Joey Barton was known for his thuggish behaviour as a player and manager (Picture: Getty)
Joey Barton has threatened Gary Neville after the football thug was condemned by ITV for his latest offensive remarks about female pundits.
Barton has sparked outrage with his most offensive take yet, comparing female duo Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward to depraved serial killers Fred and Rose West.
Referring to Aluko, capped on over 100 occasions by the Lionesses, Barton, who earned just one cap for England and played only 12 minutes, wrote on X: ‘How is she even talking about Men’s football. She can’t even kick a ball properly.
‘Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, the Fred and Rose West of football commentary. F***ing pathetic. Get them off the Men’s Football. Off the tele. Only there to tick boxes. DEI is a load of s**t. Affirmative action.
‘All off the back of the BLM/George Floyd nonsense. Cancel me, I’d don’t care anymore.’
The 41-year-old, a convicted criminal, has waged war on a clutch of England’s most successful female footballers over the course of the last month, taking particular issue with their increasing involvement in the men’s game.
ITV have issued a statement over Barton’s latest comments and said: ‘For Joey Barton, an ex-professional player with a significant social media presence, to target two of our pundits, Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, with such vindictive remarks based on gender and to invoke the names of serial killers in doing so is clearly contemptible and shameful on his part. Football is for everyone.’
Gary Neville praised ITV for their statement on Joey Barton’s comments (Picture: Getty)
Neville responded to the statement on X as the United legend posted: ‘Well done ITV. It’s gone too far this and mentioning serial killers is quite simply incredible.
‘My daughters have watched Salford City with me for 10 years and like to comment on football, my mum was kicked out of the football team (boys in the 1960’s) and stopped playing due to misogyny.
‘My sister struggled for funding for her sport for years and my brother was mocked when he took over the England women’s team.
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‘I come from a family that has fought these issues for years and I’ve witnessed it first hand. All this does is just discourage and it’s not the way forward. It’s bloody hard work for women to succeed in sport and media as it is without this stuff.’
Barton, though, hit out at Neville in response and said: ‘Gary, please keep your head down or you will get emptied as well. I know they pay your wages and I don’t want to have to put you away.
‘Worry about one of the other 3758 business things you’ve got going on. I’ll decide when it’s gone too far. Not you.’
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