Joey Barton has been sacked as manager of Bristol Rovers just two days after he called rival boss Steve Evans a ‘fat man’ and a ‘weeble’.
The club are winless in their last three matches and currently sit 16th in the League One table after collecting just 16 from a possible 39 points this season.
The former Newcastle United and Manchester City player made the comments towards Evans following his side’s 1-1 draw with Stevenage on Tuesday.
A Bristol Rovers statement said: ‘Everyone at the club would like to thank Joey for all his efforts and wish him well in the future.’
First-team coach Andy Mangan will now lead the side as interim manager. Fellow coaches Glenn Whelan, Danny Ventre and Anssi Jaakkola will also support him.
He said: ‘Tonight, we were disappointed that we didn’t get the foul for their first goal, disappointed that we didn’t get a penalty when the lads handballs it.’
Barton then added: ‘Obviously, the fat man’s going bananas at the referee which is normal for the end of a game. Every referee at this level knows they’re going to get the weeble wobbling across the pitch and berating them.
‘But again, I’ll have to watch it back. He’s complaining it’s a handball in the build up to our goal so maybe it has evened the course there.’
Barton led the club back to the third tier in his first full season at the club.
Delighted with their promotion, the club offered him a three-year contract running until 2026 which he signed in July last year.
He then guided the team to a 17th place finish last season.
The former midfielder represented City, Newcastle, QPR and Burnley as well as picking up an England cap in 2007.
He also spent a period of his career at Rangers before a loan spell at Marseille in France.
His sacking also comes three weeks after Barton launched a bizarre attack on one of his own Bristol Rovers players after a 2-0 defeat on the road by Peterborough.
Barton was full of praise for all but one of his players, picking out Luke Thomas in particular for a blasting.
