Were the usually demure citizens of the state of Bremen ever to become sufficiently disillusioned to seek independence from the rest of Germany, one outstanding candidate would emerge to be their first president.

Thomas Schaaf has won the adulation and respect of the Werder Bremen support on the back of a 36-year association with the club that has seen him operate in a number of different positions: youth player, Bundesliga veteran, youth coach and, since 1999, first-team manager.

Schaaf was born in Mannheim but moved to Bremen aged three and is considered as local as Beck's beer. Stuck in the northwest corner of the country, the people from this Hanseatic port have traditionally been the butt of jokes cracked by those from the south.

Mocked playfully as "fishheads", Bremen's isolation and perceived cultural differences from the rest of the country have only served to heighten local pride in those idiosyncrasies.

That chest-swelling tends to manifest itself in vociferous support for Werder, who continue to battle gamely with richer rivals such as Bayern Munich and Schalke 04 at the top of the Bundesliga. That the man in charge of the region's major sporting institution is "one of them" only adds to Schaaf's appeal among football fans and the general public in Bremen.

It is hard to find a comparable figure in British football. Willie Miller has long been associated with Aberdeen as a player, manager and now director but was born and bred in the west of Scotland. Walter Smith has made the transition from Rangers fan to one of the club's greatest managers, but never pulled on the light blue jersey during his playing career. Perhaps if Gary Neville were one day to assume the manager's position at Manchester United he would come close to equalling Schaaf's achievements.

It is for his laid-back personality as much as for his success on the field that Schaaf has risen to assume legendary status among the Werder support. Those who know the 46-year-old well describe him as a typical north German type: restrained, conservative, low-key and thoroughly diligent in his approach. A loud, Bavarian prima donna he is not. That down-to-earth manner was very much evident as he fielded the media's questions ahead of tonight's UEFA Cup last-16 tie at Ibrox, his answers including a deferential admiration for his opposite number.

"I have got a lot of respect for him Smith and for everything that he has achieved. I remember him from when he was assistant manager at Dundee United so he has been around for a long time. He has been successful everywhere he has been. He has come home to Rangers and I'm sure he will be successful again."

Schaaf lacks Smith's dry sense of humour, but it was not difficult to draw comparisons between the two men's approach when faced with a room of pressmen. Years of practise have allowed Smith to talk extensively on any subject without really revealing anything at all and Schaaf performed likewise as he paid respect to tonight's opponents and outlined his team's chances of progressing to the quarter-finals.

"Tomorrow's match is between two good teams, both of whom were in the Champions League earlier in the season," he noted. "We know we will face very strong opponents and we will be pleased if we can get through this tie. I hope it is an interesting game but more importantly that my team is successful."

Asked about the importance of claiming an away goal, Schaaf responded: "It's always important to score goals. If it is an away goal then even better. But it's not just about the first leg. We have to be strong both home and away. We will have to show our best efforts if we are to take something back to Bremen for the return game."

After finishing third last season in a Champions League group that included Barcelona and Chelsea, Werder progressed all the way to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, knocking out Ajax, Celta Vigo and AZ Alkmaar along the way. Schaaf has stated it is his intention to win at least one trophy this year and, already out of the German Cup, the Bundesliga and the UEFA Cup are Werder's two remaining options.

Bayern's status as the dominant power in German football means that not even Bremen's staunchest, most blinkered supporters expect their team to overhaul a four-point deficit to finish the season as German champions. The UEFA Cup, therefore, represents their best chance to end a two-year trophy drought. "At the moment the UEFA Cup is the most important thing for us because it is the next game," said Schaaf. "Against Rangers we will give everything. Last year we got to the semi-finals and now we want to do better."