Sean Dyche has downplayed Joey Barton's antics during Burnley's shock 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Lincoln City as "pantomime stuff".
And he insists he will be content if that is the extent of the controversy the former England international courts in his second spell at Turf Moor.
Barton's run-in __with Lincoln striker Matt Rhead, which saw him stand on the non-league striker's foot before hitting the deck as he ran into his opponent's arm, was widely derided.
However, Dyche has brushed off the incident regarding a player who has previously spent time in jail, and served lengthy suspensions in the game for altercations __with both team-mates and opponents.
"I think it's pantomime stuff, myself," Dyche said. "I've got to be honest, I've seen a lot more controversy around Joey than that. If that's as far as it goes, I'll be a happy man.
"I thought by a mile, by an absolute mile, he was the best player on the pitch last weekend, and I mean by a long margin - on both teams.
"That's just part of being Joey, I suppose. It could be a TV series, actually - Being Joey.
"It's just the way life is now - people should actually have been saying, 'What about the game? What about him?'
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"He was so far in front of everyone else on the pitch, it was incredible to look at. I really thought that and I thought he was against Leicester as well. He was absolutely outstanding.
"Chelsea have two unbelievably high-quality midfielders, and I thought Joey more than dealt with what he needed to deal with. I think he's been fantastic for us."
Barton - who started the season with a disappointing spell at Rangers - still faces potential sanctions for the charge he was issued with in December having allegedly made over 1,000 bets across 10 years.
Yet even with that prospect, Dyche still re-signed Barton in the new year, having been impressed by the much-maligned midfielder during last season's promotion campaign.
He added: "I've only really spoken about his time with me and Burnley. I've never really commented on his time away from us, that's a whole different thing.
"Myself, my staff, the team, the players here, Burnley Football Club, then...not a question mark for me.
"I think when he came down (after Rangers) he felt he had something to offer because he knew more about how we work here.
"He was willing to do the work to get ready to have a chance, rather than get the chance to get ready, fitness-wise and stuff like that.
"So when he did come in, he was ready. He's always ready mentally, Joey, but he was ready physically. You can see that."
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