Barton blows trumpet – Zenden blows hot air

Posted on January 15th, 2011 | 23 Comments |

Joey Barton, Newcastle United, blows his own trumpet
Who nicked me trumpet?
Newcastle’s midfield star has been indulging in a spot of gratuitious trumpet blowing and who can blame him after his excellent performances for the team this season?

In an interview with Sky Sports, Joey Barton said:

“I think I am a better player now than when I signed.

“I don’t think it is for me to say but at the end of the day I don’t think there is anyone playing better than me in this country. That’s an honest answer, not a big-header answer.

“There are probably six or seven midfielders get in a squad for an England game and I don’t think there are two English players playing better than me at the minute.”

He then goes on to bemoan his lack of opportunities at the international level:

“But it’s not all about football.

“Fabio Capello came in and said he wanted to pick form players, but I don’t think he has done that. Some of the players than have been picked have not been form players. If the selection policy is form players then there are not 21 better, or in-form players than me in the country.“

Meanwhile, ahead of tomorrow’s derby match, someone called Bolo Zenden had this to say:

“It gives you an opportunity to redeem yourself, not to talk about revenge, but to redeem yourself and say, ‘Listen, the first one, we didn’t really participate and we didn’t cope with the occasion’.

“Maybe this time around, it is different for most of the boys as well because we are playing at home and we will have the fans behind us.

“Maybe for some, that will make a big difference and they might feel a bit more at ease, I don’t know.

“It’s a big game and either away or at home, it’s always enjoyable to play in. There’s absolutely no fear factor.

“At the end of the day, it’s another game. The way I look at it, the most important fixture is the next one.

“In this case, it’s the Newcastle derby, but in the situation in which we are in the league, why should we fear it?

“We are not there for nothing, we did get the results, and they are not far behind us either, so it’s a case of keeping the distance.

“You have to cope with it in the best way. If you play a derby or a classico, you have to play with your heart because you know what it means for the fans.

“But more so, you have to play with your head because if you lose your head, you are more likely to lose the game as well.

“It’s about doing the right things.”

Yawn. Zzzzzzzz. Wake me up when he’s finished.

NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10). Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.

Related Posts:

  • No Related Posts

Posted on by Hugh de Payen in category: Hugh de Payen and Joey Barton and Player interviews and Wearside tramps , with tags: ,
Comment on this post

23 Responses

  1. And this is the exact reason he won’t get to be a regular with England…he speaks his mind.

  2. In other news, Zenden went on to say that it’s a game of two halves, it’s not over til the fat lady sings, football isn’t a matter of life and death – it’s more important than that and whoever scores first will have the advantage.

    After the interview, sky also revealed that rain is wet, the sky is blue and mackems are c***s.

  3. Barton just too direct to speak out.

    But for any reason I think it’s too much words before the game tomorrow. Am I watching Oprah drama ?

  4. BIG HEADED OR NOT HES RIGHT NO ONE THIS SEASON AS BEEN PLAYING AS GOOD IN THAT POSTION, JUST LOOK THE THREE GAMES THAT HE MISSED WE WERE ALL OVER THE PLACE JUST KEEP UR HEAD SLOW AND SLOW PEOPLE MIGHT CHANGE

  5. YOU SEE EVERYTIME THE TOON TALK UP THE GAME WE ARE GOING TO DO THIS THAT SHOLAS GOING TO PROVE A POINT ETC WE GET BEATEN BIG

  6. haway man barton!! your doing a mint job 4 us but less of the arrogance!! more money than sense eh?? anyway hello lads , does any1 know if bothroyds injured?? hes not in the cardiff team???

  7. I would doubt if Cappello would look to deeply at his history if he was going to pick him for England, he is Italian!! Joey is going to have to play consistantly well, to jump ahead of some of the current picks. Talking won’t get him there.

  8. It would appear that Zenden, Bruce, The MOTD boys and everyone else are talking down our chances of winning. So looks like an upset is in the offing and egg on their faces. :)

  10. he will never play for england because he’s a thug and in many people’s eyes should not play the game. red n white army!

  11. why can’t he just shut up and show a bit of diplomacy. The national press are calling for him to be picked for england, so he doesn’t need to go tub thumping like this. Openly criticizing capello’s selection policy is counter productive, as is doing a wanking gesture at torres. It’s peurile and unseemly, what do young kids think of that watching TV!?

    Still been brilliant this season. Just wonder if he will ever truly change his ways or just talk about it.

  13. Bob, has Cattermole ever beaten the s**t out of a lad so much he landed himself in prison? Has Cattermole ever put a cigar out in the eye of a youth team player? Has Cattermole ever punched a 15 year old fan in a hotel lobby? Has Cattermole ever beaten the s**t out of a team mate in training, so much so that he had to be transfered because of the hatred for him from his team mates? No? Oh, just Barton then. He’s equally as bad as that knob Diouf. I didn’t cheer his name when he wore a Sunderland shirt and any like minded Black and White shoul be the same with that hideous individual Barton

  14. Not defending Barton – who is a thug off the field – but on the field, how many serious career-tghreatening injuriesinjuries has Clattermole caused? Is it 3 or 4 so far?I s he ahead of de Jong or just drawing at the minute?

  15. The problem with Barton isn’t his footballing ability – it’s his temperament. Would you risk an international game by putting Barton on and watching the opposition set about winding him up (think back to Rooney/Ronaldo for an example of what can happen). It’s bad enough at club level but imagine it at international level

  16. Not a bad set of results for us today. Dog eat dog from Spuds down. Everybody in the mix. You still gotta think at this stage of the season there will definitely be three worse sides than us.

    Barton personally may want to play for England and is probably one of the best english midfield players this season so deserve another cap. Playing for england in the past however has been a disaster for Toon players form thereafter

  18. Mackem.

    Barton may be all of the things you say, but at least he attends court and lives in his own city….your rabble of inbred scumbags seem to think newcastle is their home/court….oh wait thats due to them all living up here and not down in your sunderland slums.

  19. After the mauling that the mackems received at our place I would keep my gob shut. Mr Bruce and some of his clowns are suggesting they are going to win. Go back under your rocks like you did when you were trounced it`s going to happen again.

  21. Sometimes i read this stuff and really laugh. tbh the article is a fairly pointless one, but when you get fans from both sides just being stupid, it makes you embarrassed. some should learn to grow up and worry about your own team and players instead of another (regardless of being rivals)

  22. You tell it to em Joey !
    Yeah you are certainly playing better than most England pretenders and yeah you have IMO earned an Engerland start.
    And as for being sold, Ashley should consider giving you a raise, never mind thinking of selling a player of your stature, a new four year contract is what he should be presenting you with.
    As for Villa considering six million too much, thats why they are third from the bottom, no idea, thank goodness.
    And if YOU dont make it obvious how good you are, who in the hell will,certainly not Ashley and the dummies who write for the press, what do they know ?
    Listen we Newcastle fans are aware of how good you have played this season and want you to stay and sign a new contract, cause we appreciat having someone in the side who works his ass of for the team.
    And hey Capello, wise up dude and start picking on performance and not reputation and why did`nt you pick both Joey an young Johnson for the WC, instead of the bunch of loosers you brought with you ?