A biography for Joey Bartonhasn’t been written yet.
“You look at the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi, whether it's the boots they wear, the haircuts they have, and you see the influence top flight footballers have over football fans - in particular young fans.”
“Life's too short to look back at things.”
“I know myself and I know it's dangerous if I just internalise everything.”
“I'm somebody who has always served the higher purpose in terms of the team, always done well when that's been at the fore.”
“I can find common ground with most people; I'm quite a personable character.”
“People should embrace the fact they're individual.”
“At the end of the day, where I'm from, if someone open palms or slaps you or comes towards you to hit you, you don't stand around.”
“I came from a very violent background.”
“If I'd been a balanced person I'd never have been an elite-level sportsman.”
“We all screw up, we screw up multiple times on multiple scales, but when every decision you make is in the spotlight, a lot of responsibility comes with it.”
“I embrace that I'm peculiar and refuse to conform.”
“I've got lots to prove because there will be people expecting the Joey Barton caricature that was a player and a media pundit to be rolled out as a manager.”
“I grew up in Liverpool, a port city very similar to Bristol in many regards, with a blue team and a red team.”
“Things happen for a reason and there's a lesson to be learned from it.”
“As much as I didn't want to go to jail I had to accept it. It was my own doing.”
“You need tried and tested in the Premier League.”
“The size of a football for men's a size five, say we moved the size of a women's football down to a size four, would anybody really notice the difference?”
“I'm a player that's never been blessed with an enormous amount of talent, speed, tricks.”
“I don't switch off at 5 P.M. I am obsessive and compulsive about what I do, so my personal and professional lives are totally entwined.”
“Look, we all do wrong - some more than others, some more high-profile than most, but every one of us is flawed.”