In an appearance on Open Goal, Duncan spoke about his interactions with the former Scotland international and Rangers' loanee, who rejoined his former club last summer, replacing interim manager Barry Ferguson, but was dismissed after 17 games.

Duncan, who reported on Martin regularly during this time, said the "barriers" typically present with Old Firm managers were absent with Martin. He recalled the first press conference held before the Panathinaikos match, where he clumsily worded a question about the timing of the qualifiers.

Duncan asked Martin, who was relatively new in his job, how challenging it was to have early season-defining qualifiers. According to Duncan, Martin brusquely replied that the qualifiers were not season-defining and shot him down.

Duncan said: "The next time I went up (to interview him), it was just one-to-one and I introduced myself as Gordon from Sky.

"He said, 'I know who you are, you asked the f*****g worst question the other day about it being f*****g season-defining. Do me a f*****g favour'."

Martin's nonchalant manner and the expletive-laden exchange removed any supposed barriers between the pair. Duncan said he asked what would happen if...