Barton is forced to apologise

BRISTOL Rovers manager Joey Barton has apologised for any offence caused by his holocaust analogy in the wake of his team’s defeat to Newport County on Saturday.

The manager has been at the centre of controversy in recent days after using the term when discussing his side’s propensity to commit errors.

With the club declining to comment on the matter, yesterday’s press conference at The Quarters was the first time the issue had been addressed amid scrutiny from parts of the football community and beyond.

Barton revealed he was contacted by the Football Association after the comment was made, with the authority deeming no action was required beyond reminding the manager of his responsibilities.

Before taking questions from reporters Barton made clear he wanted to apologise for his comments.

“I’m just going to say there were some comments made after the press conference last week where clearly no offence was meant, but some people have rightly pointed out to me the use of the analogy was not correct,” he said.

“The FA wrote to me this week to remind us of our language and communications, and the last thing you want to do is cause offence or upset anybody.

“So if anybody was offended by that, I would like to apologise for that and I think the FA were right to write to me and remind me of that.

“You hope to use better analogies in future, but it was certainly with no malice or offence intended to anybody.”

The Rovers boss sparked criticism after the 3-1 defeat to Newport by using the term to lament his players’ inconsistency.