He returned from Manchester the morning after the 2-0 defeat to Zenit St Petersburg having just heard the news his friend, and former assistant with Scotland, Tommy Burns had lost his battle with cancer.

According to Smith, the Celtic legend was a man who will be remembered not only for his devotion to the game and the club he loved, but also as someone who knew when to see the funny side of football.

Smith recalled: "I asked him to stay on when his time working with Berti Vogts came to an end.

"I remember his former assistant manager at Celtic, Billy Stark, saying to me: 'Do you know what you're taking on here?'

"What he meant was there was a delightfully harem-scarem side to Tommy's personality, which I found out in Oslo as we prepared for a World Cup qualifier with Norway which would have left us with a glimmer of hope had we won.

"I was delivering what I could only describe as my state of the nation address to the players when I spotted Tommy fast asleep.

"I had to stop and burst out laughing when I saw him. I remember saying 'Is my team-talk that boring?' Tommy replied: 'Yes.'

"But I got off lightly compared to Berti. I was told that Tommy left vital team charts underneath the bed in his room at the Cameron House Hotel in Loch Lomond and only realised his mistake when he got to Hampden.

"Wee Berti was prowling around looking for the charts and shouting loudly while Tommy was trying to organise a taxi to retrieve the vital documents in time."

Smith added: "Tommy had a serious side to him when it came to football but he knew how to have a laugh.

"That's why, when I left the Scotland job to go back to Rangers with Ally, he played a practical joke on the Celtic lads.

"He went into the dressing room with a holdall and told them he'd had a sensational offer to go to Rangers with me and was going to accept.

"Tommy then left the room and the players' jaws were still on their chests when he went back in wreathed in smiles."

Celtic Park quickly became a shrine to the man who served the club as a player, manager and coach, with rivalry being put to one side as fans of both Celtic and Rangers paid their own respects to one of Scottish football's best-known figures.

Smith and his backroom staff visited the stadium in the east end of Glasgow on Friday, laying a wreath before reading tributes.

"Rangers supporters respect a true Celtic man and vice-versa. Tommy was Celtic through and through and didn't hide what he was," Smith added.

"He had a dignified regard for Rangers at the same time and our fans gave him back their respect.

"There were few who epitomised Celtic better than Tommy and, for me, he showed everything that was good about the club.

"And now he's been taken from us at an age when that just shouldn't happen."