Deila's plight touches Warburton despite delight at triumphant Old Firm debut

His side outplayed Celtic for long spells, produced some sparkling football, twice took the lead and then clinched victory in the first penalty shoot-out between the Glasgow rivals in a major competition.

The Ibrox club now have the opportunity to win the William Hill Scottish Cup, complete what would be an unprecedented treble and qualify for Europe for the first time in four seasons.

Having only gone into the game hoping for a respectable performance from his Championship club against city rivals who are currently eight points clear in the Premiership, Warburton was euphoric.

Yet, as he made his way through the bowels of the National Stadium after an extraordinary game, he was momentarily brought back to reality by a chance encounter with his opposite number Ronny Deila.

You would have to be a cold and heartless individual not to feel sympathy for a man whose job is under threat as the consequence of the result of a game of football despite his side being on the verge of winning the Scottish title.

“Carol (Rangers press officer Patton) and I both passed him (Deila) in the corridor and both thought exactly the same thing at the same time,” he said.

“He didn’t deserve what was coming. He can turn around quite rightly and say he was that far away from winning that game. That’s the nature of the game we’re involved in. I just felt yesterday that he doesn’t deserve to be in that position.

“He’s top of the league. The question for any manager at the start of the season needs to be ‘what represents success?’ Have it in black and white. Because I’m not sure what you say to Ronny Deila. Is winning the league not enough? If it’s not, tell him. All managers in all divisions have to ask ‘what represents success?’ If you tell me the answer then I know where I stand.”

Warburton continued: “If it was Ibrox or Parkhead, I absolutely would have spoken to him. Unfortunately, the National Stadium doesn’t work that way, which was a shame. We shook hands afterwards.

“We spoke at the pre-match press conference. He just came across as a very humble, very pleasant guy. I enjoyed speaking to him. Yesterday, walking down that corridor, I just didn’t think someone of that nature deserved to be put in that position.

“I don’t want to comment about a club and its manager, but all I know is that I’ve met Ronny and he came across to me as a gentleman. He came across as someone who has received a lot of unfair abuse and someone who wasn’t deserving of a lot of the criticism that came his way. He came across to me as a real gentleman.”

Warburton is, having only arrived in Glasgow last summer, a relative newcomer to the madness of the Old Firm, but he was left in no doubt whatsoever about what victory over Celtic meant to Rangers supporters afterwards.

He was greeted by some emotional scenes following the first Rangers win over Celtic in four long and difficult years as John Gilligan, the club director, and Dave King, the chairman and major shareholder, broke down in tears.

“Their passion was evident yesterday,” he said. “People like John Gilligan who have given fantastic support to Davie (Weir) and I. He sent a lovely email. You can see what it means to him. We’re aware of it and the players are as well. The players are aware of their responsibility. That’s another key thing for us. They have recognised it and thrived on it, which is tremendous.”

The way that Rangers played against Celtic has prompted some of their supporters to predict that the Ibrox club will, despite the superior resources which the Parkhead club have at their disposal, win the Premiership comfortably next season.

Warburton still believes, despite the huge strides forward his side has made in recent months, there is a sizeable gulf between the two man Glasgow clubs and further funding is required to bridge it. He is, though, more than comfortable with the expectations which will be on him.

“Fans are fans,” he said. “If that is the mentality, don’t fight against it, just accept it. Second won’t be acceptable next year to many, many people associated with Rangers.

“But Celtic aren’t going to sit on their hands, are they? Celtic will go hard - as will Aberdeen, Hearts and other teams in the Premiership. That’s the nature of the beast. We have to do what is best for Rangers and we will."

Warburton was back at Auchenhowie as usual at 5.40am yesterday morning, but he admitted he had treated himself to some tapas near his home in the West End of Glasgow to celebrate on Sunday evening.

“The chef was a Rangers fan so I had double the portions,” he said. “I ordered two calamari and I got four and then chorizo and it just kept on coming.”