David Weir yesterday offered Rangers’ potential new owner one piece of free advice: whatever it takes, keep Walter Smith. The Ibrox captain, who obtained a business degree before he became a footballer, believes that the veteran manager is the club’s best asset.

Weir revealed that Smith has protected the players from all the uncertainty about Rangers’ future because of the £31 million debt and that has helped them in the pursuit of a second successive Clydesdale Bank Premier League title. They seek to increase their lead to 13 points when they visit Kilmarnock tonight.

Weir will be in his usual place in the back four at Rugby Park. The Scotland defender has not missed a single minute of league action this season, despite nearing his 40th birthday. His contribution was recognised yesterday when he was named Clydesdale Bank Player of the Month for February.

Remarkably it was his first award, in the final stretch of a career that he admits owes everything to Smith — who took him to Everton in 1999 from Heart of Midlothian — and even if Weir is uncertain of his own presence around Ibrox next season, he says that Smith must be there.

“It is common sense, a no-brainer,” Weir said. “The success he has had is unbelievable. When you take all the other things into consideration, it just magnifies the success he has had here.

“To get to a European final [the Uefa Cup in 2008] and win back the league last season shows an incredible level of achievement. Regardless of what is happening with the ownership of the club, he is the best man for the job. He would be a very hard act to follow.

“At Everton, when he had money, he spent it well. The level of players he brought in was fantastic. The trouble was, he could not always keep them for long. He brought in the likes of Marco Materrazzi [now with Inter Milan].

“He knows how to find good players. The football world has changed and you have to cut your cloth accordingly. The manager has shown he can deal with Paul Gascoigne and Brian Laudrup as well as dealing with the present climate.”

Weir insisted that a potential takeover was not the talk of the Rangers dressing room. Partly because of Smith. “It is irrelevant for the players,” Weir said. “We come to our work and the conditions are the same as two years ago. The only thing you notice is that we do not sign many players.

“The majority of the guys are actually happy with that as you have a better chance of getting a game. The manager has to take a lot of credit for keeping that from the players. He has always kept us up to date with what is happening, but we have always been paid and nothing has changed. We stay in nice hotels and any issues around the club have not affected us.

“It can affect the atmosphere around a club, but it very rarely affects the players. There are clubs where players have not been paid and that makes it an issue, but as far as players are concerned it’s a simple job: if the working conditions are right and you are still getting paid, it is fine.

“With all the talk about no new players and signings, the key thing for me is that the manager and his staff are operating without a contract. That never becomes an issue, but for me it is the biggest issue at the moment.”

Weir believes that Smith sacrificed his own job at Everton to keep the financial problems at Goodison Park a decade ago from engulfing his team.

“Walter bore the brunt,” he said. “He was constantly spending more time in the boardroom and with the banks than on the playing side. It impacted on the manager, but not the players.”

Weir, Smith’s first signing when he returned to Ibrox in January 2007, is one of six players whose contracts expire in June. “I do not know what the answer is about my future,” he said. “I would never say ‘never’ about staying here next season. I would be surprised, but you never know.” The Rangers captain will again be partnered by Danny Wilson at centre back tonight as Madjid Bougherra struggles to overcome a muscle injury.

“Celtic went to Kilmarnock in a buoyant mood after their January signings and lost 1-0,” Smith said. “We only need to look at our visit to Rugby Park in August, when we were fortunate to draw 0-0. We will have to play extremely well to get a result.”