Exclusive - Barton: ‘England squad is not picked on form – or I’d be in it!’ By Ian Cruise Thursday, October 6 0 comments Joey Barton insists the England squad is not being picked on form – otherwise he would be in it! Fabio Capello has spoken in the past of picking ‘the player, not his name’, suggesting reputations would count for nothing when it came to selecting the best 23 players to represent the nation. Barton, however, remains unconvinced. He told Sport Magazine: “It [the selection] can’t be based on form because I’ve been as good as anyone over the last 18 months. I have to be in the squad. “But what do I do about? Sit around moping or just get on with it and do the best I can for my club? At the end of the day, I don’t think I’m going to be the difference between England winning a European Championship and them not. “I’d like to think I would be, but I’m not deluded. So I’ll just play as well as I can for my club and if it happens it happens, and if it doesn’t…” The QPR midfielder, who has started his new career in west London in fine form, has played just once for his country, a 12-minute cameo appearance against Spain in 2007. And while he admits he may not be the difference between success and failure for the Three Lions, he won’t be jumping on what is bound to be the inevitable bandwagon propelling England towards glory should they get at least the point they need against Montenegro on Friday night to guarantee qualification for next year’s finals in Poland and Ukraine. He added: “If England get there, we have absolutely no grounds to get carried away and nobody should expect us to win it. “We saw what Germany did to us last summer in South Africa – and England have the same nucleus of players involved, so how much has changed? “I don’t know what we have to gain from going to the next tournament with a squad that looks and plays much like the previous one.” You can read the full, fascinating interview with Joey Barton on Friday in the new-look Sport Magazine http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-n...england-squad-not-picked-form-–-or-i’d-be-it’
Mmmh England? Maybe he'd have be good enough for Norway's national team if he had a Norwegian gran or similar . PVM was!
He is obviously incensed that nobody was stating the glaringly obvious so he just had to come right out and say it himself. Hard work being that brilliant.
He's not short of confidence is he our new captain? Same as Adel by the sounds of things. They believe in their own hype and sometimes think they are better then they are. They are both talented players and we need to get the best out of both of them and we will stay up easily.
No doubt that Barton has the ability. His heart is prob still with Newcastle. Thats not necessarily a bad thing, because it shows that even in this era when most players only care about their pay packets he actually loved that club. In time, if he manages to show us the same commitment then we will have a top top player.
"The QPR midfielder, who has started his new career in west London in fine form"....are you serious? The whole article is about form and the writer can't even get that right.
I fear our Joey thinks he is far better than he actually is. When he signed I was pleased as I believed he was a good player from bits and pieces I'd seen. Now, having seen him for a few full games I'm not too impressed. He gives the ball away a lot, usually when he's trying something a bit more difficult (he probably believes he can make these difficult passes because he thinks he's so good!!). I hope he settles down and starts to look like he actually wants to be here!! Someone said he and Adel are good players. Well....for all his faults, Adel is a far, far better player than our Joey!!
Just thought I'd share my opinion. Last season Joey was easily good enough to be in the England squad and as has been stated that was maybe down to his love and commitment for Newcastle. It isn't that he isn't committed for you, I just think he had something extra at Newcastle that made him play at 100% every time he stepped on the pitch. It may be more down to money at QPR though sadly. The one really good game he had for you was against Wolves. Why was this? In my opinion it was because he wanted to make Karl Henry look as poor as possible. It's just a thought. If Warnock can get him to play with that passion again, you have one of the best English midfielders in the league.
I really don't want to knock Barton and I pray he comes good with so many important games coming up for us. However what does concern me is the amount of time he takes in (a) telling everyone how good he is (b) pointing out the failings of others. So far on the evidence I've seen he has not stood out at all and I wish he would put his own house in order and puts in a consistently good shift for us before voicing his opinions. Top players do not have to tell anyone how good they are!!
