Scott Brown has no interest in reigniting his feud with Joey Barton when they clash as managers for the first time.
Rookie boss Broonie takes his Fleetwood team to Bristol Rovers a week on Saturday. The pair were briefly bitter Old Firm rivals when Barton boasted the Celtic skipper was “nowhere near” his level on arrival in Scotland. But a 5-1 thrashing for Mark Warburton ’s men at Parkhead was the beginning of the end for Barton’s disastrous Ibrox stay. Having easily brushed off his threat as a player, Brown is ready for Barton the boss six years on in League One.
Yet the Celtic legend insists he won’t be the one turning the game into a personal grudge match. Brown said: “You play those mind games and can do whatever you want as players. But, as manager, it’s completely different now. You’ve got to have respect for your opponents and respect for your fellow managers. Joey has done a great job. He was a fantastic manager here at Fleetwood as well. He’s doing it now at Bristol Rovers.
“There won’t be any pre-match wind-ups whatsoever – from me anyway. We’ll be fine.
"It’s about our teams doing the talking on the park. It’s a huge game – going away to Bristol will be tough, they’ve had some good recent results. We’ll look forward to that one but it’s not all about me, it’s about my players and I’ve got to help them be at their best.”
Brown guided the Cod Army to a 3-0 win over Accrington on Saturday and hopes to follow up at Oxford United. He admits life as a first-time gaffer in the English third tier is a full-on test but one he and No.2 Steven Whittaker are relishing.They’ve made a steady start, winning four and drawing eight of their 16 league games.
Brown took his first steps towards management with a player-coach role at Aberdeen in an experiment gone wrong at Pittodrie last season. He said: “I always had that drive and thought that one day I wanted to become a manager.
“I went up to Aberdeen to learn as much as I possibly could. It was only going to be for a couple of years anyway. Myself and Stephen Glass spoke about how I could play and help him out but also help me out as well. We thought we’d get the best of both worlds but it’s a shame it didn’t last so long.”
Fleetwood, as they did with Barton in 2018, like to give new managers their first gig. Brown was appointed in early May and shut out the sun on his annual holiday with pal Whitts to get the job prep right.
He explained: “Pre-season was already organised before we came into this building. You don’t want to go in not knowing what the situation is, not knowing how we were going to coach or what our philosophy was.
“So we sat down over a couple of weeks’ holiday in Dubai. The sun isn’t exactly the biggest deal for me anyway!
“We were happy to sit in the hotel room, sort training out, sort games out, sort out how we want to do team meetings. Because it’s important, going into your first team meeting, that you’re positive, that they know you’ve an understanding of the game – and that I don’t just refer to my time as a player.
“Those days are gone. You’ve got to look forward and respect these lads who’ve done a good job over the years with the club.
“It’s been a rollercoaster so far. It’s relentless. Lots of games means lots of travelling to take into consideration.
“Going to Exeter was an eight-hour drive on the bus, we got stuck in traffic and it was six hours back. You want to pick up points on those trips, otherwise it can be a bit grim coming back.”
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