Joey Barton has revealed that former Rangers boss Mark Warburton made Andy Halliday cry on the eve of an Old Firm game against Celtic in 2016.
The Gers were given a huge wake-up call early on in the 2016-17 season when Warburton's side lost 5-1 to the Hoops.
It was the first derby meeting between the pair in a Premiership game since 2012 following the financial collapse that threatened Rangers' existence and saw them demoted several divisions.
Halliday had been a midfield linchpin for Warburton in helping the Ibrox club to promotion during the 2015-16 campaign, but the English manager dropped him for the Celtic clash.
And Barton, who spent a few months under Warburton that season before a controversial dismissal, revealed that the Rangers-mad star was devastated by the snub, only finding out the night before via a text message.
He said to Football CFB podcast: "Andy was crying at the dinner that he was dropped, you could see he was gutted. You could see he was genuinely wounded because he's Rangers through and through.
"Obviously, first Old Firm back in the Scottish Prem and he wants to be part of it. He was gutted, I think, that Warbs didn't have a conversation with him and that he had to find out by text."
Halliday's inclusion probably wouldn't have made a difference to the scoreline, but the 28-year-old, a diehard Rangers fan, could justifiably have felt disappointed.
Games against Celtic are massive but it was particularly big on that occasion, given the summer suggestions that Warburton - who was sacked a few months before that season ended - was tipped to push a Brendan Rodgers-led Bhoys side all the way, which didn't happen.
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