It may be disastrous. It may be a masterstroke. It won't be dull. Joey Barton: Bristol Rovers appoint former Fleetwood boss and ex-England midfielder as new manager - BBC Sport Joey Barton Announced as Bristol Rovers Manager - News - Bristol Rovers
A deal until 2023. Hopefully, to save Rovers any embarrassment, he won't be serving half of it in prison.
He brings in Clint Hill as his assistant manager and Andy Mangan as his first team coach. Current coaching staff will stay on and make up the rest of the backroom staff.
What do Andy Mangan and Joey Barton have in common? They've both been fined and banned from football for betting offences! FFS!
Good one! We'll be hearing about Rovers' lengthening injury list soon - "groin, hamstring or ACL?" - "No, the gaffer punched me in the face/stubbed a cigar in my eye/knocked my teeth out/broke my jaw etc etc"!!
Those who I go with (before lockdown of course) are split on this. I have had 1 message me saying "about time we got someone who is not a yes man and who won't hold any punches". Think he was trying to be funny! Another messaged me saying "I feel like I've been abandoned and now clubless". So just from a group of friends, I've had split opinions. Some of us have said that we may end up going to Twerton (when fans are allowed back) just as a social thing to get our football fix.
I wish I'd put a tenner on this when I first posted on your board. I'm sort of with you on this Captain Jack. If it was my club I would be torn between giving it up and getting my fix. I have to say I wouldn't want him at Home Park unless it's in the away dug out. Even then not sure I'd want him here at all.
Just heard the shock news lads - I would have thought that as a 'family friendly club' your owner wouldn't have gone down this managerial route when chosing a new manager/coach. The Cowley brothers who did so well with Lincoln City would have been a better choice to my mind. My first impression of Barton as a player was a good few years ago, when he was playing for Manchester City against Pompey at Fratton Park. Pedro Mendes was our best midfielder at the time, he was controlling the ball in front of the dugouts, and Barton who was behind him raked his studs right down the back of his leg deliberately, and put him out of the match (and out of football for a couple of months). Immediately after the foul, he looked straight at their manager Stuart Pearce and openly smiled and winked at him, to confirm he had "done the business".......what an utter lowlife !! Hope the git helps you avoid the drop though
Anyone would have been a better choice. Past performance is a good indicator of what to expect in the future, I'm afraid.
The good thing footballing-wise is that Wael is not afraid to fire managers, so if Barton fails on the pitch then he will be gone by the end of the season. If he succeeds on the pitch and brings wins to our success-starved club, then his previous misdemeanours will fade into the background. He wouldn’t have been my first choice by any means, but he might just be what we need.
Well he's here now, whether we like it or not, so I guess it's a case of simply watching what happens - I tend to agree that he wont be here too long if the results don't improve enough to keep us up, and if they do, and we survive, then it's job done for this season, and he'll be judged on how well we do next season. I feel the squad we currently have definitely need a strong manager who wont hesitate to call them out if needed, and God knows, they've needed that for a long time, so in that respect, he could be the right kind of manager we need. As regards all the other stuff, I don't see we have much option but to let his past lie, and judge him on his time with us from now on. I must admit, he came across as quite articulate and pleasant on the TV interview I saw earlier, so it will be very interesting to see how things pan out, both for him personally and more importantly, for our club.
We can only thank you for JCH but we did pay you lot of money for him Hes looks like hes lost a lot of weight and seems fitter we be lost if he gets injured Nicols was a good buy lol
Joey Barton has "lofty ambitions" for Bristol Rovers: Joey Barton: Bristol Rovers boss sets long-term aim for promotion - BBC Sport