Joey Barton is becoming known for his increasingly erratic behaviour.
He recently played three at the back against Lincoln City, despite only having one fit centre-back, who he left on the bench. He openly blasted Trevor Clarke after the first game of the season, saying he regretted giving him a deal but now plays him regularly, so it’s no surprise to see he’s in the news again today.
However, this time he may well strike a chord with some EFL fans. He’s been critical of the much-maligned Papa John’s Trophy, and last night his team hosted Crystal Palace Under 21s. They won 2-0; Alfie Kilgour (the centre-back he dropped against Lincoln) and Trevor Clarke (the player he cast aside after one game) got the goals. Meanwhile, Glenn Whelan was sent off after a foul committed on Clarke, with referee James Oldham showing a straight red card.
That prompted a furious response from Barton, who lashed out at the standard of Palace’s youngsters. “I thought they were what the problem is in the modern game, an academy side that are miles away from producing people who can play in the league,” he told the Bristol Post.
“They’re so far away, let’s be honest, so it kind of makes a mockery for me of what that Premier League 2 is. You hear me talk all the time about these big clubs stockpiling players and what player for them today… We wouldn’t take any of their players, we just wouldn’t, they’re so far away. It’s a good opportunity for us to look at that because we do like to utilise the loan market, but I was so surprised to see them.”
He continued to lament his club’s participation, suggesting Whelan would now be suspended (even though it will only count in more Papa John’s games).
“We don’t really want to play in this competition, I’ll level with you. It’s a waste of our time because we get players suspended; you get players injured from nonsense tackles from young kids who are miles off playing men’s footy.
“I just don’t see why we should support it. Next game, I may well just play our kids because I can’t risk my first-team players getting injured against a bunch of kids who are miles off the level and trying to impress people are watching by kicking senior players. It’s a nonsense competition.”
Not content with that, he called James Oldham a referee on ‘work experience’ (Oldham is a fourth-year Football league official) before continuing his attack on Palace’s players.
“We don’t take it (the Papa John’s) seriously, so I said to the lads tonight go out and enjoy it because the opposition are inferior because they are a bunch of kids. If you take their teamsheet and look at it in five years’ time, some of those lads will be working in civilian jobs. They won’t be playing football.”
Sadly for Barton, his assertion is not entirely correct. A Look back at last year’s Palace team reveals three players currently on loan with Football League clubs – Jesurun Rak-Sakyi (Charlton), Rob Street (Shrewsbury) and Scot Banks (Bradford). Jake O’Brien was at Swindon in the latter half of last season and is now with RWD Molenbeek whilst others are with teams such as Queen’s Park in Scotland.
Still, it wouldn’t be the day after a Bristol Rovers match if Joey Barton hadn’t had a meltdown, would it?
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