Sean Dyche has nothing but praise for Joey Barton's attitude during his stint at Burnley, but steered clear of suggesting he could try and tempt the suspended Rangers midfielder back to Turf Moor.
Barton earned Burnley's Player of the Year award after helping the Lancashire club back to the Premier League last season.
He departed for Rangers in the close-season, but is currently suspended from the Ibrox club after trading verbal barbs with team-mate Andy Halliday in the aftermath of the humiliating 5-1 Old Firm defeat to Celtic, with manager Mark Warburton also reportedly involved.
The former Newcastle United midfielder later issued an apology, but was still banished from the club for a week before later being suspended for an extended period.
Dyche, though, claims there was never any question over Barton's commitment at Turf Moor.
"Some situations fit together nicely, and they did here, but I can't say whether they are going to or not with Rangers," said Dyche said at a news conference ahead of Monday's Premier League encounter with Watford.
"Of course he wants it to work there. That's for other people to decide and his relationship with the management team there, that's all for them and not for me. I can only speak of his time here.
"I was thankful for what he did and I think he enjoyed what he did here and he enjoyed the group he was working with. He's gone on to pastures new."
Dyche also insists he bears no grudge over Barton's decision to make the move to Glasgow and swerved questions asking whether he would like to bring Barton back to Lancashire.
"He made that choice [to leave] - there's no angle between me and him and the club and him," he added. "He felt it was a new challenge and it has turned out to be a new challenge, whatever way you look at it.
"It's a massive club who are working hard to get back to where they belong which is certainly around the top of Scottish football, that's for sure
"He's nothing to do with me, he's part of Rangers football club."
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