Joey Barton says he "cannot wait" to speak to the Football Association about his red card in Bristol Rovers' draw with Fleetwood Town on Saturday, with the Gas manager hitting out at the appointment of referee Robert Madden.
Rovers believe a series of calls went against them in a galling 2-2 draw against Scott Brown's side, with the Gas storming back from a goal down to lead 2-1 until Shaun Rooney's 99th-minute equaliser. Among the decisions that angered the Gas was Aaron Collins' booking for simulation in the penalty area when he was adamant there was contact, and in the aftermath of the game footage and images appear to show Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch making contact with the face of Lewis Gordon in a fracas during a break in play.
Midway through the signalled seven minutes of stoppage time, Barton was shown a straight red card by Mr Madden, a former Scottish Premiership official, for foul and abusive language. The Rovers manager has since apologised, but he remains enraged by the referee's handling of the game and he says he is mystified by the decision to appoint him for that fixture, pointing to the official's time in Scotland and Barton and Brown's polar opposite perceptions by the football community north of the border – Brown is a legend in Celtic circles after winning countless trophies, while Barton has pantomime villain status from a brief and dismal spell at Rangers.
Barton is yet to be charged by the FA and he is set to be on the touchline for Saturday's game against Peterborough United, although he has been invited to speak to the authorities and he said he will relish the chance to do so.
"You’re disappointed we haven’t won the game; that was the overriding feeling," Barton said at his pre-match press conference on Thursday. "I was frustrated I had been sent off because I’ve said a lot worse to officials and not been sent off, so I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.
"But I shouldn’t swear at him. I’m a human being and you naturally get caught up in the emotion of the game and when decisions are marginal calls and you feel they’re not going for you, you get frustrated.
"I apologised on Sunday to Bobby. I think he’s a good referee. He’s obviously new to the English pyramid, he’s done most of his refereeing north of the border.
"If I said what I truly believed, I would get banned and fined massively. It’s the reason I didn’t do the press after the game because we can’t tell the truth about what’s happening because we’re punished if we do.
"From my side of that, I’m disappointed because I’m kicking myself – ‘Did we concede in the stoppage time of me getting sent off?’ I ask the players to have a collective bed of discipline and I have to take accountability for losing my discipline. The last thing you want to do is put the team at a detriment and I felt I did that on Saturday, so I need to be better."
In the wake of the game tweeted an apology for swearing at Mr Madden, accompanied by a screenshot of a Google search that showed the official was from Scotland.
Barton did not fulfil his post-match media duties on Saturday in the wake of his red card, with first-team coach Andy Mangan facing the media in his place. The Rovers boss said on Thursday he cannot be truly honest about how he feels because he is certain he would be reprimanded by the FA.
"You speak to the referees’ association and the powers that be there and you get some answers back, but why was he doing that game of all games?" Barton said in reference to Mr Madden's connections with Scotland. "The fact he hadn’t refereed Fleetwood to that point was the reason I was given, but surely that isn’t the game to put him on?
"They give you the answers back from there and you’re scratching your head a bit going ‘Why was common sense not applied?
"How do we as football players or football staff voice our discontent? Because we can’t do it in the media because they’ll fine us or ban us. I wasn’t allowed to speak to him after the game, he wouldn’t speak to me. Usually, we’re allowed to after 30 minutes but I wasn’t allowed to do that.
"On Saturday, Sunday and Monday, you’re speaking to the FA and the referees and the EFL, but the official just carries on regardless.
"If I truly said what I believe happened in the game on Saturday, I’d be banned – I guarantee you – for a long period and I’d be fined. If I felt it was worthwhile to do so, I’d call it out, but you can all sense my frustration and everyone knows what I’m saying.
"I will get pulled in. I think the FA want to interview me about what was said and I cannot wait to go and speak to the FA because I’m going to speak to them and call it exactly what it was on Saturday. I’m not going to do that in this forum, but when I speak to the FA – because I feel that’s my place to say what’s happened – I’m going to explain to them and it’s going to be quite blunt because that’s the way I see it."
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