The supporter bedecked in purple had a face to match. "Obscenity," he shouted. "Disgrace, disgrace," he wailed at the serried ranks of the Scottish press in the Stadio Artemio Franchi. There was no response from the journalists, they were too busy watching their fingers pound keyboards in a desperate effort to record fully how Rangers reached the final of the UEFA Cup on a breathtaking Tuscan Thursday night.

Across the ground, the Rangers supporters bounced joyously while chanting in a demented rhythm, "Anti-football, anti-football."

It was blunt but strangely eloquent. Nobody likes our football, it seemed to say, and we don't care.

The press room was full of Italian journalists tut-tutting at the negativity of Rangers' play. There could only be a one-word answer to their insistent nagging: catenaccio.

As the Rangers players streamed through the underground car park for the bus journey to the airport, there was a wail of Fiorentina anguish.

Fabio Liverani, who missed one of his side's penalties in the shoot-out, said simply: "It was a poor game." Andrea Della Valle, the club president, was more confrontational: "Rangers' football was generally awful. They played defensively for two games, but they are through and we are out."

Tomas Ufjalusi, the club captain, insisted: "We were better than them in the two legs." Cesare Prandelli, the Viola coach, was the most forthright: "They are a team that do not want to play," he said. "It is clear that two sides have to play to make a spectacle. Rangers came here to stop us playing football and got the result they wanted."

They had been Waltered.

There will be considerable sympathy for the Italians' view among a section of the Rangers support. It would be dishonest to suggest, even amid the euphoria, that everybody who supports the team is comfortable about how they go about their business. That dissatisfaction has been expressed both in whispers to newspapers and in boos from the stand.

There is, however, one irrefutable assertion. It is this: Walter Smith has affected an extraordinary transformation in the club. When he arrived, Rangers could not beat Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup. Now they can dismiss Panathinaikos, Werder Bremen and Fiorentina in the UEFA Cup. This has been achieved simply. That is not to deny the difficulty of the task but rather to appreciate that the tenets of Smith's gameplan are based on basic truths.

First, he builds teams that do not lose goals. This requires strong centre-halves. David Weir and Carlos Cuellar have been majestic. He then constructs a midfield that squeezes the opposition and runs until it drops. One lone forward then supplies the goals.

The team is constantly reminded that a high workrate is the minimum expectation. He also builds a camaraderie. He has that most essential of characteristics in the top manager: every player wants to play for him.

This formula has paid a spectacular dividend, certainly one far beyond Smith's expectations. He genuinely did not believe that the league title could be won this season. His European ambition was initially restricted to the hope that his new-built team would not take a series of hammerings in a tough Champions League group.

But as the manager's expectations have risen, then so have those of the supporters. They are jubilant this morning. The CIS Insurance Cup is in the bag, the title is now more of an anxiety but still a strong hope, the Scottish Cup final awaits and so does a meeting with Zenit St Petersburg.

But they will expect more. So does Smith. He knows the present side have over-performed. He knows a save from Allan McGregor in the first minutes in Belgrade did much to keep the European dream alive at the earliest of stages.

He constantly talks of the "small margin of error" in the top competitions. It was evident again on Thursday night when the semi-final was settled on penalty kicks, but only after Christian Vieri had missed from a yard.

Smith now has to improve his squad. The talk this morning will be of leagues and cups and tickets and Manchester, but Smith will already be looking at key areas. The pragmatic gameplan will not change. But its execution can be made both more entertaining and, crucially, more efficient. Briefly, Smith needs a centre-half, a full-back, a midfield player and a striker. Weir cannot be expected to perform at this level for another full season. Kirk Broadfoot is keen and is improving but better quality is needed from that position.

The most important area is the midfield. Smith's strikers have been left isolated not by the formation but by his side's inability to retain good possession far up the park.

Kevin Thomson will be an important part of Rangers' future, Barry Ferguson and Brahim Hemdani are generally solid on the ball. But Steven Davis seems destined not to stay and Rangers need a powerful, consistent, creative midfielder. He will not come cheap and neither will a forward who has both pace and the ability to hold the ball up.

The mood at Ibrox is justifiably one of celebration. But Rangers must spend this summer. Smith knows the score. And how and why he has to achieve a winning one consistently.