JOEY BARTON is reportedly facing a legal fight after blasting former Bristol Rovers bosses as negligent in an explosive rant.
The former Manchester City midfielder, 38, only took over at the Memorial Stadium in late February.
He replaced Paul Tisdale on a contract until 2023, with Tisdale himself only succeeding Ben Garner in November.
And according to the Daily Mail, lawyers have been contacted after Barton accused the duo of negligence and described their training sessions as a ‘farce’.
Speaking after Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Sunderland, Barton directed his anger at the two previous managers, Tisdale and Garner.
He fumed: “They’ve set these boys up for failure and we’ve got to try to reverse that trend.
“Whatever has gone before me has been negligent. If they were doctors, they should certainly be struck off for what’s gone on here before.
“I could show you the footage of the training sessions. They’re a farce. It wasn’t done correctly.
“How do I know that? Look at the league table. Look at the fact two managers have been removed from the job.”
Barton – who had an acrimonious departure from Fleetwood in January – took over with the Gas just two points above the League One relegation zone.
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In his ten games in charge, Rovers have won twice and now sit 23rd, two points adrift of safety.
He continued his rant by detailing some of the specifics of what he believes Tisdale and Garner got wrong, with neither playing professionally consistently at the top level like Barton.
The one-cap England international then appeared ready for a comeback from the pair and offered to talk through their so-called errors.
Barton continued: “Two-and-a-half-hour sessions on a Friday — what chance have the lads got?
“It’s like having a 15-round spar the night before you have a 12-round scrap. What chance have you got? You’re going to get your head punched in.
“It’s because they don’t know what it’s like to go in the ring, the Colosseum. They’ve read it in a book and they’ve done it on a course and they don’t know. It’s criminal.’
“Those coaches will probably want to take me to task on that and I’ll have absolutely no issue in showing them exactly what they got wrong and where they got it wrong, and they’ll be better coaches for it.
“If they want to get on the phone and have a conversation with me, no problem at all.”
