BARTON BOWLED OVER BY SUPPORT
Joey Barton admits he wouldn’t have blamed Burnley fans for jeering him on his turf Moor return six months after he walked out on the club to join rangers. the 34-year-old seemed genuinely moved to receive a hero’s ovation from Clarets supporters when he replaced Dean Marney and he repaid them five minutes later by striking the only goal in a 1-0 win against Southampton. ‘I left so they would have been within their rights to boo me,’ said a typically candid Barton. ‘the reception from the crowd made me feel incredibly humble. ‘Sometimes at football clubs, it just fits. From the minute I’ve walked into Burnley, it’s worked. they understand me and I understand them, which isn’t always the case. ‘I’m intent on giving it my all. When I score it goes some way to validate the gaffer’s faith in me, and the players because they didn’t have to accept me back the way they have.’ Barton’s career has always been mired in controversy and his move to Scotland after helping Burnley win promotion proved a disaster with rangers terminating his contract after eight games. Burnley manager Sean Dyche re-signed him as a free agent on new year’s Day despite the player also facing Fa misconduct charges next month relating to 1,260 counts of football betting. ‘the gaffer has shown an incredible amount of faith in me in amongst the circus that goes on around me. this club has shown commitment to me by bringing me back,’ said Barton. ‘I didn’t have a great time up the road and the minute they knew I was going to be out of a club, they were on the phone offering me the chance to train.’ Burnley’s home record is better than anyone in the Premier League bar Chelsea and Spurs but things were flat until Barton came on after 73 minutes, his first home game after playing at Sunderland in the Fa Cup. Soon after, Burnley were awarded a free-kick and there was a sense of inevitability about what would happen next. ‘I know (Southampton goalkeeper) Fraser Forster because he was at newcastle when I was there and I took a lot of shots against him,’ explained Barton. ‘He’s such a big keeper that I thought if I flicked it over the wall, there was a good chance he would save it.’ Instead Barton hit it low and it took a deflection off the wall and into the bottom corner to give him the perfect start.