MARK Warburton, the Rangers manager, last night denied he had refused to speak to BT Sport following his side’s win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle last Friday night.
Warburton was bemused at a report which suggested that he had snubbed the satellite broadcaster because he was unhappy with criticism of his side by BT Sport analyst Chris Sutton.
BT Sport agreed a combined deal with Sky Sports last year worth around £70 million to screen Ladbrokes Premiership games.
Top flight clubs are contractually obliged to provide a member of their backroom team for interview as part of the lucrative agreement.
But Warburton dismissed the suggestion that he was irked by Sutton’s comments about his centre backs before the league game with Celtic at Parkhead last month.
“I look at these headlines with despair because they are looking for stories where there aren’t stories,” said Warburton.
“I do speak to BT Sport, I speak to Sky, I speak to all of them. I had a couple of things I had to do (after the Inverness game). Sometimes you are busy.
“I did the media and I went back in. Suddenly it is that I have got a personal spat with BT Sport. I haven’t. I think I have always been good with BT Sport, have always done the interviews before, have always done the interviews after, have always done what I had to do."
Warburton, whose team take on Celtic in the semi-final of the Betfred Cup at Hampden on Sunday, stressed that he had no problems with people criticising him or his Rangers team if their message was delivered in a respectful manner.
“I said to the players this morning what my first words were on day one,” he said. “If a session is really poor, I have got no problem with you knocking on my door and telling me, just do it in the right manner. If you didn’t get the session, no problem. I will learn from that.
“I have no problem with people having opinions at all, it is how you relay them, how you deliver them that is really important to me. Coaches, managers, players, pundits, the press, have a way to do it. It is how that message is relayed. Have I been disappointed with certain headlines? Yes, but we all get disappointed. People might mock it, but I am big on respect.”
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