Celtic flop John Barnes is best remembered in Scotland for managing Rangers’ Old Firm rivals during a tumultuous eight-month rein at the turn of the century.
The Liverpool legend and former England international took over at Celtic Park in the summer of 1999 but was out the door by February 2000 after a string of awful results.
The most famous of which was of course that 3-1 Parkhead Scottish Cup defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle which spawned the headline “Super Caley go Ballistic Celtic are Atrocious”.
This would be the catalyst for the former Anfield winger’s sacking with Kenny Dalglish taking over in a season were Rangers would lift the SPL trophy after working up a 21-point lead.
Now, Barnes has taken to Twitter to defend his record at Celtic Park, contrasting his record with now Rangers boss Steven Gerrard as an example as to why he gets short shrift.
Ibrox boss Gerrard took over a Rangers in ruins in 2018 and has gone about revolutionising the club on and off the field, albeit being yet to taste the success of silverware.
Barnes claims that the fact he wasn’t given a chance during his time at Celtic or after – where his only jobs were short spells with Jamaica and Tranmere Rovers – is a sign of an endemic racist issue with black managers.
“Google win % for Barnes at Celtic and win % for Gerrard at Rangers then get back to me!” Barnes tweeted one fan.
“So with a 65% win rate I get sacked after 29 matches,” Barnes tweeted another.
“Gerrard hasn’t reached a 65% win rate in 100 matches but is still in the job
“Not that I think he shouldn’t be, but do the math?”
More concerned with the comparisons between Barnes and Rangers boss Steven Gerrard, many of the club’s supporters rejected the notion that two are comparable.
https://twitter.com/Ross90141394/status/1327587226339991555
https://twitter.com/TheRailwayBears/status/1327886015994990593
https://twitter.com/TommyKnewToo/status/1327575482183901184
https://twitter.com/westderbyred75/status/1327773978816081920
