Dougie Freedman warned last summer that Joey Barton would not accept Rangers being second best to Celtic.
Nottingham Forest manager Dougie Freedman
Dougie Freedman has emerged as a potential managerial candidate for Rangers, with SkyBet making him now the third favourite for the position.
Freedman is out of work after being sacked by Nottingham Forest a year ago, a club where he tried to sign ex-Rangers midfielder Joey Barton.
The Scot spoke out last summer about Barton’s acquisition by the Gers as a free agent, hailing it as a coup, while also offering a warning which manager Mark Warburton did not observe.
He told the Glasgow Evening Times: “They have to go close as they can to Celtic and Barton’s signing pushes it. Joey’s a serious guy, he’s not taking second-best.
“In terms of what is said about him and supposed baggage, you’d need to control it. All top athletes live on the edge. As a manager you want that. You have to keep them on that straight and narrow.”
A subsequent argument on the training ground put paid to Barton’s career at the club and he was later released, although he will maintain he was simply voicing some home truths.
Dougie Freedman warned that Barton needed to be managed effectively if he and Rangers were to succeed, but Warburton could not handle him.
Freedman himself believes he is capable of handling such characters, and while Barton won’t be returning to Ibrox, the manager appears to understand what is demanded.
Rangers’ Joey Barton looks dejected
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