Bristol Rovers sack Joey Barton with League One side sitting 16th in the table

Bristol Rovers have confirmed they have parted company with Joey Barton following a disappointing start to the 2023-24 campaign. 

The Pirates have won just one of their last five matches and are sitting 16th in the League One table. 

The club released a statement on bristolrovers.co.uk that read: “Bristol Rovers can confirm that today the club has relieved first-team manager Joey Barton of his duties. 

“Everyone at the club would like to thank Joey for all his efforts and wish him well in the future. 

“In the interim, Andy Mangan will lead the team supported by Glenn Whelan, Danny Ventre and Anssi Jaakkola who will remain in post.” 

Barton was appointed manager in February 2021 when they were fighting a relegation battle to stay in League One.  

The former Manchester City player failed to keep them in the third tier as they finished bottom to go down to League Two. 

However, he stayed at the Memorial Stadium the following season and led them back to League One after a third-place finish in the fourth tier. 

They finished 17th last term but have failed to kick on, and the club’s hierarchy decided to fire Barton from his position. 

The English boss led his side to only a single win from their first six league matches before their impressive success over Shrewsbury Town and Wigan Athletic. 

But another miserable run followed that saw them register just a single victory from their five matches. 

Barton’s final game in charge was against Stevenage when the two teams played out a 1-1 draw on Tuesday.