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Joey Barton has defended himself on Piers Morgan Uncensored after hitting out at female football pundits and commentators.
The former Premier League midfielder said men who enjoy listening to women commentating on men's football matches "need their heads testing", sparking a huge public backlash. He spent the morning doubling down on his comments on X before appearing on Morgan's Talk TV show alongside former Sky Sports presenter Bianca Westwood, who said his claims were "out of order".
Barton hit back, branding the criticism levelled at him "a farce". He also insisted he wasn't sexist and that all he wanted was for punditry and commentary jobs to go to the most deserving person.
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"Usually I wouldn't give those opinions any credence… but I thought it was out of order," Westwood began. "I've been on the wrong end of dog's abuse when I started reporting and it didn't sit well with me."
Barton, who also called England Lionesses manager Sarina Weigman Sandra earlier on, replied: "I take on board what Bianca is saying. She's worked incredibly hard and does a fantastic job. I don't think she's there on tokenism. It's not sexism, I'm saying the best person for the opportunity should get that role."
What do you make of Barton's comments on Piers Morgan Uncensored? Let us know in the comments section below.
After receiving flack from another panellist, Barton fumed: "You’re just shouting at me, it’s a farce. Let’s have a serious conversation. This is becoming a farce. I’m here to talk about the men’s game. I’m not here to be shouted at. I’m not being paid to be shouted at, not by yous. I’m here to have a sensible conversation."
An increasingly irate Westwood responded: "Not everybody is a consummate broadcaster when they very first start. Did you ever see Gary Neville when he first started on Monday Night Football? He said himself he wasn’t brilliant. You can’t learn live television anywhere other than live television.
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"That doesn’t mean they don’t know anything about the game. Maybe they’re just not brilliant broadcasters yet. I got terrorised when I first started live reporting because people said I know nothing about football. That wasn’t the case, I’d been watching football since I was six. Maybe these female pundits need to be given a chance."
Barton was asked by Piers to provide a name of a female pundit or commentator who wasn't good enough for the job, but the ex-Manchester City star responded: "I’m not even going there, I’m not giving you anything. I’ve come on to have a sensible debate, they just want to shout at you."
- Piers Morgan
- Premier League
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