I think he has said that he wants to go into coaching/management, but he'll always be available for a quote no doubt. He's on radio 5 tonight with Clive Woodward.
Here's the link to a fuller version of the Barton interview. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26866687 I think its important to note that he says Rooney, on talent alone, is a better player than Ronaldo. I don't necessarily agree, but he is trying to make a much broader point about English football/players.
He's making a lot of good points there. he's explaining how he is / was, whilst never ducking or avoiding the responsibility for his actions. He comes across as a very open, very honest person - one with his demons and his struggles as well as his opinions and achievements.
Even on the BBC site, there's lots of comments about not liking him but he's right. Look at all the highest voted agreeing with him. Worth £15.6m a year in wages? My arse he is.
Can you imagine what a player with a combination of Gascoigne's ability and Beckham's aptitude would fetch in today's market?
I think joey is spot on about rooneys ability. He could be so much better but still he might be the best that england can offer. England have been short of a world superstars after Bobby Charlton. Lineker was the best that england have offered since old bobby. Yes he is not anywhere near worth of his gigantic salary but who would not take that kind of money if someone is willing to pay.
It really isn't Rooney's fault or concern what Man Utd are prepared to pay him is it? We'd all take it and it's small beer in comparison to what they'd have to pay up front for a similar player and taking into account the revenue from shirt sales etc around the globe that Rooney helps to bring in. Barton's point about Ronaldo and professionalism is a valid one. If Rooney had a high IQ it may well make a difference. However, I always find that an interesting question...............players like Rooney and Gazza are clearly not blessed with high intelligence and yet, put them on a pitch with a ball at their feet and their "thinking" can be light years ahead of many others.
Just listened to the whole interview- fascinating stuff and well worth a listen. The more I hear from Barton the more I like him.
Its a diffent type of intelligence mate. More to do with "spacial awareness" than reading books or solving mathematical problems. I saw a documentry once where they put a footballer up alongside a RAF pilot on a series of test and the football was pretty much on par with the pilot. top players can predict or know where anyone of there given team mates will be at any given time, prior to crossing a ball( Beckham is a perfect example). hence they can put on the perfect pass /cross. Like i said, its a diffrent and accepted type of intelligence....Just dont ask them to spell thier names !
I agree, intelligence isn't just about being academically intelligent. There is a multiple of intelligences that go far beyond of how we articulate ourselves. As you have rightly stated, sport being but one of them. The empirical method that is very often perceived is falsely based on the cultural phenomenon of IQ testing, but it goes way beyond that. There is interpersonal, intra personal, musical, mathematical, linguistic, visual and spatial intelligence which are of course are not mutually exclusive. That's without mentioning savants and prodigies which even then shouldn't encapsulate these people to a specific category.
Good grief! You are of course quite correct Swords. After reading that back it does look slightly pompous. But I knew what I meant, I just couldn't convey it articulately in the way that I intended. I wished I could get across succinctly in the same way that Stan, Uber, Roller and your good self ( among others on here, I hasten to add. ) could with such seemingly relative ease. But there you go. I find myself quite often constructing a response to a post and abandoning it due to its discombobulating direction. I think that may put me in the intrapersonel bracket.
Not pompous a'tall old boy, I just thought you might have slid down the fire pole a bit quick and got a bit dizzy! Fair play to ye Ninesy!
Watch it Nines, pompous is my territory. I still think intelligence is fundamentally about the ability to absorb information, analyse it and draw conclusions from the process and act accordingly, drawing on past experience but not being led by it. Sometimes thats about facts, sometimes its about other people's behaviour, sometimes it's weighing up opinions, but its not spatial awareness or particular skills around music, numbers etc, very useful, impressive and enjoyable as these may be. The seriously bright have both the 'intellectual' (for want of a better word) and 'emotional' (the people stuff) intelligence.