Joey Barton: Bristol Rovers boss sets long-term aim for promotion
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Joey Barton won one cap for England and played for the likes of Manchester City, QPR, Glasgow Rangers and Burnley
Joey Barton says his ambition is to get Bristol Rovers out of League One.
The 38-year-old took over the club on Monday, fewer than two months after leaving Fleetwood Town who he guided to last season's League One play-offs.
"The ambition of the football club is obviously not just about staying in the third tier," Barton said.
"The reason I'm here is first and foremost to secure safety, and secondly to do everything that we never managed to do at Fleetwood Town."
Barton is Rovers' third manager this season in a campaign that has seen the club struggle - they are two points and two places above the relegation zone and have won just one of their past 12 games in all competitions.
But despite the on-pitch difficulties that have seen Rovers sack Ben Garner and Paul Tisdale, Barton is confident that the squad he has inherited is capable of success.
"We're here for what the club can potentially be," he told BBC Radio Bristol.
"But also I looked at the squad in my research and the games I watched, and I wouldn't have come here if I didn't think they had more than a strong opportunity of getting into a safe zone and then trying to push on.
"Let's see how far we can take this season and try and turn it into a real positive, because it hasn't always been that way."
'There will always be with me people who don't like me'
Barton's career both on and off the field has often been interlinked with controversy.
He is awaiting trial in June after an alleged clash with former Barnsley boss Daniel Stendel following a League One match at Oakwell in April 2019 - Barton has previously pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm - while he joined Fleetwood in June 2018 a day after a ban for betting on football matches ended.
But he says he has been impressed by the support he has had from Rovers fans so far and is determined to win over anyone who feels he is not the right man for the job.
"Once the dust had settled on the last manager leaving, my social media blew up with Rovers fans getting on and tagging the owner in and trying to get me to take the job.
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"That's really pleasing for a young manager who's two-and-a-half years in, who's outspoken and not everybody's cup of tea.
"It was really uplifting to see such an overwhelming support from a club that I've never played for and I've only played against as a manager a couple of times.
"There will always be with me people who don't like me, I'm cool with that. I don't want everyone in the world to like me. It would be nice if they did, but I understand it's probably not going to happen.
"I'm OK with that and hopefully they give me an opportunity to prove them wrong.
"All I can do is do the right thing by the football club, get results on the pitch, drive standards on a daily basis and put a bit of pride back in the Rovers badge, and I think results will do the talking for me."