Ferguson axed as captain, Mcgregor dropped too.

Rangers have stripped Barry Ferguson of the captaincy and dropped the midfielder and keeper Allan McGregor after breaching Scotland discipline.

The pair were sent home from training on Friday and will not face Falkirk.

Rangers manager Walter Smith said he decided to take action after V-signs made by the players while sitting on the bench against Iceland on Wednesday.

They had been dropped by Scotland boss George Burley after a drinking session after Saturday’s defeat by Netherlands.

Now both men have been ordered by Smith to report to Rangers’ training ground at Murray Park on Friday for talks with the club’s chief executive, Martin Bain.

A further statement will then be issued by the club, but there are question marks over the longer-term future of the pair, who have been suspended by Smith for two weeks.

The day after Scotland’s 2-1 win over Iceland, Scottish Football Association chief executive Gordon Smith and manager George Burley suggested that the matter was now closed.

However, SFA president George Peat has since indicated that he wants a further investigation of the events, with other players having been involved in the drinking incident.

He has demanded that Smith and Burley file a report on the incidents to the parent body’s board meeting on Thursday.

And Rangers manager Walter Smith has taken his own action while explaining that it was not so much the drinking controversy that had led to him taking action.

“We were unhappy about that situation, but that was something for George to act on,” said Smith, who has chosen veteran defender David Weir to captain the side until the end of the season.

“The more disappointing aspect for us was the subsequent action on the bench on Wednesday night.

“From the club’s point of view, that was not a good image to project.”

Smith’s side are chasing arch-rivals and Glasgow neighbours Celtic in the race for the title, with Falkirk their next opponents in the Scottish Premier League on Sunday.

“It’s not something we would have wanted at this time, but the timing was not in our control,” said the manager, who thought the players had embarrassed themselves by their actions.

“We just have to react to the circumstances and, regrettably, it has happened at this time.

“Life goes on. We have to go on without the lads.”

Rangers Supporters’ Trust spokesman David Edgar backed the club’s action while admitting that some fans had sympathy for the players.

“Most people I have spoken to have backed the manager as they have let their club and their country down,” he said.

“The gestures were so childish and immature it beggars belief that the captain of Rangers and Scotland thought it was a good idea.

“We need to eradicate this culture of drinking among footballers.”

Ferguson was previously stripped of the Rangers captaincy in 2007 while the team was managed by Frenchman Paul Le Guen but reinstated by Smith.