single-minded and introverted young man, not one for the laddish banter of a first-team dressing room and, thus, a player who, at times, can appear detached from the manly merriment.

 

Listening to him yesterday reaffirmed the belief that Smith is precisely the kind offootballer who deserves career fulfilment. "I didn't keep going to the manager," he said, revisiting his tough period. "I feel that if I show enough in training, I shouldn't have to go and speak to him. Sometimes you have something like a mental block, where you think that nothing you can do will get you into the team. You need to get through that and I'm sure there are a lot of boys at this club who think like that.

 

"You need to come through the other side and I feel like I am doing that just now. I heard a few times that I wouldn't play again at a high level but I knew within myself that if I could get back training, Icould get back playing. It bothered other people more than me."

 

Ironically, but for a conflict in SPL and SFA player registration legislation, Smith would have been a St Mirren player, while Inverness Caledonian Thistle had also enquired about his availability. At the time, he would have gone anywhere to reacquaint himself with competitive football. "I was sitting two or three weeks ago just wondering where Icould go to get a game," he admitted. "Isaid that, with a good pre-season under my belt, I felt I would have a chance of being involved in the first team but I got another injury and by the time I had recovered, the deadline was past.

 

"The next deadline came about in January and I was going to go to St Mirren on loan but the rules prevented it. It was a difficult time. I just wanted to play football but couldn't get out. I spoke to Gus MacPherson on the phone. He told me to come to StMirren and enjoy myself; that was the main thing. I hadn't been enjoying playing with the reserves and I would have liked to go there but the rules prevented it."

 

Would it have led to the severing of his Rangers ties or simply providing a vehicle to complete unfinished business? "I thought if I had gone there for six months and did well Icould have come back here and played.

 

Ijust wanted to play football."

 

Smith regularly punctuates his story with the phrase "back to my old self, again". He is 23. He has, in fact, unveiled a new self. With Sasa Papac a model of consistency at left-back, Smith is the latest - and last - to audition for the apparently cursed role on the left side of Rangers' midfield. Whisper it, but heis the most convincing yet.

 

"A lot of players have played wide left this season and nobody has really held it down," he said. "I've played there before for the reserves and for the first team when I first broke into the team under Alex McLeish. It's nothing new to me."

 

Except it is, of course. Smith deserves his change of fortune. Lesser men would have given up by now.

 

 

http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/headlines/display.var.2504190.0.Heres_one_straight_out_of_left_field.php

[alexscottislegend 2,090]

Great article - reminds us all just what a prospect he was. Sadly, he is still a prospect.