Joey Barton cuts a very divisive figure in football. That division comes from all aspects of his football career: on the pitch, in the studio or in the technical area.
There is a combativeness about him, he was an enforcer on the pitch and he carried that attitude with him into management.
His outspoken, devil-may-care attitude is what saw him come a cropper at Fleetwood Town.
Barton sacked at Fleetwood – the details
What started his downfall at Highbury was his sacking of striker Ched Evans. With Evans mocking Barton and his coaching staff in a ‘punishment roast‘, Barton dispensed with the striker’s services.
Barton himself was sacked yesterday by Fleetwood Town and then suddenly shot to the head of the runners in the race for the Sheffield Wednesday job – he’s dropped back since.
New details came yesterday that added another level to the sacking and gave fresh details. Alan Nixon, writing for The Sun, wrote that Fleetwood got rid of Barton after the club chairman, Andy Pilley, “spent a few days reviewing the background of his fall out with striker Ched Evans.”
For Pilley and for Fleetwood Town, Barton’s actions were said to be “the final episode” – the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Barton and the Sheffield Wednesday job
Some sources were indicating that Barton was one of the frontrunners for the Hillsborough job. He literally came from nowhere and into the reckoning as the top man for the vacant hotseat at the South Yorkshire club.
However, The Athletic’s Nancy Frostick, who is their house writer on the Owls, tweeted the following:
Regarding rumours of Joey Barton as a managerial candidate for #SWFC, worth noting detail in this piece from @GregOK on JB's Fleetwood exit – he's currently in no rush to find a new position and has plans to complete UEFA Pro License.
More here:https://t.co/t4KUnmlJyo— Nancy Frostick (@nancyfrostick) January 5, 2021
Frostick tweets that Barton is in “no rush” to find a new management position and “has plans to complete [his] UEFA Pro License.”
To that end, Barton is at old club Manchester City watching the Citizens training routines.
For some Sheffield Wednesday fans, the fact that this is happening could be construed as very good news indeed with many not wanting the club to employ him as their next manager.
