What Joey Barton made of Port Vale’s sacking of Darrell Clarke

Joey Barton admitted his shock that former Bristol Rovers manager Darrell Clarke lost his job with Port Vale earlier this week.

Clarke signed a five-year deal with the Valiants after leading them to promotion last season, but was relieved of his duties on Monday. He was replaced by Andy Crosby, who had managed the team during his absence during last season.

In Port Vale's first game without Clarke, they went in front against promotion-chasing Ipswich Town through Mal Benning in first-half stoppage time but failed to hold on, after a second-half Nathan Broadhead brace. Vale are without a win in seven matches, and only have three wins in their 20 matches, which has seen them drop down the table and below Rovers.

He said: "You don’t know what’s gone on behind the scenes, but he got them promoted last year in tricky circumstances for him and his family. I thought they made a great start to life in League One and they’re still a number of points above the trap door albeit they’re not over the magic line you need for safety.

“I was surprised but also are you surprised by anything when it comes to football managers anymore?”

"Andy Crosby’s in charge now. Darrell has left his position there. They had a tough game against Ipswich and took the lead. Unfortunately for them, they never managed to capitalise and get maximum points.

"I think it was certainly a different type of performance. I expect it to be slightly different because they’re at home and not playing top-of-the-table away. I expect them to have a bit more attacking ambition. It’ll be a tough fixture, we’ll have to be at our best to take maximum points."

It’s just over a year since Rovers claimed a monumental victory in Staffordshire which put them on course for promotion. Before the match, Vale had a five-point lead over Rovers, and automatic promotion looked unlikely but the win brought them to within two points.

Barton's men came from behind after Jamie Proctor opened the scoring to go in front through Elliot Anderson and James Connolly, before Ryan Loft sparked jubilant celebrations by scoring his first goal for the club. Rovers made the most of slip-ups from the Valiants and Northampton, and the rest was history.

“It was a great day for the fans and the players to kind of unite,” said Barton. That kickstarted a real momentum wall into the last part of the season where I think overcoming that barrier.

“I don’t think we went above Port Vale in the table that day by winning there but I do think it was a big psychological marker for where we were as a team. It allowed us by the goal difference to get that automatic place on the last day of the season.