Latest news with #MarkWarburton
The Herald Scotland
01-08-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Scottish Premiership predictions: Falkirk's return to be a short one
It was certainly a huge improvement on the time, for another publication, I looked into the crystal ball and committed to print a hunch that Rangers would win the league under Mark Warburton in the 2016/17 season. You know, the one where [[Celtic]] won the treble without losing a single game and Pedro Caixinha was Ibrox boss by the end of the campaign? Safe to say it wasn't my finest moment. It's a claim I won't be repeating this time around, even if it is mighty tempting to go against the grain while Brendan Rodgers and the [[Celtic]] boardroom are throwing thinly-veiled, passive-aggressive jibes at each other as the reigning champions remain rather stagnant in the transfer market. As the squad is currently constructed, [[Celtic]] are worse off than last season, but eventually you'd imagine a finger will be extracted and a player or two of undisputed quality will arrive. It's clear from the club's two performances in Europe thus far that Rangers still have some ways to go in terms of mastering new manager Russell Martin's system. Furthermore, the squad is currently in a state of flux with another few players expected to arrive and the possibility that some of the bigger players from last season could be moved on. It would be prudent for Martin to compromise on his philosophies in order to get through the first few league games until everything gets settled, but his approach to the Panathinaikos games, particularly the second leg, would suggest he's not a man willing to do so. Therefore, I expect Rangers to start slowing before improving as the season goes along, but those early bumps in the road will be enough for them to finish behind Celtic. At the other end of the table, it gives me no joy in saying this but I'm picking Falkirk to finish dead last and have their return to the top-flight after 15 years be a rather short one. John McGylnn's side are choosing to roll the dice with pretty much the same team who got them here with only four signings being made in the summer, none of whom even appear to be guaranteed starters when everyone is fit if the Premier Sports Cup group stage is anything to go by. There's just a real lack of Premiership pedigree throughout their ranks and they're gambling on a number of key players from their League One title-winning campaign being able to easily navigate the step up in quality for a second year running. There are similar concerns about Livingston's squad but I'm backing them to finish above the Bairns for three reasons: they performed better than [[Falkirk]] over the last 23 league games of the Championship season following a so-so start, they've done more to try and improve their squad this summer, and they've got a manager who is well-versed in punching above his weight at the top-flight level. David Martindale's pragmatism will likely give him the edge of John McGlynn's expansive, attacking style, even though I'd love to be proven wrong because the last thing the Scottish top-flight needs is more teams down near the bottom playing a cautious brand of football. A potential safety net for each newly-promoted side comes in the form of Dundee, who have been so inept so far this summer that they are the popular choice at this moment in time to finish dead last – what with the unpopular Steven Pressley being hired as manager and losing their first two League Cup games to lower-league opposition. However, ten months is a very long time in football and the initial plan for this campaign could easily be ripped up in the first month or so if things continue as disastrously as they have. It's not often the case that the club in chaos at the start of the season is the one who ends up propping up the table and there's plenty of time for them to fix this – at least enough to finish 11th. Higher up the table, [[Aberdeen]] will be the latest side to be hamstrung by playing a minimum of eight games in European competition as the league season goes along. As we've witnessed from the Dons and Hearts over recent terms, it takes a mammoth effort to juggle that and still finish in third place. And while nobody can take the Scottish Cup final victory away from him, I'm still to be convinced by Jimmy Thelin's management over the course of a league season. With Hearts set to be improved by a number of new additions and finally making a sensible appointment of manager with Derek McInnes coming in, and Hibs spending money under David Gray's impressive stewardship, it's going to be the Edinburgh teams slugging it out for the best-of-the-rest finish this term. And unless they make the European group stages as well, I'm giving the edge to Hibs at this point in time. The Hearts squad is still in a bit of transition and is far too bloated, while Hibs have better continuity. Elsewhere, it will be the end of the top-six run for a St Mirren team with some key departures this summer and many favourites ageing into their 30s. I also feel Dundee United, while for understandable reasons tied to getting value for money, have leaned too much into bringing in foreign players this summer and may take a while for an entire team to gel. So for the last top-six spot, for no other reason other than vibes and a hunch, I'm backing Jens Berthel Askou to transform Motherwell into a European contender. It's not my strongest piece of analysis but every season you have to expect the unexpected in the Scottish Premiership and a Steelmen side performing better even after Lennon Miller is sold would fit the bill.
Glasgow Times
23-07-2025
- Sport
- Glasgow Times
So can Russell Martin and his new recruits bring success at Rangers?
Hope has sprung eternal among the Light Blues hordes that Mark Warburton, Pedro Caixinha, Steven Gerrard, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Michael Beale and Philippe Clement have the smarts and the steel needed to lead them to silverware every summer during the past decade or so. And eternally optimistic fans have always been eager to see if the close season recruits who their new or newish manager has brought on board during turbulent weeks of wholesale change have the ability and mentality required to turn them into the dominant side in Scotland and a force in Europe. Rarely has the early promise which Rangers supporters have witnessed in the opening fixture ever been built upon – they have lifted the Scottish title on just one occasion since winning promotion to the top flight in 2016 – but still they flock through the turnstiles in their numbers at the beginning of every new campaign. Read more: Last night was no different. There was not a spare seat in the house to be had as James Tavernier and his team-mates launched their bid to reach the Champions League league phase with a second qualifying round meeting with Panathinaikos of Greece at home. So will Bears be growling once again about their board's poor choice of head coach and their hierarchy's stupidity for sanctioning the signings of footballers who are clearly not up to the task come October? Or are the new owners - a consortium that comprises 49ers Enterprises and American healthcare tycoon Andrew Cavenagh, who was in attendance for the first meaningful fixture of his reign as chairman – poised to deliver the success which the Glasgow giants' legions of followers have long craved? It would be wrong to read too much into this outing. It was only the second time that Russell Martin's men, who drew 2-2 with Club Brugge of Belgium at Ibrox earlier this month, had played in front of supporters. Only three new boys, Nasser Djiga, Max Aarons and Joe Rothwell, were named in the starting line-up. Rangers will need more matches to familiarise themselves with their manager's formation and gameplan in a competitive environment. It would be premature to judge them after this tough 90 minutes against decent opposition. They have only been training as a group for four weeks. Many of them for far less than that. (Image: Andrew Milligan) Will the front three of Findlay Curtis, Danilo and Kieran Dowell be seen again in the coming 10 months? It was far from the first choice forward line. Hamza Igamane and Cyriel Dessers not being fully fit was a blow for Martin. Still, it is safe to say there is, despite the vital victory, room for improvement going forward. It is not an exaggeration to state that Rangers fans were not entirely impressed with what they witnessed during much of the evening. They lived dangerously at times and will need to do better in Athens next week to progress further in the continent's elite club competition. Rangers were bright early on. Spectators were struck by how Tavernier and Aarons pushed up and inside when the hosts were in possession. Central midfielder Rothwell was direct and used the ball well. Djiga was comfortable at the back. Are they significant upgrades on the players they replaced? Only time will tell. Former Scotland centre-half Martins was as vocal and animated in his technical area as he was on the pitch in his playing days. He shouted instructions and gesticulated wildly from kick-off to the final whistle. He was certainly not slow to express his displeasure to fourth official Robertas Smitas if he felt that Lithuanian referee Donatas Rumsas had made a bad decision. But he would not have been happy at the ease with which Rui Vitoria's charges cut through his rearguard. His team would have been beaten had it not been for the outstanding saves which Jack Butland produced. His goalkeeper, who was dropped by his predecessor Barry Ferguson at the tail end of last season, denied Facundo Pelistri, Tasos Bakasetas and Filip Duricic brilliantly. Read more: The ex-MK Dons, Swansea City and Southampton manager is clearly not afraid to give youth a chance. Curtis struggled to cope with the pace and physicality of the game at times. But the 18-year-old, who was making his first European start, stuck to his task impressively and broke the deadlock in sensational fashion to more than justify his selection. He was a worthy recipient of the Man of the Match award. The Auchenhowie academy graduate will take confidence from his mature showing. (Image: Andrew Milligan) Djedi Gassama came on along with Dessers and Igamane to make his bow in the closing stages. The former Paris Saint-Germain kid, a £2.2m acquisition from Sheffield Wednesday, promptly netted a second, a carbon copy of the first, to send the majority of the 49,548-strong crowd wild. The 21-year-old winger ensured the night finished on a hugely positive note. But Martin will want to see more ruthlessness in the final third, greater cohesion in the middle of the park and better organisation at the back. Tavernier stated at the pre-match press conference that fans will not have witnessed a style of football like the one his new manager wants his side to play before. That was not exactly evident against Panathinaikos. But these remain early days and there were certainly signs that more is to come. The hope remains.
The National
23-07-2025
- Sport
- The National
So can Russell Martin and his new recruits bring success at Rangers?
Hope has sprung eternal among the Light Blues hordes that Mark Warburton, Pedro Caixinha, Steven Gerrard, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Michael Beale and Philippe Clement have the smarts and the steel needed to lead them to silverware every summer during the past decade or so. And eternally optimistic fans have always been eager to see if the close season recruits who their new or newish manager has brought on board during turbulent weeks of wholesale change have the ability and mentality required to turn them into the dominant side in Scotland and a force in Europe. Rarely has the early promise which Rangers supporters have witnessed in the opening fixture ever been built upon – they have lifted the Scottish title on just one occasion since winning promotion to the top flight in 2016 – but still they flock through the turnstiles in their numbers at the beginning of every new campaign. Read more: Last night was no different. There was not a spare seat in the house to be had as James Tavernier and his team-mates launched their bid to reach the Champions League league phase with a second qualifying round meeting with Panathinaikos of Greece at home. So will Bears be growling once again about their board's poor choice of head coach and their hierarchy's stupidity for sanctioning the signings of footballers who are clearly not up to the task come October? Or are the new owners - a consortium that comprises 49ers Enterprises and American healthcare tycoon Andrew Cavenagh, who was in attendance for the first meaningful fixture of his reign as chairman – poised to deliver the success which the Glasgow giants' legions of followers have long craved? It would be wrong to read too much into this outing. It was only the second time that Russell Martin's men, who drew 2-2 with Club Brugge of Belgium at Ibrox earlier this month, had played in front of supporters. Only three new boys, Nasser Djiga, Max Aarons and Joe Rothwell, were named in the starting line-up. Rangers will need more matches to familiarise themselves with their manager's formation and gameplan in a competitive environment. It would be premature to judge them after this tough 90 minutes against decent opposition. They have only been training as a group for four weeks. Many of them for far less than that. (Image: Andrew Milligan) Will the front three of Findlay Curtis, Danilo and Kieran Dowell be seen again in the coming 10 months? It was far from the first choice forward line. Hamza Igamane and Cyriel Dessers not being fully fit was a blow for Martin. Still, it is safe to say there is, despite the vital victory, room for improvement going forward. It is not an exaggeration to state that Rangers fans were not entirely impressed with what they witnessed during much of the evening. They lived dangerously at times and will need to do better in Athens next week to progress further in the continent's elite club competition. Rangers were bright early on. Spectators were struck by how Tavernier and Aarons pushed up and inside when the hosts were in possession. Central midfielder Rothwell was direct and used the ball well. Djiga was comfortable at the back. Are they significant upgrades on the players they replaced? Only time will tell. Former Scotland centre-half Martins was as vocal and animated in his technical area as he was on the pitch in his playing days. He shouted instructions and gesticulated wildly from kick-off to the final whistle. He was certainly not slow to express his displeasure to fourth official Robertas Smitas if he felt that Lithuanian referee Donatas Rumsas had made a bad decision. But he would not have been happy at the ease with which Rui Vitoria's charges cut through his rearguard. His team would have been beaten had it not been for the outstanding saves which Jack Butland produced. His goalkeeper, who was dropped by his predecessor Barry Ferguson at the tail end of last season, denied Facundo Pelistri, Tasos Bakasetas and Filip Duricic brilliantly. Read more: The ex-MK Dons, Swansea City and Southampton manager is clearly not afraid to give youth a chance. Curtis struggled to cope with the pace and physicality of the game at times. But the 18-year-old, who was making his first European start, stuck to his task impressively and broke the deadlock in sensational fashion to more than justify his selection. He was a worthy recipient of the Man of the Match award. The Auchenhowie academy graduate will take confidence from his mature showing. (Image: Andrew Milligan) Djedi Gassama came on along with Dessers and Igamane to make his bow in the closing stages. The former Paris Saint-Germain kid, a £2.2m acquisition from Sheffield Wednesday, promptly netted a second, a carbon copy of the first, to send the majority of the 49,548-strong crowd wild. The 21-year-old winger ensured the night finished on a hugely positive note. But Martin will want to see more ruthlessness in the final third, greater cohesion in the middle of the park and better organisation at the back. Tavernier stated at the pre-match press conference that fans will not have witnessed a style of football like the one his new manager wants his side to play before. That was not exactly evident against Panathinaikos. But these remain early days and there were certainly signs that more is to come. The hope remains.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
I'm the Rangers boss who had just nine players on first day of pre season – we beat Celtic but it still ended in tears
Russell Martin will get his first look at his new Rangers squad when they report back for pre-season training next Monday. Whatever he thinks of the group of players left behind by Philippe Clement, at least he'll have enough to fill a starting XI. Advertisement That's certainly more than could be said for Mark Warburton when he rocked up at Auchenhowie for his first day as Ibrox gaffer. READ MORE: Rangers told what really happened with Max Aarons at Valencia as £4.5m man prepares 'surprise' for Russell Martin READ MORE: 12 Rangers reunions Russell Martin could look for from emotional Aribo homecoming to £20m Austrian misfit Sunday past marked 10 years since the Englishman shook hands on the deal that would see him become just the 14th man to occupy the manager's office at Ibrox. If you'd lined up the 13 bosses who came before him, that would still have been four more than the number of players the former Brentford gaffer found waiting for him in the first-team dressing room. Advertisement But it was upon that blank canvas that Warburton began drawing up his plan to finally restore Rangers to Scottish football's top flight after four bleak years in the lower leagues. In the end, his blueprint for success would be shredded by the relentless green-and-white winning machine constructed across the city by Brendan Rodgers before a bizarre fall-out with Dave King ended his time in Glasgow. But for a short spell, the Light Blue legions really did look upon Warburton as the man to make their club great again. In the first of Record Sport's exclusive two-part sit down with the former Ibrox gaffer to mark a decade since his appointment, he details: Advertisement How he arrived to find a squad down to the barebones. The pressure that was piled on his shoulders as he was tasked with answering the Ibrox board's non-negotiable demand for promotion And how Old Firm joy at Hampden gave way to Scottish Cup Final agony. Warburton certainly wasn't short on offers when the opportunity to talk with Rangers came up. A former City trader, he walked away from the world of finance aged 40 to pursue his dream of a career in football. And his stock was soaring after an 18-month stint in charge of Brentford that very nearly saw the Bees reach the Premier League's land of milk and honey. But it was at the suggestion of his assistant boss Davie Weir that the then 52-year accepted an offer to talk with Gers chairman King. 'I had a couple of really good offers from really big clubs,' he said. 'But Davie said, 'There's interest from Rangers, we should talk'. Rangers manager Mark Warburton gets in the spirit of things on armed forces day at Ibrox -Credit:2016 Willie Vass 'At that time, Rangers were where they were but Davie insisted it was worth the conversation - 'It's Rangers!' So we had a meeting in London and that's where it started.' Advertisement It might have been Rangers, but not as three-time SPL winner Weir had known them. The club was on its knees, still trying to recover from years of financial recklessness and a failed promotion push the season before. Warburton, though, could see the potential to build a team in his own image. 'If I'm right in the numbers the chairman had just released 13 players,' said Warburton. 'So, the first day we walked in, we literally had nine players. That was it. 'I was thankful to have the likes of Kenny Miller and Lee Wallace but there was only seven more! 'Even on the first day I had to ask for one of the academy lads to come over so we could at least play five-a-sides. Advertisement 'I was told there wasn't anybody good enough but there was this one lad who hadn't done well enough on loan and was heading out the door. His name was Barrie McKay. 'He comes over and within five minutes Davie and I are looking at each other asking, 'How is this kid not in the first-team?'' McKay would go on to become a mainstay of the promotion-winning team Warburton built in rapid fashion. For the rest, he would dip into the list of contacts he'd built up during his days as a youth coach at Watford and while working with the NextGen Series. Former Newcastle kids James Tavernier and Martyn Waghorn arrived alongside Wigan defender Rob Kiernan. Danny Wilson returned to the club he'd spent his academy days at, as did Andy Halliday. Advertisement 'The loan market I knew really well so was aware of guys like Dom Ball and Gedion Zelalem,' said Warbs. 'It was really, 'Just go get a squad together as quick as you can'. 'Of course, we could pay a lot more compared to the other clubs in the division. 'But still, it was nowhere near the level of pay that the English Championship could offer, so it was a real struggle to get the likes of Tav, Waghorn and Rob to come up. 'I had to really convince them to come by telling them about the size of the club, the expectation levels, the huge fan base and what it means to wear that Rangers jersey.' The new recruits weren't the only ones have having to deal with the strain of feeding the Ibrox fanbase's hunger for success. Advertisement 'Well, there was no question of promotion,' recalled Warburton. "We had to get the team back up to the Premiership. Promotion was a non-negotiable.' Ex-Rangers chairman Dave King Things, though, could not have got off to a better start as Warbs' new-look side put on a stylish show in the campaign curtain-raiser, a 6-2 Challenge Cup win over Hibs at Easter Road. 'Things really did fall into place quickly. We had a great start. We were playing in such a brave way and the fans really bought into it.' It was that afternoon that the travelling Ibrox fans first aired their Magic Hat ditty in tribute to the Londoner. He'd go on to conjure up the prize the the board demanded of him, winning the Championship with an 11-point cushion. Advertisement But he very nearly provided an additional silver-lining that no-one saw coming when Gers were drawn to face Celtic in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup. Despite being up a Parkhead side that were miles and millions in front, Warburton took the bold decision to instruct his second-tier outfit to go toe-to-toe with the Premiership champions in a Hampden thriller. 'It was my first Old Firm game and I looked on it as a privilege to be involved in that,' he said looking back on Gers penalty triumph after a breathless 2-2 draw. 'We stayed in Mar Hall the night before the game and I'm looking around at all these young boys in our team. None of them had played in a game like this. Advertisement 'I was looking for signs of nerves but all I saw was an absolute excitement for the game. They just couldn't wait to get to Hampden. That was really pleasing. 'From my background in the city, you look at certain situations and weight up the probabilities of situations. It occurred to me that it would be very difficult for Celtic to do anything other than underestimate us. 'They came in as Scottish champions. They had a midfield of Callum McGregor, Scott Brown, Stuart Armstrong, Tom Rogic. 'They would expect us to try to shut up shop, to change our style and go more defensive. I just thought the best thing we could do is the opposite and really have a go. Advertisement 'From the first passage of play, we showed our intention. It sounds corny, but I just thought we deserved to win. It wasn't a lucky win. 'Of course, Patrick Roberts should have scored that big chance but I do think Celtic were surprised by the way we attacked the game and were even dominant for spells.' Victory was sealed when Rogic ballooned his decisive spot-kick. Celtic's Tom Rogic misses his penalty during the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final match against Rangers But as his players raced off in wild celebration, Warburton paused to think of the man standing in the opposite dugout. He said: 'Of course your first thought is what it means for the blue side of Glasgow. 'But then a second later I had a thought for Ronny Deila. Advertisement 'I knew the amount of crap he was getting at that time, and what he was dealing with. Some of it I thought was outrageous. He'd won the title but the abuse he got was shocking. 'I just remember thinking, 'Wow, what's he going to face now?' 'But of course personally, you can't not enjoy moments like that. It was a great day.' From that soaring high came the bitterest of lows in the final against Hibs. With a 2-1 leading heading into the final 10 minutes, Warburton's side contrived to let the Cup slip as David Gray's winner ended 114 years of Leith longing. While Gers had been given a three-week break after rounding off their league campaign, Alan Stubbs team were kept battle-hardened as they fought their way through to the play-off final. Advertisement 'We had injuries, and I think there's only four outfielders on the bench. That played a part of course,' added Warburton. 'But in terms of self reflection, the three-week break between our last league game and the final killed us. 'We just couldn't find a game. All the other British teams were were away on holiday, so we just couldn't find a first team to play. 'In the end, we had to go down to London and play Tottenham's kids. 'I've thought back to that period so many times and asked, 'could we have done it differently?' 'On the day itself, we didn't start well and had to come back from losing an early goal. Advertisement 'But when Andy Halliday scored to put us ahead, I thought, 'Well, we've got through it'. 'It was a hot day, we looked tired. 'Let's just get through it and get it won'. 'But then what happened happened. To lose a cup final in the last minute was devastating.' *Read part two of our exclusive interview tomorrow, as Warburton remembers the infamous 'Going for 55' display and the moment he knew he was in trouble at Ibrox.
Daily Record
18-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Mark Warburton makes astonishing Rangers claims over 55 banner, Petrofac Cup and 'shoddy' exit
The former Rangers boss has looked back at his time at Ibrox in the second part of our exclusive interview Mark Warburton sat down in the hours after his crowning moment as Rangers manager and treated himself to a celebratory glass of wine. But as he sank that first sip, the Englishman soon found himself gulping down the realisation that things would never again be the same for him in Glasgow. The Ibrox gaffer had just masterminded a stunning Scottish Cup semi-final victory over Celtic. By leading the Ibrox Championship squad to a spot-kick triumph over Ronny Deila's Premiership champions at Hampden, he had earned instant adulation from an Ibrox fanbase starved of success. The Light Blue legions were already impressed enough with the job he was doing. Hired in the summer of 2015 to complete the primary task of leading the club back to the Premiership after Stuart McCall's promotion push had faltered the season before, he ticked that challenge off with little fuss with a new-look squad that enthralled the fans with their brand of entertaining, fluid football. But by beating Celtic, however, it quickly dawned on Warburton that he had inadvertently pushed the bar of expectation far higher than the budget he was working with could reach. All of a sudden, simply rejoining their bitter rivals in the top division following a bleak four-year trudge through the lower leagues was no longer enough for the fans and the over-eager Ibrox board. Warburton realised then that the impatient Rangers support would demand to see a team that he knew was nowhere near ready to take on Celtic for honours. As things turned out, he had every right to be worried by that misplaced confidence. The scenes of wild Rangers joy in the directors box served only to convince Dermot Desmond to push the boat out at Parkhead. In came a Titanic name in Brendan Rodgers and a raft of huge signings that would propel a Celtic squad already miles and millions in front of Gers onto another dimension entirely. In the second part of Warburton's exclusive sit-down with Record Sport to mark the 10th anniversary of his Rangers appointment, he looked back and said: 'I remember getting home that night, sitting down for a glass of wine and thinking, 'Oh God!' 'It wasn't in a negative way but it was me realising that our budget was still a fraction of Celtic's. 'Guys like Dom Ball, I kid you not, were probably on one-tenth of what some Celtic players were earning. 'Our entire midfield in that semi-final was on less than one of their midfield players. So my point was, not negatively, but this result is just a building block. 'We knew that nine times out of 10, Celtic would have won that game. 'Then you consider that the next season when we returned to the Premiership, Celtic had added again. They had some real quality on the pitch, bringing in guys like Moussa Dembele. Again, his wage was multiples of most of my squad.' It didn't take long for the new expectation levels to be spelled out for Warburton - in 40ft high letters across the Govan Stand. 'We played Hamilton in the first league game at Ibrox. I remember getting there at 8.55am. 'I used to love getting in early, to get a cuppa and write down some notes before the crowd comes in. 'So I walk down the tunnel. The pitch was being watered, the sun was shining. I'm thinking it was all magnificent. 'Then I look up and see this huge display – Going for 55. 'I immediately thought, who the f*** has done that? 'They were lighting the blue-touch paper for the Ibrox fans when I wanted to calm things down. 'That's not me lacking optimism or desire. No. I just realised that Celtic still probably had five times our budget. I would say conservatively five times more. 'In any other league with that scenario, you've got no chance. 'What really peed me off was that people would say to me, 'Oh you don't know what's expected at Rangers. You don't understand the club. You don't know we have to win every game.' 'Of course I did! Why would I not know that? "They spoke about it as if I was totally ignorant, which I found really, really frustrating. 'I knew the expectation, and I knew what was involved. I think we delivered on that in the first season.' While Rodgers tooled up for Rangers' return by signing Dembele - one of the hottest young talents in Europe at the time - and former Manchester City ace Scott Sinclair, Warburton had to wheel and deal. Clint Hill, 37, and 31-year-old Niko Kranjcar arrived on frees but the veteran former Premier League stars' legs had long slowed past the point where they could match the blistering pace being set by Rodgers' red-hot Celts. Then of course there was a certain Joey Barton. He arrived and immediately aimed a sneering, dismissive dig at the man he was expected to square up to. 'He ain't in my league - he is nowhere the level I am as a player,' spat the controversial Scouser in reference to Celtic skipper Scott Brown. Of course those words were forced straight back down his throat on a mortifying afternoon at Celtic Park. 'It just didn't work out,' said Warburton as he looked back on the Barton signing - an ill-judged experiment that soon blew up with a training ground bust-up in the wake of that 5-1 derby demolition job. 'I'm not going to sit here and criticise Joey. That's not my intention at all. 'But very quickly, you see a couple of social media posts and stuff. You realise Joey is Joey. 'So it didn't work out. An incident happened that was not right — unacceptable. 'The trouble was that Joey had been a big signing, had a big profile. But legally we weren't allowed to say anything about what had happened, so of course, the press had a field day. 'All you read was 'no comment from Warburton, nothing from Rangers' - but we weren't legally allowed to comment. So that was a frustration 'But equally were all the headlines about us being so many points behind Celtic. What did they expect? 'I'm looking at the squad we had. Jason Holt, Andy Halliday, guys I can't speak highly enough about. Dom Ball too. But these were players on minimal wages compared to the sums being spent by Celtic. 'And of course we then have that game at Parkhead. We have Rob Kiernan and Philippe Senderos sent off, are down to nine men with a back three of Barton, Lee Wallace and James Tavernier. 'I remember being told after that game that I should have just shut up shop and taken a 3-1 defeat. 'However, if you remember just after half-time when the score was only 2-1, Barrie McKay fires a huge chance an inch wide of the post. I'm going at that moment, 'We're in this…' 'Celtic scored again but I just felt if we could get another one, the crowd would get nervous again, so what's the point in me shutting up shop and accepting a 3-1 defeat? 'I couldn't do that. 'But even talking to Walter Smith afterwards, he said 'Maybe take the 3-1 because the five really hurts you.' 'But listen, hindsight is a marvellous thing.' Looking back to that humiliating afternoon in September 2016, it was the beginning of the end for Warburton as faith in his management frayed. He limped on until February 2017 before bizarrely learning on TV that he had 'resigned' - despite not having spoken with Ibrox chiefs for over a week before his exit. That was an infuriating episode that seemed to sum up the chaotic world in which Rangers existed at the time. But not nearly as frustrating for Warburton as having the goalposts shifted on his employment objectives. 'My target, set by the board, was to get European football in year three,' he said. 'I said, if we can't get European football by then, we don't deserve to be in the job. 'But suddenly, Brendan comes in and Celtic have their best ever season in the club's history. An invincible season. 'We were still on track for second or third but at that point everything changed - but really all that had changed was the gap to Celtic. 'I thought there was enough credit in the bank from the year before. We'd won the Petrofac Cup, we'd won the league by double-figure points, we'd got to the Scottish Cup final. 'So I felt there was enough credit in the bank.' In the end, Warburton's credit line ran out just hours before he was due to oversee a Scottish Cup tie against Morton. Initially it was reported that he had chosen to step down - but that was news to the Londoner. Rangers insisted Warburton and his No2 Davie Weir had asked to quit 'without compensation' so they could move to Nottingham Forest. The pair did eventually take up a post at the City Ground, but a decade on Warburton continues to argue until he is blue in the face against the narrative laid out by then Ibrox chairman Dave King. 'To this day, it irks me, it frustrates the life out of me, it angers me,' he raged. 'We'd had a board meeting and I knew that the tone had changed and it was wrong, it was inappropriate. 'I referred back to the KPIs, European football next year, not this year, we were sitting second/third. So everything was OK. 'But the gap to Celtic was a dominant factor. 'All I remember was sitting on my sofa one Friday night and my phone started going nuts. At that point I see the yellow ticker tape on Sky Sports saying, 'Mark Warburton resigns from Rangers'. 'But honestly, who resigns from Rangers? You just don't do that. 'So I called Davie Weir and said, 'I think I've just been sacked'. 'Davie goes, 'So have I'. At that point I looked at the ticker tape and it said 'Weir also resigns'. 'I hadn't spoken to Stewart Robertson for around 10 days at that point. But suddenly I get a message saying check your email inbox. That was it. 'We'd never had any conversation. I still have no idea where the resignation thing came from. 'It was obvious the chairman wanted to make a change because of the gap to Celtic. 'It was handled so poorly. Everyone tells me about the integrity and respect of the club, which I absolutely believe in, but on that occasion it couldn't have been more shoddy.'
