MAYBE it wasn’t a surprise that there would be a reaction amongst the Rangers players after last Saturday’s 5-1 loss at the hands of Old Firm rivals Celtic – and even less of a surprise that it involved two of the livewires in the Ibrox dressing room, Joey Barton and Andy Halliday.

The fallout of their falling out became very public. But do I have a problem with Rangers team-mates having a go at each other? Absolutely not.

In fact, I’d welcome it, because if you are going to clear the air and get things out in the open, it’s better to do it straight after a heavy loss or a defeat, when the passions are raw and the wounds are still deep.

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During my playing days there were several occasions, if we’d lost to Celtic or if we were on a particularly bad run, when we’d be called in on the Monday, a day we normally had off, to air our differences and grievances, always managed by Jock Wallace.

It wasn’t for public consumption; it was for the benefit of the team and the team alone. The format was always the same. Big Jock would start with the ‘keeper, normally big Peter McCloy, who would have his say first, and you would have to listen. There was no interruptions, no butting in, no talking back. You had to sit there and take it until it was your turn. Only then could you speak out.

Glasgow Times: Celtic's Scott Brown (right) with Joey Barton. Picture: SNS

The defenders slated the midfielders, the forwards picked on the goalkeeper, the wingers whinged at the full-backs. Everything came out and by the end, you knew where you stood, what your team mates thought of you, and, had an idea how you could make things better.

It was only words – never, ever did it come to blows. It never would have. Anyone who stood up was put in their place by big Jock, his booming voice roaring ‘sit doon!’ You didn’t argue.

I can’t argue with Mark Warburton if this is the way he wants his players to resolve issues within the team. This time around, the home truths have got personal and have hit some raw nerves.

In the case of Joey Barton, he’d be entitled to sound off had he been having the season he had for Burnley last term. But he hasn’t.

Talk is cheap. It’s one thing saying you are going to be Scotland’s player of the year, and that Scott Brown isn’t in the same league as you, but you’ve got to back it up. Barton was right in one respect – but Brown was in a league above him a week ago, and Joey must have realised that very early on in that game, and then had a couple of days to dwell on it.

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But instead looking to blame others, or tweeting to two millions people, and seeking out headlines, and having his say on radio, he really would have been better served to get his head down and start grafting. He will have to if he is going to have any future at Ibrox.

He needs to learn that in Scotland there is a different focus, a different meaning to derby games, particularly if you lose them.

It was interesting to see Arthur Numan speak about the 5-1 loss at Celtic Park that he played in, and how he and the other ‘foreigners’ in the dressing room were given a torrid dressing down by Ian Ferguson, who barked out exactly what was expected of a Rangers player in any game against Celtic and to how they would be expected to set the record straight next time.

Glasgow Times: Rangers manager Mark Warburton, right, with Joey Barton at full-time after the 5-1 defeat to Celtic .

Fergie was a diehard player and an even bigger diehard bluenose.

And to that end, I wasn’t at all shocked in the slightest when I read in the Evening Times that it was Andy Halliday who had become embroiled with Barton.

Because here is a guy who knows what it is to be born and bred a Rangers fan, belonging to a family who are all Rangers fans, and who would have been hurting after the fashion and magnitude of that defeat last week.

To then turn up for training, and to hear Joey Barton sounding off about what everyone else did wrong, would have been enough to tip anyone over the edge.

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Mark Warburton now has to get the loss to Celtic and the aftermath of what happened at Murray Park out of everyone’s system ahead of the game against Ross County at Ibrox today.

A home game, a big crowd; the ideal way to get back on track and get the team performing somewhere like it should be.

Anything else other than a win and a decent display will put the pressure on the manager and players alike – and this time there will be no Joey Barton to point the finger at …