saw Rangers stutter to a 1–1 draw at home to Hamilton Academical and despite registering wins in the following two matches Rangers went through the month of September without winning a league match, including defeats to both Aberdeen and Celtic. The aftermath from the latter match saw Rangers suspend midfielder Joey Barton for three weeks. He had been involved in a training-ground bust-up with fellow midfielder Andy Halliday a few days after losing to Celtic. The suspension was extended by another week on 9 October and Barton was also charged by the Scottish Football Association for breaking rules relating to gambling on football matches. Upon the completion of his suspension, Barton returned to Ibrox for a meeting on 27 October; however, upon its conclusion it emerged that he remained suspended by the club, and no party made further comment. In the meantime, despite the first-team's indifferent league form, the side still sat second in the Premiership by the end of October, even though two of the marquee summer signings had effectively been ruled out for the season, with Barton returning from suspension but being relegated to the youth team and Niko Kranjčar suffering cruciate ligament injury, which sidelined him for the rest of the season. Barton was unhappy at being relegated to the youth team and was signed off with stress on 8 November, but the saga came to a conclusion two days later when the Englishman mutually agreed to a contract termination. The side's form improved through December, with a four-match winning run on the back of a 2–0 defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle on 30 November. The final two matches of 2016 saw the side collect one point from a possible six, with a draw at St Johnstone and defeat in the third Old Firm derby of the season. This left the club second in the table going into 2017 and the mid-season break, two points ahead of third-placed Aberdeen, although the Dons had a game in hand. The January transfer window saw the club released several former youth prospects who had failed to meet expectations, while Mark Warburton brought in two young loanee signings from English Premier League sides in the shape of Emerson Hyndman and Jon Toral from AFC Bournemouth and Arsenal, respectively. However, the lack of any permanent outfield signings drew criticism, as did the performances of the previous summer's transfers, with particular focus being