Joey Barton took a swipe at Scott Brown's Fleetwood tactics after his Bristol Rovers side came from behind to win 2-1 at Highbury on Easter Monday.
Barton, who managed Fleetwood for three years, was sacked in January 2021 and took charge of The Gas just over a month a later as he tried to keep them in League One. The former Manchester City midfielder failed to maintain Rovers' third tier status, however, as they dropped back to League Two.
There were some concerns about whether Barton was the right fit for the job - but he proved those doubters wrong as he guided The Gas to promotion back to League One at the first time of asking. This season, Barton's Rovers are firmly in mid-table, with 51 points from their 39 matches.
He took his side to former club Fleetwood for the first time since his departure two years ago on Monday - where he was reunited with Scott Brown on the touchline. The pair endured some tasty midfield battles in the Old Firm during their playing careers when Barton was at Rangers and Brown at Celtic.
There was no love lost in the dugout, too, as Fleetwood and Rovers played out a feisty affair in Lancashire, with Grant Ward's second-half strike earning The Gas all three points. After the game, Barton issued a scathing attack on Brown and his former employers.
He said post-match: "I spoke to the boys at half-time and said just settle down and keep passing the ball. I thought we were good value for the victory, the wind here is a factor and the first half we were into it and it made it tricky as they kick it long and want to pin you in, they are quite effective at that.
"I think we were the better side on the afternoon, we were the only side trying to play football. They are effective at what they do. But Fleetwood fans must be disappointed Joey Barton isn't their manager because we were miles the better football team than they are seeing at the minute. It's Fleetwood's loss and Bristol Rovers' gain."
Meanwhile, Brown delivered his verdict on his side's performance and provided a rather more balanced look on the game and the result. The defeat leaves Fleetwood in 15th, a point and a place behind Rovers in League One.
He said: "It's a little bit of a disappointing one today; they do it on a Friday, and in training and it’s disappointing not to do it on a Saturday. Corrie [Ndaba] could get a bit tighter for the first goal but there wasn’t a lot we could do about the second one - it was a freak goal, there’s nothing we could do there.
"I'’s tough for [Jay] Lynchy, someone’s got to go and help him out there. For us, we need to get better at dealing with those second phases."
"I thought first half we were sitting there and were happy," Brown added. "We knew we were going to be under pressure first twenty minutes. For us, we needed to make sure we held out that little bit longer.
"It's more about second phases and reactions. In that moment and time, you’ve got a lot of defending to do. There was a couple of lads switching off, but we hung on in there."
