We’re all going to be hearing a lot about Joey Barton over the next few weeks. The Rangers player had a training ground bust-up following the club’s 5-1 defeat to Celtic.
Like you’d assume of all Rangers players, Barton wasn’t in the best mood after the loss to Celtic, but he’s managed to get himself into a situation where he’s suspended for three weeks.
Having been widely accused of being a Celtic fan when he signed for Rangers, the loss and resultant mockery will likely have left the player angered and what followed is a surprise but not really a shock.
Barton has a book out this week. ‘No Nonsense’ is the title of the autobiography and there’s of course a series of interviews planned, at least he’ll be receiving a lot of publicity.
The footballer has managed to get some rather negative publicity in Italy. Calciomercato go with a headline saying: ‘Barton, ‘criminal’ until the end’.
They’ve got their inspiration from Italian football pundit Massimo Marianella who a few years ago was rather blunt about the player: “He is a criminal, Barton is a criminal. And in fact was in jail twice. He’s stupid and is a criminal… What a bad person, he should never stand in a Premier League stadium, even with a ticket.”
Calciomercato then go over Barton’s career and all the controversies, giving him a good kicking. It’s all huge publicity though, and the same is true around Europe.
Rangers losing 5-1 to Celtic may well have been the start of a series of events which helps Barton sell more books.
