Southampton Rangers on Tuesday named their former club and Bermuda national team skipper to replace Tyrone Williams as head coach of the struggling Premier Division outfit.

And the one-time radio commentator is confident of being able to drag the side out of the depths of the league basement to a position of respectability.

"I feel we can stay up,'' said Smith, who takes over a team in eighth place, with a 0-1-3 league record.

"But for us to stay up we have to really work hard and put in that extra work now, because we're behind everybody and have to work that much harder if we want to stay up.

"The opportunity is there, and I feel that by the referees taking a strike, it was to our advantage. But, at the same time, we are going to take advantage in that we train hard, get ready to restart and stuff like that.

"The competition is not going to get any easier, no team's going to give any team anything. So if we want something we're going to have to work hard for it and we'll appreciate it more after that.'' Smith dedicated much of his footballing career to the South Shore club, starring in the 1970s and early '80s as a tireless midfielder for both Southampton and Bermuda.

In 1982, as player/coach, he guided them to championship glory in the Friendship Trophy, while placing fifth in the then 10-team First Division. Two seasons later he shifted allegiance, becoming the head man at St. George's, then a member of the Second Division, and missed out on earning promotion by a single point after losing the last game to Boulevard.

And it was the previous experience that encouraged Southampton's director of soccer, Gary Darrell, to hire Smith for the vacant post.

"He had been expressing some interest from early on, but I was not aware of what experience he had as a coach until I talked to him.

"He sought me out to tell me that he was interested in the job, and I was really looking for someone who had coached a Premier team, because I didn't want to be doing too much experimenting,'' said Darrell, who could not personally commit to doing the task himself due to work commitments.

"I asked around a couple of the senior people in the club, present day senior players and former players, and thought that the players had a lot of respect for him and would respond very well.

"So we said, `Fine, we'll give him a shot', hopefully things will work out well for him.

An early emphasis for Smith will be to work on getting the squad in better physical shape, with many of the `star quality' players not considered fully fit.

Smith further explained that the veterans must lead by example in all aspects, on and off the pitch, both during training and on match days.

"We have a lot of talent, but I feel that the team needs to get a little more match fit with some more physical training and more ball work to make sure that they're able to match up with teams toe-to-toe,'' he said.

"Players that are known to be seasoned players must perform to a certain ability, and then we can filter in younger players and players that are not so good around them.

"It's very important that players that are known stand out, but ultimately it is a collective effort, everybody must pull their weight.'' Smith though faces a tough baptism away to undefeated North Village, currently heading the standings alongside defending champs PHC. The Zebras lead via goal difference.