Joey Barton 'banter' about Celtic boss no concern to Rangers gaffer Mark Warburton

Yet, Mark Warburton, a friend of Rodgers from their time at Watford together, yesterday insisted that his always controversial summer signing had his tongue lodged firmly in his cheek when he was speaking.

Read more: Warburton optimistic Rangers can complete capture of Lescott and Garner

He also stressed that he had no concerns about the former Manchester City, Newcastle United and Queens Park Rangers player’s interactions with the media and revealed he had no intention of asking him to tone down his comments in the future.

“It’s what the game’s all about,” he said. “It’s about banter, it’s about opinions. There’s nothing disrespectful there from Joey whatsoever. He’s a very intelligent individual. It’s just a bit of banter.

“I think he followed that up by saying he was aware of the importance of the games and how much it means to him to be involved in those games. So the serious part of that conversation was very apt and very appropriate.

“I’ve said it before, Joey speaks his opinion. If I think it’s inappropriate, I’ll speak to Joey, that’s for sure, but up till now, he has given his views on players and that’s his view. He always says ‘in my opinion’. That’s what the game’s about.

“As long as it's respectful, as long as it’s tongue in cheek, I don’t have a problem. He’s aware. He’s no fool. He knows the size of the club. He knows the size of the fan base. He’s a good speaker. He’s a football anorak. He loves his football and his facts and his data. He’s an avid reader. He’s a smart guy.”

Asked if he thought Rodgers would take it in the spirit intended, Warburton said: “I’m sure he will. The important thing is that they are both at Loch Lomond Golf Club. That’s the big one. I think Joey will give Brendan a few shots. Brendan is a good guy and I’m sure he will take it in the right context.”

Warburton watched Celtic’s thrilling 5-2 win over Hapoel in midweek – a result that gives the Scottish champions an excellent chance of progressing to the group stages of Europe’s premier club competition and banking in excess of £20 million.

The Englishman, though, welcomes the prospect of a club from this country competing in that tournament and is confident Rangers will still be able to compete with Celtic for the Ladbrokes Premiership title despite the windfall the Parkhead club will bank.

“We can’t control what happens away from us,” he said. “That’s out of our reach. Whatever happens there is fine. We have to get on with our job here and recognise that we have a very tough task in terms of the quality of the league to be the best we can be. That’s all we can do.

“Some of the biggest transfers are some of the worst transfers. I won’t name them, but you could reel off the big-money spends that haven’t worked out. There is also good business being done. The smaller transfers are sometimes the best ones.

“We’re conscious of the European experience being gained by Aberdeen and Hearts for example. They’re playing in Europe and they’re getting more battle-hardened and they’re finding solutions to tough problems.

“So we’re aware of that a lot of our players haven’t been exposed to that. We’ve got to find a way. Our recruitment might be a way to counter that. To have players with European and international experience is one thing. Premier League experience is another thing.

“We’re very aware of the quality of challenge. If another team has a windfall like that, it’s how they use it. It’s certainly a weapon for them. What we have to do is use our weapons as best we can.”

Warburton, who will be without Matt Crooks, Jason Holt, Martyn Waghorn and Josh Windass for the visit of Motherwell to Ibrox tomorrow, dismissed suggestions that not having midweek European fixtures to fulfil could help Rangers win the top flight. “Brendan is a good manager,” he said. “He’ll have a squad to deal with that. I’m sure he’ll have prepared his squads in order to deal with that level of challenge.”