The two will forever be intrinsically linked when supporters look back on their time at Rangers. But Mark Warburton wants his Ibrox legacy to be remembered for more than just a public fallout with Joey Barton.

When you think of Warburton's time in Glasgow, it's almost natural to picture Barton. Especially since their spat became so public after the player accused the former Gers boss of lacking leadership in the dressing room when they needed it most.

A difficult pill to swallow, then, for Warburton - a man who reached a Scottish Cup final on a shoestring budget by beating fierce rivals Celtic, won promotion to the top flight and sealed silverware, albeit only the Petrofac Training Cup. That's what the former Brentford manager wants to make unequivocally clear. That he did, indeed, bring some success to Ibrox during his spell in charge.

Signing Barton - a member of the English Premier League's team of the year at the time - was considered a coup for the Light Blues. Supporters were delighted at his arrival, with some even convinced he would help his new side to domestic success at the expense of Celtic. Ultimately, however, the transfer failed miserably and Warburton has accepted that.

The current QPR manager also holds his hands up and accepts that he should have blooded more young players in the Scottish Premiership. Having signed the ageing Clint Hill, Niko Kranjcar and Philippe Senderos, only the former can be considered a somewhat decent acquisition. Another regret for the ex-Gers manager.

"The move obviously didn't work but Joey was an excellent footballer with a strong CV," Warburton told Herald and Times Sport. "Off the back of an outstanding season with Burnley where he was in the Championship team of the year and won promotion to the Premier League. The blue side of Glasgow were excited about that transfer that summer.

"If you get seven out of 10 signings right, you're doing a fantastic job! Joey looked a good signing, though I'll hold my hands up and say I made the mistake of thinking we needed more maturity, a bit of steel around us because you're always going to be judged against Celtic. It was maybe my fault and we should've gone with the younger ones, still, and said it was part of our building.

"It was a massive turnover of players because we had to, so you're not going to get everyone right. We got record season tickets sold in advance, it was a massive thing. Nobody has ever said, 'How many season tickets were down to Barton or Kranjcar?' I'm sure a good number of them were sold thanks to these signings. Generally though, you're going to get some signings wrong, of course you are.

"I'm obviously disappointed when people come out with derogatory, derisory comments. There's no point getting involved in a playground spat because you've got to be better than that. I just hope Rangers fans see more than just a short spat with Joey Barton being the legacy."

With news breaking this week that Andy Halliday, Jason Holt and Wes Foderingham would be leaving the club at the expiry of their contracts, Warburton has always reflected on the trio as positive signings from his time. Having spent very little on transfers as Rangers manager, he was content with what he brought in for what he paid out.

Only a minor frustration, then, that supporters seemed convinced that the club was splashing out huge sums of money on weekly wages. An issue Warburton was quick to clear up. "I look back at, say, Wes Foderingham who did outstandingly well and could easily go straight into goal for Rangers now," he said. "He was a free transfer.

"Tav [James Tavernier] and Waggy [Martyn Waghorn] were a combined £300k, Danny Wilson was free, Rob Kiernan. Jason Holt and Andy Halliday all free. These signings were very low cost and even the older ones, Clint Hill and Niko were free because we had very limited budget to work with.

"Another micro-frustration was people saying, 'Oh Niko Kranjcar was on £25,000 a week', it was laughable. Some of the numbers being banded around were nonsensical. It was fractions of that, but it was farcical that fans thought Rangers would be paying that sort of wage. We never paid anywhere near these wages.

"We knew the situation in terms of budget, we knew money wouldn't be forthcoming. But you always want to make sure the supporters get as much communication as possible. Sometimes they don't want to hear the message. Right now clubs are talking about deferring wages and some don't want to hear the words pay cut. It's the elephant in the room, you have to think about these things. You want supporters to have that really clear picture of where their club is at any moment in time.

"They should know, for example, Niko Kranjcar. 'Oh he's way past his best'. Yes, we could never afford to get him at his best. The Rangers of a few years ago, they're bringing in Brian Laudrup, Lorenzo Amoruso. That was a different time. Now you wouldn't get Clint Hill at his best, we got him at 35 on a free transfer because that's all we could afford at the time. I just found it frustrating, we wanted to give the supporters more information because it's all about making them understand where their club is.

"I'm delighted for them now that the money is starting to flow, it's great for Steven. I really wish Rangers every success but without the financial backing it's almost impossible."