Barton embarrasses himself again by reviving French accent in bizarre interview

Metro

05-05-2025

Joey Barton once again had fans reaching for the mute button after deciding to revive his bizarre French accent on a visit to former club Marseille at the weekend.
The 42-year-old has been out of a job since being sacked as manager of Bristol Rovers in 2023, but was in the headlines in March after being found guilty of assaulting his wife at their family home.
Barton has also been involved in a bitter dispute with former Lioness Eni Aluko, who won the first stage of a High Court libel claim against the ex-Manchester City midfielder after he claimed her father was financially corrupt and that her private education made her a 'hypocrite'.
However, Barton was invited to take part in a Marseille legends match at the Stade Velodrome on Friday night to celebrate the club's 125th anniversary.
And while Robert Pires, Franck Ribery, Samir Nasri and Didier Drogba were involved in the star-studded event, Barton has gone viral for all the wrong reasons with his toe-curling interview before kick-off.
After joining Marseille back in 2012, Barton announced his arrival to the French media by speaking with an accent that appeared straight out of BBC sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!.
Though Barton was widely ridiculed for the strange press conference at the time, the former England international decided to resurrect the accent again on Friday when asked about his infamous run-in with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
'It was a big game, Le Classique, and Ibrahimovic was very physical with Nicolas Nkoulou and the coach said to me that I must defend him,' Barton explained.
'He fouled, he fouled and the referee… [gestures blowing a whistle].
'After after, he speak very badly to me, Zlatan, he speak very bad.
'And it was on the camera so everywhere I go, the Marseille fans say, 'Hey, Barton!'. They don't remember the football, but only the nose.'
Unsurprisingly, clips of Barton's interview have received a mixed reception on social media, with many fans calling out the former Newcastle, QPR and Burnley man over his 'embarrassing' behaviour.
'Absolutely embarrassing, that,' @ToonMouthTyne wrote on X.
'Joey's been watching 'Allo 'Allo! all week,' @paulfinlay23903 responded.
Another fan, @TSnozzle, said: 'Sounded like me in GCSE French.'
Several other users on X questioned why Barton had been asked to feature in the legends match in the first place given he only spent one, largely uneventful, season with Marseille.
'He spent one season on loan haha what the f*** is this,' @BillyRayMoore said.
'Why the hell is he playing in a legends game for Marseille. Is he a Marseille legend?' fodenthegoat_47 wrote.
'The term 'legend' gets thrown about far too often. It has lost all meaning,' @fodenthegoat_47 replied.
Last year, Barton sensationally threw his hat in the ring to manage Marseille, before Jean-Louis Gasset was eventually chosen to replace Gennaro Gattuso.
'I am ready,' Barton responded to reports of Gattuso being under pressure at the time.
Roberto De Zerbi replaced Gasset as Marseille's head coach ahead of the 2024/25 season and the Italian has enjoyed an impressive debut season in France, with the side sitting second heading into their two remaining matches in Ligue 1.
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