Though he can’t seem to hold down a job in football himself, Joey Barton is seemingly making waves on X (formerly Twitter) by calling out the relative merits or otherwise of broadcasters and journalists attempting to do their jobs to the best of their ability.
Taking pot-shots at females making their way in the men’s game or people of colour appears to have become Barton’s stock-in-trade.
Predictably, he has garnered quite the following on social media for his outspoken views with many agreeing with the points; tokenism, box ticking etc. that Barton makes.
Not everyone subscribes to his viewpoint, however, including former super agent and Premier League co-creator, Jon Smith.
“I don’t like gesticulating politics,” he said in his exclusive column for CaughtOffside.
“I do sometimes look at the presentation teams on television and think ‘that person isn’t particularly good and I have a horrible, queasy sentiment that they’re there because they’re making up the numbers,’ but there are a lot of excellent female analysts and colour commentators.
“In the 2020s you have to be inclusive, but inclusive with responsibility and respect to everyone that’s in that environment.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion too even if those opinions are abhorrent to many.
“You don’t have to agree, and I certainly don’t agree with the tone and position that Joey Barton is taking at the moment.”
Smith is correct of course in that Barton is free to express his opinion however he so wishes, even if that is ramming it down everyone’s throat.
Ultimately his rants will only find support within a specific demographic, have a limited shelf life and torpedo his hopes for reasoned debate and a potential future as a pundit himself in the game.
Barton has taken his opinions beyond acceptable boundaries for many and is therefore unlikely to see those views become mainstream.