Skip to main content

Joey Barton: X-rated or X Factor?

The latest publication of my 'On the Social' column from the Bristol City matchday programme, Red Alert: Hull City, September 24th 2011
Joey Barton: X-rated or X Factor?

One of the reasons for the existence and growth of social media is that it gives everyone a voice.  Anyone can write a blog, contribute to forums or tweet their views on any topic they like.  Whilst your average Joe has embraced this opportunity gleefully, many celebrities have also taken the opportunity to prove they’re not just a pretty face/talented sportsman/musical genius.

One such contributor is doing so with an ever-growing impact on Twitter.  Joseph Anthony Barton (@Joey7Barton) has attracted publicity ever since he burst onto the Premier League scene back in 2002 with his well-publicised on and off-field antics ensuring he’s never far away from the headlines.  Violence, petulance, general ill-discipline and apparently a world-record breaking chip on his shoulder have generally cast Barton in the worst of lights.  And for many that’s where he still belongs, his crimes too heinous to forgive.

Until a few months ago most would have unknowingly bracketed Barton in the ‘thick footballer’ category – not enough sense to realise the potential he was seemingly wasting and surely destined for little once his legs gave up on him.  However the nature, subject matter and eloquence of his tweeting have caused many to rethink this and such is the power of this new form of media, he now seems destined to move into mainstream when he’s finished being everybody’s favourite boo-boy on the green fields of England (and Swansea).

His headline grabbing tweets have generally been contentious, for instance his criticism of Newcastle selling Kevin Nolan to West Ham and his comments upon leaving St. James Park Somewhere in those echelons of NUFC, they have decided, I am persona non grata”.  Even in this instance, including ‘echelons’ and ‘persona non grata’ in the same 140 characters would be beyond many more established minds.

 


Selected Barton tweets:

There are people that can control themselves everyday, I am not one of them" Which philosopher said that?? Answers on a postcard......

This campaign [Hillsborough] has got me thinking, surely social media can bring people together to fight for a better society and demand accountability... ...from MP's and our government. Am gonna go away and speak to some techies about a People vs type website, to tackle issues in our society

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." Abraham Lincoln

And to prove it’s not all high-brow:

"Wolves snubbed me" I read in this morning papers hahahahahaha....don't know what Mick's been smoking......


But beyond these criticisms, in recent months he has commented maturely on the riots that swept the country - “Violence always comes from a place of misunderstanding and low to zero self-worth, well mine did anyway” (admittedly talking as if his violence is in the past tense may be pushing boundaries somewhat); has quoted George Orwell in a profound exchange with respected journalist Henry Winter (@HenryWinter); published photos of his favourite Monet and Picasso masterpieces following a visit to the Tate Modern; gave his verdict on former Labour MP Margaret Moran’s expenses hearing and was the foremost campaigner in the online campaign to get official papers on the Hillsborough disaster released by the Government.
His portfolio of comments on these subject matters is more likely to be discovered in the Guardian than the Daily Star and no doubt the TV channels, radio stations and newspapers are already considering rich offers to this most controversial of characters.  Football media may not even end up being his limit.

Loved by a few, despised by many – whatever your view of Barton there is little doubt that to change people’s perception of him would have been futile before the days of social media.  Whilst many of his ½ million followers on Twitter hope to see something explosive, an increasing number are genuinely intrigued as to what will be the next strand of public life philosophised upon by this most compelling of characters.


The Exiled Robin (@cider1977)

Comments

  1. Very good read. I've been following the Barton bandwagon in recent times, both in the press and on Twitter, and just this weekend gone uttered the words to my old man of "I quite like Barton. . . "

    The world needs characters, as does the sport.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ten days is a long time in football...the new era is dawning

The last couple of weeks has been quite a period in Bristol City’s long history. It’s been chaotic, troublesome and concerning. There’s been anger and abuse (more on that later), antipathy and arguments. And, as is the way with football, things tend to move very quickly. There is now more than a murmur of excitement (not quite full-blown, mind) and significant nodding of approval at the choice made by the club this week. In between all of this City won a game of football, albeit against a team bottom of the league playing with ten men for most of the match. But they won, and got three points and moved back into the top half of the table. Underperforming and not where the club wants to be…? Margins are fine, that’s for certain. So, what has been learned, with the announcement of Liam Manning as Head Coach on Tuesday and what myths do need to be busted? Firstly, the club communications are like Jekyll & Hyde. The engagement pieces, insight videos and some of the fun nonsense

Bright Knight of the City

  The lesser-spotted blog post... The string of summer signings has inspired the first post in a year, with a focus on new £2m(ish) signing, Jason Knight. He has been likened by some to Korey Smith, his former team-mate at Pride Park, whilst his high-energy approach has been praised widely. To get the real lowdown I spoke to avid Rams fan, Cory Hancock , of top Derby pod Ram's Review .                                                    Picture from Bristol City www.bcfc.co.uk  Tell us about Jason Knight. What type of player are we getting? An energy player who will run all game long. Knight’s engine is second-to-none. He will run hard for the team and do the work of two players. That’s not to say he runs around like a headless chicken, but he will go box-to-box for 90 minutes. He’s also a solid and consistent performer who rarely lets the side down. He’s played a few different positions, I think most expect him to be straying centrally for us as one of two holding midfielders. Woul

Bristol City: Our Greatest Team to the Ashton Gate Eight

Back in 2014, I was invited by the Two Unfortunates website to write about Bristol City's greatest team. It was a story which, of course, ended ultimately in the story of the Ashton Gate 8. Since the site of the original post has long since gone, here it is republished in full. "Eight players with more than 80 years at the club and more than 2,000 appearances between them, cast aside as unwilling saviours" Sometimes, events occur that make you realise your true standing in life. When the emotional mask of expectation is removed and those rose-tinted spectacles are lowered onto the brow of the nose, you can realise that things aren’t quite all they seem. And so it was for me, a lifelong Bristol City fan, when I was asked to talk about our greatest ever team. For when it came down to it, there was only one real choice. One genuinely great team that I could write about even in the perspective-bending world of football and this was one I hadn’t even had the privilege of seein