“Maybe I don’t communicate like somebody who has been educated at Eton, but that’s not me, I’m from Liverpool.”
Joey Barton is not allowing this one to rest.
The Rangers midfielder has the weekend off after being told to stay away from his club until Monday. Barton was involved in a frank exchange of words with teammate Andy Halliday at training, following Rangers’ 5-1 shellacking by Celtic.
Barton let that punishment stew for a few hours before he posted his side of the story on Twitter. Last night, he continued his crusade.
Barton appeared on talkSport to chat with Jim White about his suspension. If he was hoping to clear the air, it did not go exactly to plan. He said:
“It should hurt. It should hurt you, as a professional footballer, to lose football matches…
“Obviously sometimes the way I communicate can be a bit blunt, a bit direct, and it ruffles people’s feathers,” he added, “which I know I have to work at, but I don’t apologise for trying to win.”
Asked why Halliday was not suspended despite being involved in that training ground argument, Barton revealed he had continued his rant with Rangers boss Mark Warburton:
“Because Andy stopped on the training ground.
“The manager pulled me in afterwards and asked me to explain what I’d said and I’d told him in no certain terms where I believed it to be at.”
Barton bristled when asked if he had apologised to Warburton.
“I don’t believe I’ve done anything to apologise for.
“It’s the tone of language I’ve used [that was the issue].
“Maybe I don’t communicate like somebody who has been educated at Eton, but that’s not me, I’m from Liverpool. I communicate how I communicate and I want to win football matches.”
Monday morning at Rangers should be fun.
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