Fans show loyalty to their hero Halliday
THE eyes of the watching world may now be cast in the direction of divorcing Hollywood A-listers Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
In Glasgow yesterday, though, the only high-profile split that mattered remains the one between Joey Barton and Rangers.
A man seemingly on a quest to fill entire newspapers all by himself, yesterday morning saw the banished Barton’s claim to have been approached by Celtic in the summer ruthlessly slapped down by Parkhead chief executive Peter Lawwell.
The SFA and the Gambling Commission had also opened a probe into claims the controversial 34-year-old had placed a bet on Celtic’s recent Champions League trip to Barcelona.
Barton’s Rangers team-mates, meanwhile, were waking up to an interview in which the former Manchester City and Newcastle United player admitted he may have made a mistake in joining the Ibrox side.
Worse still, he had also poured petrol on the fire by claiming his attempts at dragging his team-mates up to ‘a higher level’ had been misinterpreted, as though Barton were somehow saying: ‘You’re not good enough’. Poor, misjudged Joey!
Indeed, it has been such a circus at Rangers of late that it was mildly surprising to see referee Don Robertson in the centre circle at Ibrox for kick off and not some kind of PT Barnum figure.
For Barton, though, there was to be one final blow in a black week which started with a three-week suspension following his bitter training-ground spat with Mark Warburton and Andy Halliday.
Perhaps stung by the criticism of his indecisive handling of the issue — he was branded as ‘weak’ by his nemesis Chris Sutton — Warburton elected to send out an unequivocal message last night.
His naming of Halliday, the man who stood up to the playground bully, as Rangers captain for the night, was a clear dig in the ribs of the absent Barton. It was also vindicated on a night when Rangers again rediscovered their zip and zest in midfield.
It was no surprise where the Rangers fans’ loyalties lay. With Halliday, a player who grew up in the shadow of Ibrox on the Copland Road, a season-ticket holder from the age of four. Not Barton, the mercenary who played just eight games and is now concentrating on selling his forthcoming autobiography No Nonsense.
With Halliday, a guy who can’t technically remember his first Old Firm game because mum Lynne was nine months pregnant with him when she watched the Ibrox side win 2-0 at Celtic Park in August 1991.
Not Barton, a midfielder who had a first Old Firm game he will never forget, mocked mercilessly after his taunting of Scott Brown and Brendan Rodgers was rammed straight back down his throat in a 5-1 demolition derby. A miserable afternoon that will now be his final appearance in a Rangers jersey.
Before kick-off, the Rangers fans roared their approval of Halliday. Throughout the 90 minutes, they sang the name of their No 16 as he occupied the deep-lying role vacated by Barton.
But the decibel levels at a half-full Ibrox reached a zenith in the second half when Halliday took a pass from substitute Barrie McKay and swept the ball high into the net.
After a first-half goal from Jason Holt, Halliday’s second eliminated any nerves. As he basked in the acclaim, the limelight was then stolen by Martyn Waghorn, scorer of a second-half treble.
This was just the tonic for a stuttering side and a suffering club, who came into last night on the back of draws with Kilmarnock and Ross County, either side of that Old Firm disaster.
Of course, the Barton saga is sure to run and run in the days and weeks ahead. With Halliday’s name ringing out repeatedly to the tune of KC and the Sunshine Band’s Give it Up, though, the question on the lips of Rangers fans as they trooped out of Ibrox last night was: ‘Joey Who?’