Joey Barton slammed as a ‘bang average player’ by ex-Crystal Palace owner

Former owner of Crystal Palace, Simon Jordan, has slammed Joey Barton over his comments on Everton’s caretaker manager David Unsworth.

Barton appeared on TalkSPORT radio and questioned Unsworth’s credentials before branding him as a “glorified PE teacher”. Barton also took a shot at Unsworth’s weight which caused a stir among fans and media alike. This did not sit well with Jordan who made an appearance on Alan Brazil’s breakfast show on TalkSPORT earlier.

“Joey Barton waxing lyrical about the idea players won’t respect David Unsworth because physically he isn’t condition… well I think Barton has aspirations to manage himself and I suspect there will be a challenge for him when he is looking to enforce discipline and culture in his players because I don’t think he passed the sniff test on that himself,” said Jordan.

“Maybe he’d like to have the opportunity to be a manager and David Unsworth is getting that opportunity and he thinks that is not fair for him.

“If I am a football club chairman, which I was, and I have got a choice between who am I going to employ as my manager between David Unsworth and Joey Barton, I am going to pick David Unsworth every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

“I know managers that have managed Barton and while he is an intelligent guy in some respects and is quite erudite in his opinions, some of what comes out of his mouth is nothing short of a disgrace.

“Empty vessels make the most noise,” added Jordan to his long tirade.

“He talked to me about being a failed footballer – I was never a failed footballer.

“I enjoyed football. I wanted to buy a football club to employ buffoons like Joey Barton.

“He is a person that, to me, was a bang average Premier League player, he has been difficult wherever he has been, I don’t think he is a real model for anybody. Sometimes he speaks very well and very intelligently and there should be more of that and less of the identity of trying to create a reaction in people by saying something that I don’t believe is authentic.”

As if criticism in sports media was not enough, Unsworth time as Everton boss reached another low yesterday as they crashed out of the UEFA Europa League following a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Lyon. The Toffees’ fortunes in the Premier League are even worse as they sit at 18^th on the table with just eight points from the ten games played so far.