IT is not unusual for the manager of Rangers to find himself the focus of the headlines for a few days. But it has been quite a week for Mark Warburton.

He responded to being linked with the Fulham job before and after the game with Dumbarton on Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, he took to Twitter to once again deny he was leaving and then on Thursday he answered more questions about his future.

He has said constantly that he is happy where he is and he has got a job to do. But this talk never goes away. Once people get a grip on it, it goes on and on and on.

Mark said in no uncertain terms he is staying and he had to go and talk with the players on Thursday morning.

It is something he has to deal with and he has spoken well this week. But you can tell in the last couple of days that he has become frustrated.

He is a very calm manager, but he has got frustrated with some people, and rightly so.

Rangers have said there has been no approach, he has said he isn’t going and it has all just been speculation.

He is happy where he is, he has told his players he is happy so that is the end of the story. He is flattered to be linked with other jobs, but he has got a huge project at Rangers and he wants to see it through.

That could have been at Brentford, but they changed their ways, and they are on their third manager already this season.

“He wants a project, something he can build and he has the ideal chance at Rangers. He won’t leave at this stage.

He is doing really well just now, we are top of the league and the fans are onside. So why would he want to go?

Everyone should give him time to get on with the job. Hopefully this is the end of it because we can’t afford to have any distractions this season with Hibs still close to us in the league.

Players read papers and know what is going about and what people are thinking. Players say they don’t listen to the media, but it is nonsense. They want to know what is happening, especially at their club.

If they are in the dressing room before a game or training, they will be reading the papers and talking about what is going on.

They will know that Fulham aren’t a bigger club than Rangers but would think they could potentially give Mark more money personally or to spend in the transfer market.

For many people, it looked like the ideal opportunity for Mark. But he has done the right thing by coming in on Thursday and speaking with the players.

He would have told them to forget about any speculation and to just focus on the job in hand and that is winning the Championship.

It would have reassured a lot of them. He is well liked and he has got the respect of the dressing room.

For him to do that and speak with the players, he will get even more respect.

Mark would have had an idea of what to expect when he decided to join Rangers, he has had a lot of different experiences in his life and career, but nothing really prepares you for life at Ibrox.

I don’t think he would have been expecting what he has found here. You are a huge fish in a goldfish bowl in Glasgow. The majority of papers are sold on the back of Rangers and Celtic, there is phone-ins, a huge internet scrutiny, there is so much to handle.

He would have known that it would have been a lot different from his time at Brentford but there is so much more to deal with here.

The good thing is that he has Davie Weir, Jim Stewart and Ian Durrant with him to explain what it is all about.

This is in the lower divisions, so imagine what it will be like in the Premiership, should we get there, next season? Week by week, he is learning what the club and the job is all about. There is a lot more to come.

The fans have been magnificent with him and when things are going well that is always the case. When things don’t go as well, he will find out what the fans can be like, what the Press can be like.

That is what we are about in Scotland and in football. Managers have to handle everything on the park, handle their players and handle so much off the field.

Mark is a very sensible man, I like listening to him and his messages have been taken on board by the fans.

He has made a really positive start at Rangers.

Today, he will be able to focus on football once again as we look for a win at Raith Rovers and he will be glad at getting back to the most important part of his job – looking to win the Championship title this season.

Don’t keep trying to walk ball into the net.

Glasgow Times:

YOU don’t just turn up and win games, and Rangers will need to put in a good performance if they are to beat Raith Rovers this afternoon.

It took until the second half for us to break Dumbarton down in midweek and we went on to win the game fairly comfortably.

They defended in numbers and we just couldn’t get through them.

Raith will be no different. Even though they are at home, they will sit in and look to hit Rangers on the break.

There have been times recently where I feel the team have been taking too many touches in and around the box, looking to score the perfect goal.

If it comes off, it is wonderful and we are all saying ‘great football, great goal, well done’.

But when it doesn’t, you can sense the frustrations of the supporters because they feel there should be more shots taken from outside the box.

Just look at Martyn Waghorn’s goal on Tuesday night. If you have no space inside the box, have a dig when you get into range.

We have players – the likes of Andy Halliday and Jason Holt as well – who can strike the ball sweetly so that could be an option for us. The fans won’t have a go if you don’t hit the target.

Breakthrough star’s put a Holt to Allan talk

A FEW weeks ago, I spoke to a pal of mine who is a Jambo and we were talking about Jason Holt.

He was saying that everyone was talking about Scott Allan and how we could have signed him and so on but he said: “You know, you have got a better player there already.”

He is a big fan of Jason Holt. He said he is a team player, someone who is full of energy and someone who will get you goals. He has been proven right.

Glasgow Times:

In the last few weeks, Jason has been playing out of his skin and has probably been the most consistent player in the team. He is not the biggest player, but he is making a big impact in the middle of the park.

He reminds me a bit of Alex MacDonald. He had a lot of energy, he got about the park and he scored goals, a lot of the time with his head.

While the bigger players were being marked, he could pick his moment to run in and get on the end of crosses. He timed his runs perfectly and could come in and find space.

It has been great to see Jason doing the same in the last few games and his goals have been crucial for the team recently.

Hopefully there is plenty more to come from him between now and the end of the season. Jason’s movement is fantastic and unless he is being man-marked, he is very difficult to pick up. He has scored a lot of goals and really added another dimension to his game, which is great to see. He has become a really important player for Rangers and I am sure he is one of the first names Mark puts down on the team sheet these days.

Your question for Derek Johnstone

GRAEME GRAY from Kilmarnock asked DJ who he thought would end 2015 top of the Championship table?

I think it will be Rangers. We are three points ahead of Hibs and have the benefit of a good goal difference. The game that people are looking forward to is, of course, on December 28, against Hibs, but every game is a huge one for Rangers. Mark won’t let the focus drift to that fixture at Ibrox. It is all about the next game.

After playing Raith today, we face Morton at home and Falkirk away before the Hibs game. It is a big run, but I reckon Rangers will still be top of the league come the end of it.

If you have a question for Derek, just email him at dj@eveningtimes.co.uk and we’ll print the answer alongside the question.