Wednesday 21 September 2016 07:29, UK
Former Rangers manager Alex McLeish thinks the current incumbent at Ibrox, Mark Warburton, will be experiencing 'sleepless nights' over how best to deal with Joey Barton.
The 34-year-old midfielder was a high-profile summer signing by the club which returned to the top flight of Scottish football in May after four seasons in the lower divisions.
However, the former Manchester City, Newcastle, Queens Park Rangers, Marseille and Burnley player has certainly hit the headlines during the past couple of weeks for the wrong reasons.
First, following their crushing Old Firm defeat at the hands of Celtic, Barton was involved in a heated row with team-mate Andy Halliday which led to Warburton suspending him for three weeks.
And if that is not bad enough, Barton is now facing further sanctions after becoming the focus of a gambling probe after it was alleged he had bet on Celtic to lose heavily in their Champions League clash with Barcelona - which the Spanish team won 7-0.
Warburton admits there is a zero tolerance policy to gambling, and ex-manager McLeish says he sympathises with the former Brentford boss over the Barton saga.
McLeish, who was in charge of Rangers between December, 2001 and May 2006, said: "It's part of Mark's education as a football coach.
"I don't know how Mark is handling it. I've not had the privilege of seeing how he works up close.
"But as a manager you always have sleepless nights. It wouldn't be natural if you didn't.
"It's a part which you don't foresee but you know at some stage you're going to have some problems to deal with.
"He's a smart man and I think we'll see the consequences of how he deals with it in the coming weeks.
As a manager you always have sleepless nights. It wouldn't be natural if you didn't.
"When I was at the club we handed out books laying out how we expected Rangers players to behave and the traditions of the club. We had club rules and club values.
"It's not every club that will hand out a book but you still as a coach and a manager have principles.
"From Mark's point of view, he's got to preserve the name of Rangers Football Club. I think he will do everything he can to make sure Rangers are not harmed by this situation.
As for Barton, McLeish added: "Joey is being dealt with. We don't know much about what is going to happen so we can only speculate.
"I can't second guess what will happen. Is he going to leave Rangers or will it make him even more determined to become a pivotal figure for the club this season? We will need to wait and see."
Barton, himself, admits he is struggling to cope with the change between football in England and Scotland.
In an interview with The Guardian, he said: "It's difficult when I'm playing at a level which, clearly, I've not played at before.
"It's a much lower level and I'm trying to help people get to a higher level. They think me helping is me trying to say: 'You're not good enough.' It's difficult."
