8 Ibrox bust-ups between Rangers players and managers

Kenny Miller has been told to train with Rangers' youth team after a fallout with boss Pedro Caixinha. Here Andy Newport looks at some earlier Ibrox bust-ups that made headlines.

Former Rangers manager Mark Warburton (left) with Joey Barton. Picture: SNS

1. Graeme Souness v Terry Butcher

The then England captain was a major factor in Rangers’ rejuvenation under Souness but their relationship turned sour with Butcher angry the manager was rushing his return from injury after the 1990 World Cup. Things got progressively worse and Butcher was sent to Coventry.

2. Graeme Souness v Graham Roberts

When Souness blamed Roberts for the goal which cost Gers defeat against Aberdeen in 1988 - a claim the former Spurs hard man contested - there was only going to be one winner. Roberts was banished from the first-team squad and even made to travel to a reserve fixture in Malliag before Chelsea provided him with an escape.

3. Paul Le Guen v Fernando Ricksen

Former Lyon boss Paul Le Guen arrived in Glasgow in 2006 with a reputation for being a disciplinarian who demanded peak fitness. So when Ricksen got into an altercation with an air stewardess after drinking alcohol on the flight to their training camp in South Africa he was immediately sent back to Scotland, with a loan move to Zenit St Petersburg hastily arranged.

4. Paul Le Guen v Barry Ferguson

Rangers struggled under Le Guen and skipper Ferguson felt the boss should have been demanding more from his players. When Ferguson spoke out once too often, he was dropped for a trip to Motherwell and stripped of the captaincy. This time it was player power that triumphed as Le Guen soon resigned.

5. Walter Smith v Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor

Ferguson and McGregor found themselves the subject of a national outcry after being caught up in the ‘Boozegate’ scandal following Scotland’s 2009 defeat to Holland in Amsterdam, and club boss Smith decided the shame they had inflicted on Gers was too much. But while both were initially told their Ibrox careers were over, Smith later backed down after criticising the SFA’s handling of the affair.

6. Ally McCoist v Fran Sandaza

McCoist had to rebuild his Light Blues squad after Gers’ 2012 financial implosion and turned to a number of Premiership players - including ex-St Johnstone and Dundee United striker Sandaza - as he plotted their route back from the Third Division. But when the under-performing Spaniard was caught trying to set-up a move to the MLS during a hoax phone call with a prankster masquerading as an agent, Gers chiefs sacked him.

7. Mark Warburton v Joey Barton

Warburton was the man who eventually led Gers back to the Premiership and called in Barton to take the fight to champions Celtic. But a humiliating 5-1 drubbing in the first Old Firm showdown of the 2016/17 campaign sparked a training-ground bust-up between the pair days later and Barton, after initially being suspended, was eventually shown the door - but only after agreeing a costly pay-off.

8. Pedro Caixinha v Barrie McKay and Michael O’Halloran

Caixinha promised to shake things up after being appointed last season but his hard-line approach quickly put him at odds with wingers McKay and O’Halloran. McKay was sent to train with the youths after rejecting a new contract while O’Halloran was also banished after failing to show for an Under-20s fixture. McKay has since joined Nottingham Forest for a knock-down £500,000 fee while O’Halloran has been told he is not required back at Ibrox when his St Johnstone loan ends in January.