FOR a player who has still to kick a ball in anger for Rangers, Joey Barton has had rather a lot to say about Scottish football since signing for the Ibrox club last month.
The ink was barely dry on the two year deal he agreed and the midfielder was boldly declaring that he intended to become the best player in the country next season. His confident proclamations didn’t stop there.
The 33-year-old subsequently announced that his objective in the 2016/17 campaign is to ensure Mark Warburton’s side come first in the League Cup, Premiership and Scottish Cup - despite them having just been promoted.
Read more: Joey Barton - Scott Brown isn't in my league
Then at the weekend he told TalkSport, who he is working for at the Euro 2016 finals in France, that Brendan Rodgers, the new Celtic manager whose appointment was greeted by scenes of mass euphoria in the East End of Glasgow, had much to prove having never before won a trophy.
Oh, and he also mentioned that Scott Brown, the Celtic captain he will find himself squaring up to in the Old Firm game in the coming term, was “not even in my league” and “nowhere near the level of player I am”.
Nothing like taking time to familiarise yourself with your new surroundings until you feel comfortable voicing an opinion.
Barton’s startling outspokenness has certainly been welcomed, lapped up in fact, by a grateful media looking to fill the back pages of newspapers or air time on radio shows during the close season when no domestic football is being played.
However, to many others the public statements of an individual who has no experience of the game here, of Glasgow in particular, have been ill-advised and he has been told they will come back to haunt him in due course.
The Englishman has represented some major clubs during his time, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Queens Park Rangers and Marseille among them, and at a far higher level as well.
But anyone, no matter how big a name or revered a talent, who has joined either Celtic or Rangers from a bigger outfit in a better league in the past would all tell him that nowhere is the intensity as great or the scrutiny as suffocating as in the West of Scotland.
Paul Gascoigne, whose No.8 jersey he has inherited, would certainly testify to that. His countryman, who had previously plied his trade in Newcastle, London and Rome, was struck by the passion of the supporters and how claustrophobic life in the “Old Firm gold fish bowl” can get.
“I don’t think he quite gets what he has let himself in for,” warned the former Celtic player Peter Grant. “He has now got to back up his words with performances,” cautioned the one-time Rangers playmaker Bobby Russell.
Perhaps they have a point. Maybe he will be made to look foolish in time. Celtic are, despite their failure in the domestic cups and in Europe last season, still a strong unit. The arrival of an experienced coach like Rodgers should strengthen them further.
Barton, though, should be applauded not castigated for speaking his mind so openly and be encouraged to keep doing so in future not urged to be more tactful. The game could do with far more like him.
Football in Scotland often struggles to attract crowds as well as sponsors and the more players can generate interest in it and raise its profile, be it with showings on the park or interviews off it, the better for everyone.
Read more: Rangers target Joey Barton - In his own words
It is something the growing proliferation of public relations executives and media managers who earn a living out of the sport here should realise. It is to their benefit and those of their employers for players and managers to speak freely and often about the issues of the day. Simply turning up and mouthing bland soundbites without expressing any sort of opinion in order to fulfil their responsibilities isn’t acceptable.
Barton may very well find himself under substantial pressure to produce his best form next term following his comments. Crowds, including his own, may indeed give him stick if he fails to live up to expectations. But he is far from stupid. If anything, he is deliberately increasing the focus on him in order to ensure his displays are of a sufficiently high standard in the months ahead. Being targeted by opposition fans, too, should produce a positive reaction.
He was named in the Championship PFA Team of the Year last season as Burnley won the second tier title and promotion to the Premier League. The chances are, then, he will excel in the Premiership and other competitions with Rangers. If he does, it will be interesting hearing what he has to say about it.
The same, alas, cannot always be said of many in his profession. They could do with following his lead.
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