CHARLIE MULGREW has made the surprising admission he enjoyed his time working under former Ibrox player Joey Barton at Fleetwood Town.
The former Celtic player linked up with Barton for six months at Fleetwood and was managed by the former English midfielder.
Most Celtic fans have Joey pegged as a laughing stock for his time in Glasgow. He came in being very vocal about putting Celtic and Scott Brown in their place but was instead made to eat his words.
During his first Glasgow Derby, the best thing he did was pick the ball out of the back of the net as Celtic ran rampant. He came up short in a 50/50 with Scott Brown and didn’t even look our captain in the eye during the pre-match handshakes.
He left before the season was finished and Celtic won an invincible treble!
Speaking on Open Goal, Charlie had a completely different experience to what Celtic fans saw of Barton and claimed Joey was one of the best managers he’s worked under.
“I liked him. I only had him for six months so it is hard to get a feel for somebody fully in six months.
“For what I had, he was very good and very detailed with what he did on the training pitch every day.
“He had plans on how he wanted to play and I thought he was very good.
“He loves the game. When I first went and spoke to him I was down there for five hours and we just spoke football the full time.
“He is obsessed with it all. The tactics, everything. He is right into it.
“He’s one of the best coaches I have worked under.”
Mulgrew added: “He lets you have an opinion. He is open.
“He would let you go speak to him 100 per cent. Man to man.
“He likes Sean Dyche [Burnley boss]. He is big on him. He loved working under him.
“He likes to chat about the game and lets you have an opinion but ultimately he is the manager and he makes the decision.
“He would be out there every day but mainly on a Thursday and Friday in the build-up to a game.”
Joey was sacked by Fleetwood eventually, reportedly for a dressing room bust-up.
He has since gone to manage Bristol Rovers who he has just been relegated with in recent days.
He might be personable on a one to one basis but it doesn’t look like he’s much of a manager,
