Joey’s jealous he didn’t land dream move to Celtic
SAYS TOM BOYD
TOM BOYD claims jealousy over not landing a move to Celtic is behind Joey Barton’s jibes at Scott Brown and Brendan Rodgers. The former Parkhead captain made a mischievous entry into the debate surrounding Barton’s recent comments by recalling how the 33-year-old — who grew up an Everton fan — once Tweeted a liking for Celtic.
And Boyd believes the outspoken midfielder would prefer to be lining up alongside Brown next season, rather than deriding him as being ‘not even in my league’ as a player.
Barton will formally join Rangers on July 1 but has already captured numerous headlines before a ball has been kicked for his new club.
He followed his weekend dismissal of Brown by turning his attention to Rodgers, pointing out that the new Parkhead manager had ‘never won anything’.
‘Joey is certainly saying a lot before the campaign even starts,’ said Boyd. ‘He’s doing a lot of talking but, listen, it’s just a bit of banter.
‘I think it’s spurred by a bit of jealousy because Brendan never came in for him. We do know that he is a big Hoops fan because he’s said so in the past.
‘So his comments about Scott are probably down to him being annoyed that he’ll be playing against Broonie rather than alongside him.
‘We’ll see how that develops over the course of the season. However, I don’t think that you can say that Joey doesn’t know what he’s let himself in for with the whole Old Firm thing.
‘He’s already caught people’s imagination. Not a lot usually happens at this time of year and he’s made a couple of comments and got people talking about him.
‘He’s not actually played any football yet so we’ll see how that develops. Yes, he is a very good footballer but we’ve yet to see whether he can walk the walk up here.’
Boyd reckons Brown will not have been fazed by Barton’s disparaging verdict as the pair prepare to go head-to-head in Old Firm combat.
‘Knowing Scott, he won’t even have read Barton’s comments about him and he certainly won’t worry about them,’ added Boyd, speaking as the Celtic Charity Foundation made a £7,000 donation to this year’s Glasgow Taxis’ Outing Fund for Sick Children.
‘He’s the captain of Celtic and Scotland, so comments from opposition players won’t get to him.
‘Scott doesn’t need anybody to wind him up or motivate him for any game at all. He’ll take all of this in his stride because he’s come up against bigger and better players than Joey Barton and come out on top.
‘I wouldn’t say that Joey has underestimated the Scottish game. He’s a very smart lad and he’s just giving the media some ammunition for the season ahead.
‘Ultimately, it’s just a bit of chat and, as I say, I think he’d rather be pulling on the Hoops than the blue of Rangers.
‘It’s not the first time Joey has said something controversial down the years. I think everyone is getting it.
‘I heard he is having a go at the England manager as well. And his assistant.
‘So I think he is just desperate for the football to get started again and is waiting for that. He probably hates close-season. Once the football starts, we will see what he can really do.’
Barton will unquestionably have a vital role to play for Rangers as they seek to prevent Celtic winning a sixth successive title next term.
Boyd, though, still views his former club as strong favourites to extend their sequence of success.
‘Without any shadow of doubt,’ he added. ‘Even without any signings at this time.
‘I think Brendan will be looking to get some help for Leigh Griffiths. That would be nice, having got rid of a couple of players in that department.
‘It’s not that Leigh needs assistance because he was outstanding last year, being Player of the Year, scoring 40 goals and taking the burden on himself.
‘But it would help the squad if there was someone there who could maybe push him on to 50 goals next year if he does have competition.
‘We will wait and see. I would think the key thing for Brendan is to try and get some consistency.
‘We had some poor performances last year and I think that is one of the reasons why Ronny (Deila) lost his job. But we also had some good performances, very good performances and exceptional performances.
‘It’s about trying to get that consistency of performance over the course of a season and that will be part of Brendan’s remit.
‘He can maybe do what Martin O’Neill did and make players better than they were before. You think back to guys like Bobby Petta. Maybe Brendan can do something similar.’