Barton expects fine and touchline ban after red card

Posted Monday, December 30, 2019 by PA

Fleetwood boss Joey Barton is expecting punishment from the Football Association after he was sent off during an ill-tempered 0-0 home draw against play-off chasing rivals Bristol Rovers.

Barton was shown a yellow and then a red card after vociferous protests when Ched Evans’ goal was disallowed 20 minutes from time.

Referee Paul Marsden ruled out Evans’ goal after consulting a linesman as the shot seemingly touched an offside Paddy Madden on its way into the net.

Barton said: “The referee made a decision that it was no goal and as frustrating as that is for us, I need to hear the decision clarified.

“It seems what he said he disallowed the goal for and what actually transpired are two totally different things.

“It doesn’t help us now, there’s nothing I can do about it, I’m probably going to get a fine off the FA now and I’m probably going to have to sit and watch a game from the stands.

“I’m just passionate, and I care about my team winning games. I think we deserved to win today and our fans deserved to see a win.

“If the referee disallows a goal like that they’ve got to be absolutely sure of what it was disallowed for, surely.

“It was just total confusion. All the Rovers players were trying to influence the fourth official, and so it just became a mess because the officials didn’t deal with the situation properly.

“It’s frustrating because we have been brilliant, disciplinary-wise.”

Fleetwood ought to have struck in the second minute, but Madden fired wide from eight yards after he had met Evans’ flick-on.

Rovers midfielder Ed Upson was denied by Town keeper Alex Cairns while just before the hour mark, Evans dived in but planted a free header wide from Kyle Dempsey’s super cross.

Evans saw a thumping strike pushed onto the woodwork by keeper Anssi Jaakola after Barton’s dismissal, while Rovers sub Tom Nichols’ looping effort also hit the bar.

Rovers’ recently-appointed boss Ben Garner was pleased with his first point since taking over, while he also revealed that he was merely a bystander when the Barton melee was going on.

Garner said: “To be honest we were calm throughout what was happening. The lads stayed focused and stuck to their game, and credit to them for that.

“They’ve been brilliant since I’ve been here. We’ve been really stretched in terms of numbers, but to a man the players have been immense so far.

“This is a really tough place to come to, but all the players showed tremendous character to come away with a good point.

“We had to dig in at times. but the mentality was excellent throughout.”

Garner also saluted goalkeeper Jaakola after he made a number of crucial saves.

“Anssi has been immense, he’s been brilliant,” added Garner.

“He’s a really calming influence behind the defence and that’s something all of the other players can feed off.”