Sky Sports pundit Michelle Owen has hit out at Joey Barton after the former Manchester City and Newcastle player went on a sexist rant on social media. Barton claimed “women shouldn’t be talking with any kind of authority in the men’s game” following Wednesday night’s Premier League action.
“Let’s hope you’re not looking for punditry work if that coaching thing doesn’t work out”, Owen wrote on X (formerly Twitter) as the Sky Sports and ITV pundit replied to Barton’s first post on the same platform.
All of this week’s midweek Premier League matches have been screened live on Amazon Prime, with the US company using a whole host of female pundits to analyse matches. And on Wednesday, Barton took to X to make his controversial thoughts well and truly known.
“Women shouldn’t be talking with any kind of authority in the men’s game”, he penned. “Come on. Let’s be serious. It’s a completely different game. If you don’t accept that. We will always see things differently. The women’s game is thriving. Fantastic to see. I cannot take a thing they say serious in the men’s arena.”
The former midfielder was called out for his shocking comments but doubled down on them as he posted for a second time. “Any man who sits and engages with them in this regard has sold out”, he added. “The game is about levels. Most men’s opinion has little value. Never mind anyone else.”
Barton wasn’t done there, however, as he continued his rant by posting: “Any man who listens to women commentary or co-comms needs their heads testing.”
And as more and more people challenged him on his views, he took a swipe at people involved in football. “Been in football since I’ve left school pal”, he penned in response to a post from a fan. “I’ll decide what I do in the game. It actually bores me. Full of s***bags. Maggots. Liars. People pleasers. Luckily, I’ve played at a level to earn enough to say and do what the f*** I want.”
And in the cold light of day, the 41-year-old was unwilling to yield his position as he took to X once again and wrote: “Stand by everything I’ve said on women commenting and co-comms on the men’s football. Like me talking about knitting or netball. Way out of my comfort zone. Some of the men are bad enough! We have gone too far. You cannot watch a game now without hearing the nonsense. Any man who says otherwise is an absolute fart parcel.”
Barton made 269 Premier League appearances during spells with City, Newcastle, QPR and Burnley. He retired in 2017 and subsequently took over as Fleetwood manager a year later. He spent two-and-a-half years at Highbury Stadium before being appointed Bristol Rovers boss in February 2021. But he was sacked by Rovers in October and has since been out of work.
