Joey Barton in second Scott Brown dig as he brands Fleetwood chairman a 'fool' for sacking him

Joey Barton has continued to air his grievance at being sacked by Fleetwood Town - as the former Rangers midfielder insists they were foolish to bin him.

The Bristol Rovers boss clashed with Celtic legend Scott Brown on Easter Monday as The Gas came from behind to 2-1 away from home in English League One. Barton was dismissed as Cod Army manager in January 2021 and took over in Bristol a month later, and reignited his feud with Brown from his time at Rangers by claiming his former club's fans would rather have him in charge than the Hoops hero.

And in new quotes released by Bristol Live, Barton put some praise on his rival for the job he's done even if it's not in eye-catching style and couldn't resist another dig, this time at Fleetwood chairman Andy Pilley: "He was a fool to sack me, as he knows, and you can see from the style of football and where the club has gone since."

On Brown, he added: "To be fair to Scott, he’s turned them around, had a good cup run and picked them up in the table. It’s taken a bit of time.

"But your mind just goes into winning the game. I want to beat my children at Connect Four and Tiddlywinks, I don’t give anyone an inch in anything, but there was a bit of added spice for my first visit back here."

Brown had said that the eventual winner by Grant Ward was a cross, but Barton wasn't fussed: "I don't care, it’s in the back of the net and we get three points. I don’t want to take the shine off it because it’s a winning goal."