SHAUN SERVES UP
Joey Barton reveals how Dyche’s dish of the day took him to Burnley
IT SEEMS a combination of Sean Dyche’s cooking and his managerial prowess tickled Joey Barton’s taste buds enough to persuade the former QPR midfielder to complete his switch to Burnley.
The ex-Manchester City and Newcastle player had been on the lookout for a new club after being released by Rangers at the end of last season.
Incentives
It had appeared he would make an immediate return to the Premier League with West Ham close to signing the 32-year-old before the London club backed out due to apparent fan pressure.
But the Hammers’ loss was seemingly Burnley’s gain, with Clarets manager Dyche following up last week’s big-money signing of Brentford striker Andre Gray by swooping for a player he admitted he had been in dialogue with for the past eight weeks.
And Barton, capped once for England, admitted he had made his mind up after meeting again over lunch.
He said: “I thought a while ago that if an opportunity came up, there are certain football clubs that you would like the chance to join, or certain managers you would like to play for. Sean was on that list.
“There were a lot of suitors, a few in the league above and a few abroad and lots of different financial incentives. But I wanted to play football and I want to play in a place where there is real progress being made.
“I was holding out for a Premier League opportunity because that is the greatest league in the world and I got far down the line with a Premier League team, but the minute that didn’t go in the right direction I spoke again to the manager.
“We met again and he cooked me lunch and spoke about football. He is the most impressive guy I have sat in front of for a long, long period of
time.”