Joey Barton Openly Criticises Mark Hughes After Former Manager Is Sacked by Stoke

Joey Barton has openly criticised former manager Mark Hughes after the Welshman was sacked by Stoke at the weekend.

Hughes was sacked following the 2-1 FA Cup defeat at League Two Coventry, a loss which followed a shocking start to the season that sees the Potters in the bottom three. 

As Stoke Sentinel reports, Barton, who worked with Hughes at QPR, openly had a pop at the 54-year-old on TalkSport.

Barton said: "I don’t like Mark Hughes. I don’t think he is a good manager, I’ve worked with him at QPR. He is a terrible manager. At QPR, he was awful. Mark Hughes has made Stoke progressively worse. They got to a League Cup semi-final, which Bristol City have done from the Championship."

He finished with: “I don’t think he progressed Stoke. He increased the wage budget and he hasn’t made them better. Hughes' first three seasons saw him guide Stoke guide Stoke to ninth, but finished thirteenth last season and relegation could be a possibility this season.

Fans had been calling for Hughes to be sacked for weeks, with it getting so heated to the point fans confronted the players after the 5-1 defeat at Spurs. There are currently no front runners to replace him at the bet365 stadium.

Barton played under Hughes at QPR for a six month period in 2012, but left that summer in a loan deal to Marseille and upon his return the Hoops had been relegated and Hughes was about to be appointed Stoke boss.