IT was banned for a time by Walter Smith. Ally McCoist simply failed to figure out why anyone would want to use it.

However, Mark Warburton, the new Rangers manager, has embraced the social media phenomenon that is Twitter and insists it can be a vital tool in the armoury of any modern coach.

The 52-year-old has kept his 30,000 followers up to date on his visits home to England to see his family, his views on his team’s early performances and even the progress of his move into a new apartment.

However, he has finally let slip the primary reason he has taken the step of giving himself an online presence and it is one that is sure to make his players take extra care over the insights they give into their own personal lives and the photographs they upload.

“I blame David Weir solely for it,” said Warburton. “It was a moment of weakness over a glass of red wine last season. All joking apart, David said that you can find out what the players are doing and what they are up to. It’s true. It’s a source of information if the players are on golf days, for example.

“At a hectic stage of the season, say March or April, when you are doing a structured training programme based on recovery, you have a problem if the guys are out walking 18 holes. It’s important to know what they are doing.

“Of course, you then realise you open yourself up to another world. My followers increased overnight when I came to Rangers. It was my wife and daughter before that.

“I’m never going to say comments don’t hurt you, but you have to rise above that. If you come into this game with a thin skin, you are in trouble.”

Warburton has spoken at length over his desire to give media and supporters access to what is going on behind the scenes at Rangers and the fact he encourages his players to speak freely. He sees his dealings on social media as an extension of that.

“Guys live on Twitter,” he said. “I don’t do that at all, but it is interesting sometimes to see the fans’ reaction.

“You are careful not to set yourself up for a fall, but a comment like ‘the boys trained well today’ is giving something back and giving them information.”

Warburton, in addition to casting an eye over their personal accounts, insists he will not lay down the law over social media as a result of a wider emphasis on treating his players like adults.

“You have to trust the players,” he said. “Going back a few years, you had people saying: ‘Sorry to see player x getting injured in training’.

“They were wishing their team-mate well and couldn’t see anything wrong with that, but they were telling the opposition your captain was out for two weeks.”