JOEY Barton admits he has got a "rap sheet" as long as his arm. But at the very least he deserves some leniency for good behaviour. Let the record show that the Burnley midfielder didn't pick up a single suspension last season, no mean feat for a combative midfielder in one of the world's most competitive leagues.
"I was in the PFA team of the year, the Football League team of the year, I was Burnley’s Player of the Year, won the league, went 23 games undefeated," the 33-year-old midfielder said as he was paraded as a Rangers player. "But I never got suspended and that was the biggest achievement of them all!"
As formidable as this charm offensive was - he patiently combined his media duties along with parental ones with his young son Cassius - Barton is well aware that he has enough black marks against his name to warrant some scepticism that he has indeed changed his ways sufficiently as he prepares to begin life in the Old Firm bubble. From the moment back in 2004 when he stubbed a lit cigar in the eye of young Manchester City team-mate Jamie Tandy during the club's Christmas party to the six-month jail term he served for assault and affray in 2008, Barton has been a lightning rod to controversy and Glasgow isn't exactly the kind of sleepy backwater where you go to quietly wind down for retirement. There is no running away from his back catalogue here, merely an admission that he has been dealing with his demons so long that he sees no reason for them to resurface unduly in Scotland.
“I understand it," said Barton. "I’ve got a rap sheet. I can’t get away from it. I can’t say ‘oh, I’ve reinvented myself’. That’s not me.
“The reality of it is that I behaved inappropriately at times in the past as a player," he added. "You mature and get older. No matter what you do, people will always want to drag you back to that. I can’t waste energy on that. I just don’t see the point.
“Some people will never, ever see the roses for the thorns ... so I just ‘be’. I just do what I do. People who know me, have met me and have worked with me know who I am and what I’m about. I can’t please everybody and I don’t try to. I believe in who I am as a person and what I’m about as a footballer. In the last few years, I’ve tried to let my football do the talking."
While he was never exactly a shrinking violet, Barton says he feels stronger mentally and physically as a result of his darker days. “They [the demons] have already been out," he said. "When you have confronted the demons at a young age, in the spotlight of the English Premier League as I have, when you’ve been to jail and all the things that go with it - if you don’t know yourself coming through that process, then you wouldn't be here now. The fact is I’ve come through it, battle-hardened, scarred - but ultimately stronger mentally and emotionally.
“For a long period in my career, everything else was a sideshow that deflected from what a good player I was - and still think I am. I think I’m improving, which is great for this football club and great for me."
Where once it was his fists which got him into trouble, now it is generally his mouth, or perhaps his index fingers, as he fires out all manner of controversial tweets to his 3.2million followers. A debut appearance on Question Time saw him criticised for sexism after comparing electoral choice to "between four really ugly girls".
“I make good copy at times with some of the stupid things I say which people take literally," said Barton. "I’ve been on Question Time, I’ve given political opinions, I’ve been outspoken. Then you come away from that thinking ‘I just want to concentrate on football’. I just wanted to show everyone I could do it, because all they thought I was before then was a Neanderthal who went out into the city centre, got drunk and had fights. I did fit that stereotype for a while. Then you come out of it and show the other spectrum of your personality and character.
"Where am I today? Somewhere in the middle. I’ve got a young family and enjoy spending time with them. Ultimately, I’m a man dedicated to his profession. What better place to come than Glasgow to showcase what I believe are going to be the best years of my career?
“Becoming a dad has helped, of course it has. Anyone with children will tell you that. You go from being a young footballer who is the centre of the universe, where all that matters is who you play on a Saturday and how everything affects you. Then this little fella comes along and you suddenly realise you’re not that important. It gives you perspective and humbles you. All that's important is nothing to do with you kicking a bag of air around a pitch."
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