Joey Barton sent off and sits in stands as Fleetwood Town boss kicks-off against Bristol Rovers

JOEY BARTON was shown a red card and sent to the stands during his Fleetwood Town side’s 0-0 draw with Bristol Rovers. The fiery 37-year-old was incensed after a Ched Evans goal was disallowed with 20 minutes to go at Highbury. He thought his side had taken the lead, only for referee Paul Marsden to […]

JOEY BARTON was shown a red card and sent to the stands during his Fleetwood Town side’s 0-0 draw with Bristol Rovers.

The fiery 37-year-old was incensed after a Ched Evans goal was disallowed with 20 minutes to go at Highbury.

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He thought his side had taken the lead, only for referee Paul Marsden to disallow the effort for offside after a consultation with his linesman.

And the former Manchester City, QPR and Burnley man took his protestations too far – with play being halted for three minutes as Fleetwood argued the decision.

Marsden decided to put his foot down, and send Barton to the stands.

Remarkably, this wasn’t the first time that Barton has been sent to the stands against Bristol Rovers.

In December 2018, he was slapped with a two-match touchline ban after being sent off by referee Brett Huxtable as his side lost 2-1 at the Memorial Stadium.

His post-match comments about Huxtable that day also saw him land a £2,000 fine.

He said: “Brett needs to have a serious look at his decision-making process.

“The Bristol Rovers staff we spoke to before the game were concerned because he has been here before and caused havoc.

“We needed a good referee to control what was a very good game of football and unfortunately we didn’t get it.”

Barton is no stranger to seeing red after a feisty playing career that saw him sent off nine times.

Most notoriously for his meltdown for QPR against Manchester City on the day that his former club won the Premier League for the first time.