Joey Barton has blasted the EFL Trophy as a "nonsense competition" after Bristol Rovers' 2-0 win over Crystal Palace under-21s on Tuesday, saying "the sooner we're out of it, the better". The Gas secured a comfortable victory at the Mem, with Alfie Kilgour and Trevor Clarke getting the goals, but the manager has made his opinion of the competition clear.
Barton was irked by the performance of referee James Oldham and his decision to send Glenn Whelan off for violent conduct – with Rovers set to appeal – while only producing a yellow card for Kofi Balmer for a "horse collar" foul on Clarke, pulling him to the ground from the collar of his shirt. The Gas manager was also angered by other fouls his players took from the team level on points at the top of Premier League 2 Division 1 with Manchester City.
It led Barton to speak of his "disdain" for the tournament, admitting Rovers do not "take it seriously". He believes the format of the competition, which brought in under-21 teams from Premier League academies in 2016 as well as quotas requiring at least four senior players in the starting XI – a move that has been widely unpopular across the EFL – is not helping EFL clubs.
"I thought they (Crystal Palace) were what the problem is in the modern game, an academy side that are miles away from producing people who can play in the league," he said. "They’re so far away, let’s be honest, so it kind of makes a mockery for me of what that Premier League 2 is.
"You hear me talk all the time about these big clubs stockpiling players and what player for them today… We wouldn’t take any of their players, we just wouldn’t, they're so far away. It’s a good opportunity for us to look at that because we do like to utilise the loan market but I was so surprised to see them.
"It’s easy for them because their games don’t matter. Their games are irrelevant and nobody cares about them, but we’ve got a proper game on Saturday when mortgages are on the line, real football, real men’s football. So to have a team of kids go out and leave late challenges on you is bizarre. The competition is about developing younger players."
With four points from their opening two games in Group M, Rovers are well placed to qualify for the knockout stages with just already-eliminated Swindon Town left to play. That game will be played at the Mem on October 18.
But the Rovers boss says he will not be taking any risks with any key players in that game, airing his frustration with the officiating after a bruising night for the Gas. Kilgour had to be withdrawn after being caught in the head and he has entered concussion protocol, while Sylvester Jasper and John Marquis also took knocks.
"We don’t really want to play in this competition, I’ll level with you," Barton continued. "It’s a waste of our time because we get players suspended, you get players injured from nonsense tackles from young kids who are miles off playing men’s footy. I just don’t see why we should support it.
"Next game, I may well just play our kids because I can’t risk my first-team players getting injured against a bunch of kids who are miles off the level and trying to impress people who are watching by kicking senior players. It’s a nonsense competition.
"Who cares about it? It’s a nonsense competition, and when it’s officiated in that fashion it makes me even further devalue the competition. I’ve tried to support it in all my time but when I get officials like that who are basically on work experience sending my players off that don’t deserve to be sent off and all the while allowing young players to steam in and make stupid tackles and don’t book them or reprimand them because they’re young players, it’s a nonsense.
"We don’t take it seriously, so I said to the lads tonight go out and enjoy it because the opposition are inferior because they are a bunch of kids. If you take their teamsheet and look at it in five years’ time, some of those lads will be working in civilian jobs. They won’t be playing football. Youth teams are usually geared around the development of one or two players, so I get why the EFL have put the competition in, but you can see from my point of view, if I lose any real senior players, we’ve got a proper game at the weekend and real football to come.
"You try to do the right thing because if we don’t fulfil the quotas, we get fined and all the other nonsense that comes down the track, but you can see from our standpoint we’ve got a duty of care to fulfil our league campaign and play the best team we can on a Saturday in the league. Having this nonsense of a competition in the middle of it, when players can be injured and suspended now, it just makes me question it.
"Who is the competition for? Is it for Crystal Palace? Yeah, I think so. Is it for the referees and officials to gain experience? Yeah. It isn’t for senior players and senior teams, it’s just a deterrent to us. The sooner we’re out of it the better and I’m going to go forward carrying absolute disdain for the competition when referees officiate it like that."
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