Mark Warburton has accused Joey Barton of being "derogatory and disrespectful" after his firebrand interview about their time at Rangers.
The former midfielder called Warburton "clueless" as he recounted his ill-fated spell in Glasgow.
Now managing Queens Park Rangers, the former Ibrox boss has had his saw as he vowed to rise above the comments.
Warburton said on TalkSPORT: "Firstly it’s disappointing, I think, when any manager makes derogatory and disrespectful comments to a fellow manager.
“So I’m not going to lower myself and get drawn into any small boy’s spat, far from it.
“Suffice to say that such comments, there’s no truth to them, there’s no substance to them.”
Barton alleged that the Rangers manager was "shaking like a s*******g dog" before a 5-1 defeat to Celtic, but Warburton doesn't remember it that way.
He insisted: "Big game for everyone concerned, a time of anticipation. So of course I remember it very differently to him.
“As I say, I’m not going to get involved in these child-like spats, far from it, but it’s important to know that there a number of players that are mentioned in his article are top characters, great players, and I’m sure they have a very, very different story.
"It’s a person making disrespectful and derogatory comments, it’s totally uncalled for. And especially manager-to-manager now.
“So I think the best thing to do is to leave the speech to the players.
“People like Andy Halliday are Rangers through-and-through, outstanding characters on and off the field.
“I’ve got huge respect for Andy as a person, so I’m sure if someone of his character reads such comments he’ll be deeply disappointed and angry as well.
“But there’s no point losing your dignity and getting involved in this ugly type of spat, it’s just about making sure people understand the true story, hopefully, and they know what managing Rangers means to someone like myself, what a privilege it was to manage a club of such distinction.
"I think maintaining dignity and respect in our game, especially at a time like this, is very important.
“I know how I want to conduct myself."
