The background
Queens Park Rangers’ ex-captain Joey Barton may be serving a lengthy 12-match ban (for his violent meltdown at Manchester City on the final day of last season) and currently training with League Two side Fleetwood Town but he’s certainly staying busy. Barton, probably the most thought-provoking (and controversial) footballer on micro-blogging website Twitter, has launched JoeyBarton.com and his own YouTube channel. The ex Manchester City and Newcastle United midfielder may not be loved by all – in fact, many fans flat-out loathe him - but his slick-looking site has been mostly well received on Twitter and QPR fan messageboards.
Barton on, er, why you need JoeyBarton.com in your life
“This is my place to share what I think and hear what you think back. I want to shine a light on some of the things that matter most to me and open up a bit of debate. You never know, together we might even help change something. If you’re a troll with no purpose or value beyond casual 4-letter abuse, join a few bed-fellows on Twitter, it’s easier for you there, go knock yourself out.”
The best bits
As you’d expect from the outspoken Barton, the website is littered with pretty strong sentiments. Below are a few of Barton’s more strident opinions:
On TV: “The head of programming at certain media stations should be tried for crimes against the state, in my opinion. They are fundamentally neglecting their responsibility to educate the youth of today.”
On trolls: “It’s important that those few individuals sitting cowardly behind a screen sending slanderous, racist and sometimes threatening remarks should have to deal with the consequences of their actions.”
On the Royal Family: “One of the challenges with the Royal Family is that many of us might visualise their vast abundance of financial wealth and endless hectares of estate and assume that they’re fundamentally unnecessary and costly to the taxpayer.”
Joey on fatherhood:
It’s a bold and inviting site
“From a design standpoint, Barton’s website (boringly named joeybarton.com) is pretty in-your-face,” said influential football website 101greatgoals.com. “The large header makes a loud statement, which is backed-up by the tag-line that includes retina-grabbing words like ‘ex-con,’ ‘anti-celebrity’ and ‘king.’ That garishness, however, looks bold and inviting.” “Content-wise, the site is chockablock,” praised the blog.
It’s just Barton’s PR machine going through the gears
The Mirror suspected the website is part of Barton’s ongoing efforts to re-brand himself after his “unprovoked assault on Sergio Agüero” in the final game of last season. “The PR team hired to clean up Barton’s image nearly two years ago now had done a semi-impressive job of making the midfielder with a violent past into social media’s very own nouveau philosophe, a man at peace with himself after a tumultuous youth that had bled into his fledgling career,” acknowledged the tabloid. However, the red top sniped that the the site “is worth checking out, particularly for the way they have attempted to help construct a faux-intellectual image of Joey by filming some of the videos in front of bookcases, as well as the awkward and needless angle cuts to black and white that make the camera appear broken.”
Some people might say my life is in a rut but I’m quite happy with what I got…
— Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) July 24, 2012
Joey on…The Higgs Boson – “What a load of shite”. Next week we have Joey’s views on the fragility of life and cooking in prison.
— Macca (@The_Paris_Angel) July 24, 2012
More on football
- Joey Barton: Beyond redemption?
- Balotelli: The ultimate maverick
- Gary Speed’s death an accident?