Gordon Smith: It's time for Rangers to find a way to move things forward in Joey Barton saga

SOMETIMES you need to take a step backwards to go forwards.

It’s a truth and one which I believe Joey Barton would do well to consider as he trains in exile from Rangers’ first-team squad.

I stated in this column a few weeks ago my belief that effectively his time as part of that group was over.

From my experience as an administrator in the game, it looked clear the club had extended his suspension in order to see if they had sufficient grounds to cancel his contract.

That they didn’t – that Barton and his legal team have been able to drag the situation out – doesn’t change the basic fact the manager wants him out.

Mark Warburton hasn’t said so. Not in so many words. Instead it was all about praising the ones who have played on and the improvement in the side over a period when Joey was absent.

And that is significant because the manager, as the man who picks the team, wields a great deal of power.

So while Barton is aggrieved at the way things have gone sour for him since he moved to Ibrox, I think he should take a deep breath and consider the best way forward.

He has certainly been a distraction for Rangers. But, as far as the club are concerned, he will now be out of sight, out of mind.

They are doing well on the pitch. Last week’s 3-0 win over Kilmarnock, arguably their best performance of the season, saw them move up to second place.

Barton’s wages have been budgeted for, so they can press on with their bid to try to consolidate in what, after all, is their first season back in the top flight.

If the player wants the situation to change – and I am sure he must – the ball is in his court to say to Mark Warburton: “Come on, let’s get our heads together and get this sorted out.”

I had fall-outs with managers back when I was a player and that is pretty much just the way it has to be.

When I was with Brighton, I found myself in a similar position to the one Joey is in now following a row with Chris Cattlin.

Chris had been using me as a defensive midfielder, which I told him was a nonsense because I had always been an attacker.

When he replied I was lucky to be getting a game in the side at all, it is fair to say I wasn’t impressed.

Things got heated and I got stuck out training with the reserves.

But, as much as I felt I had been in the right, I made the effort to find common ground because I knew it was the right way forward.

Chris met me halfway by first agreeing to the clear-the-air meeting then, we got together, by listening to what I had to say.

By the end of our time things were much better between us.

And as much as it sounds like Mark hadn’t liked what Joey had to say to him in the aftermath of the training ground row with Andy Halliday, I am sure that would be the case here too.

Get it sorted now, and Joey can push on and get his head in the right place for a return to action at an English club post-January.

Burnley boss Sean Dyche has hinted he might be prepared to take him back to Turf Moor. Even if he is not, Barton’s profile is high enough that he will get himself a club without too much bother – quite possibly at more money than he is on just now.

And that is a goal well worth extending an olive branch for.

Gordon Smith: Getting rid of Joey Barton would be Rangers’ best bit of business