RESPECT is hard to gain but easy to lose. It is at the heart of Mark Warburton’s football philosophy and underpins the way he conducts his business on and off the park.

The message and the ethos have been clear from the first day that Warburton arrived at Ibrox. The floor is always open, his door always there to be knocked.

There are many voices in the Rangers dressing room and some are naturally louder than others. It has to be Warburton’s that carries most weight, though.

Read more: Alex McLeish: Rangers are in a three-way battle for second spot in the PremiershipGlasgow Times: Rangers manager Mark Warburton

The Englishman encourages free speech and debate and is keen for his players to have an opinion and make it heard. It is a system that has worked well to date, but one that was always going to be put to the test this term.

The deal to bring Joey Barton to Ibrox was a gamble for Warburton and Rangers. It is one that hasn’t paid off on either side of the white line.

Barton was due back at Auchenhowie this morning for talks with his manager to determine what, if any, future he had at Ibrox. With that meeting cancelled, the outlook appears bleak.

Read more: Alex McLeish: Rangers are in a three-way battle for second spot in the Premiership

The dressing room bust-up with his team-mates was one thing, but the confrontation with his manager was quite another. It lead to Barton being banished from the Gers’ training base before he was suspended for three weeks.

The announcement on Sunday that he has been instructed not to return ‘until further notice’ cast further doubt over Barton’s position.

Many fans believe they will never see the midfielder in a Light Blue jersey again. After the fanfare and expectation on his arrival, this was not the next chapter the Ibrox crowd hoped Barton would write.

The cost to Rangers in financial terms, if any, remains to be seen. For Warburton, there will be frustration and disappointment that a bold move has, it seems, failed to pay dividends.

“These are the things that crop up in football and you have to deal with them,” former Ibrox boss Alex McLeish told SportTimes.

“You have values at a club, you have your set of rules. You can hand them out but you know at some stage that someone is going to break them and that you are then going to have a situation to deal with.

“That is all part of learning, all part of the challenge that comes with managing a football club. I am sure that Mark will embrace it and he seems like an intelligent guy.

“I think he will take the challenge head on and he has got to. He is representing the Rangers name and he has to do as he sees fit for Rangers Football Club.”

The capture of Barton on a two-year deal in the summer represented a significant financial outlay for Rangers and a leap of faith that was just as large for Warburton.

The midfielder was Player of the Year in the Championship with Burnley last term but has never looked like showing anywhere near that level of form north of the border.

Read more: Alex McLeish: Rangers are in a three-way battle for second spot in the Premiership

If he has indeed kicked his last ball for the Gers, his impact in Scottish football will be remembered for a series of sound bites and headlines rather than his efforts on the park.

Warburton repeatedly defended Barton as he struggled for form and aimed jibes across the city towards Brendan Rodgers and Scott Brown.

But McLeish knows the Ibrox boss will have had to look at the big picture in recent weeks as he has pondered the future of his marquee signing.

He said: “I don’t know all the facts so I can’t say how it has been handled. I have to sit on the fence on that one.

“But the one thing that Mark has to do is protect the Rangers name and his team. He has to do what is in the best interests of Rangers Football Club.

“You don’t want to cut your nose off to spite your face. There are maybe times when you have a problem in the dressing room but it might be that you don’t have anyone else in that position and it costs you results.

“You have to try and manage the situation and maybe engineer an exit at a later date.”

For many, the Barton deal was one that was always doomed to failure but the attraction to the former Man City, Newcastle, QPR and Marseille star was clear for Rangers.

Warburton backed himself to get the best out of Barton and was enthusiastic at the prospect of working with him this term.

Just a couple of months on, the relationship has turned sour. Only time will tell if it can ever be repaired.

McLeish said: “I think one of my strengths is man-management.

“I would like to work with a player who had maybe been given a bad name and try and help him and to try and help him see the error of his ways.

“Sometimes you know that it just isn’t going to work out and that is when you have to make sure that you can get the person away as quickly as possible, if it is possible.

“If it is not working between Mark and Joey then it is going to affect Mark’s career at Rangers so it has to be resolved.”