Mark Warburton insists he grasps high expectations at Rangers

Rangers manager Mark Warburton has come under severe pressure following recent poor results. Picture: SNS.

Whatever assured air the Englishman might seek to affect, it does feel like tomorrow would be his last stand in the – crucially – unlikely event of second-tier Morton dumping their hosts from the Scottish Cup.

Warburton is accused, and has been so emphatically in press, broadcast and television circles this week, of coming over as a man at odds with his environment; not fully appreciative of the fact that you  win or you are nothing in the Glasgow footballing domain.

Rangers, with an £11 million budget – almost double that of the Aberdeen side sitting ahead of them in second in the Premiership – would be absolutely nothing in the eyes of a populace conditioned to expect superiority were they to lose to Jim Duffy’s men. Especially when they have been thumped 4-1 by Hearts and held 1-1 by Ross County in their previous two matches.

And especially when a cup exit would ensure that no major trophy would arrive at Ibrox for a sixth straight year. Even in Warburton attempting to make plain nothing is a mystery to him, he somehow still left it sounding a little uncomfortably alien.

“I have been here 18 months. I think if you are the manager of Rangers, manager of Celtic or any major club, you are going to get the abuse,” Warburton said. “We lost heavily, 4-1, so you are going to get the barrage of comments. But you have to deal with it.

“Am I surprised by the ferocity? Maybe. But I am told that is life in Glasgow and that I don’t get it. I do get it. Rest assured, I absolutely get it. I am not a rocket scientist but I am not stupid.”

Neither is he misguided in backing head of recruitment Frank McParland, the Rangers manager would maintain. Even when there is a narrative that since McParland arrived the players following him have tended to contribute far less than those Warburton brought in over his first year. A narrative that overlooks the fact it was much easier for Rangers signings back then to look the part as they were playing in the Championship.

“There are questions asked because we’re 27 points behind Celtic, I understand that, but there’s many successes that haven’t been mentioned,” he said. “I’ve read some comments in the papers which I think are ludicrous.

“Is Clint Hill a success? Is Lee Hodson a success? Was Matt Gilks a success? So you go through the team. Jordan [Rossiter] has been injured, very unfortunate, [Niko] Kranjcar very unfortunate. You can go through every team.

“Last year we were very fortunate to get every single one right and that is highly unusual. Normally you say to yourself get seven out of ten right, any boss would take that. So maybe we were very lucky last year and a little unlucky this year, that’s the way the game goes.”

Yet, it is successes of last season that are now perceived as anything but this term. Rob Kiernan knows that only too well after being verbally abused when making his way to the players’ lounge at Ibrox on Saturday, the central defender having been left out of the squad following the Hearts’ hammering.

“It was totally inappropriate,” said Warburton.” When there is family in attendance, it has crossed the so-called line and 99.9 per cent of fans would be appalled.

“It’s tough but it’s part of the challenge. This is a big, big club [and] where would you rather be? Playing in front of 1,000 people at a crappy little stadium, or doing what you are doing at Rangers?

“It’s character building and Rob’s a big character. His focus is Rangers and everyone’s focus is Rangers, so there is no problem with Rob at all.”