Barton blasts Barry, and asks for assurances from the board.

Much praise has been dished out in the direction of Joey Barton in recent weeks, and rightly so as the midfielder has arguably been one of the best performers in his position throughout the league.

Joey is great with his feet and can deliver a ball on a sixpence, but he is also pretty handy with his mouth. Not in a bad way though! When Joey opens his mouth it's amazing that so much sense can come out given the picture that has been painted of him. He always comes across as intelligent and articulate and is usually bang on the money with his comments, even if it may ruffle a few feathers along the way.

Which is why it's interesting to hear of Joey's comments in French magazine, So Foot. In there he talks about his England chances, which I suspect may have gone out the window after his little outburst against Gareth Barry, and of his concerns over his new contract that, until this report anyway, had appeared to be close to being signed.

First off, Barton lifts the lid on the delay of his new contract:

"It's important to respect the people who come to the stadium or watch the games on telly," said Barton. "That's what I told the Newcastle management. I told them the goal shouldn't be just to survive, to finish 16th or 17th, every season."

"We had a good player, Carroll, and we sold him. I told the management that I was worried, that I was scared this might happen every year. But they assured me they don't want to go down that road. I don't know if I believe them."

"I told them I might stay this summer because we have some good players and money to spend. But I'm going to wait and see if players like Kevin Nolan, Cheick Tioté and Jose Enrique stay. If Nolan signs a new deal, I will as well. But I hope the club step things up. I want to be ambitious and I think the club share that desire."

Interesting. I wonder how much of this has been taken out of context? I wonder if it's been taken out of context at all? It doesn't make for good reading, that's for sure, especially when he is going to be given the captaincy for the match against Aston Villa at the weekend.

Barton then spoke about how he would love to get back into the England setup, before claiming that he is the best English midfielder and launching into an attack against senior England stars such as Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Gareth Barry.

"I'm English and I love playing for my country," Barton stated. "Maybe the people at the top have a problem with me. I don't know. But the trouble I had was four years ago. They should be able to forgive, shouldn't they?"

"Honestly, I think I'm the best English midfielder. Luka Modric and Samir Nasri are very good, but in terms of English players... well, Jack Wilshere isn't bad, but Frank Lampard's on the way down and Steven Gerrard's been injured a lot."

"Did you see the game against Germany at the World Cup? If you watch the fourth goal, when Ozil was up against Barry, it was like the hare and the tortoise."

"Barry's got a very good agent," Barton suggested as a reason for Barry's enhanced reputation. "He's also discreet and always agrees with the manager. He's like the guy who sits in the front row and listens to the teacher. I certainly don't lose any sleep when I play against him."

Hmmm......

I guess you could certainly call this 'forthright', which fits really as Joey has never been a shrinking violet. Essentially what he says is true, but there is a time and a place for this sort of discussion, and it shouldn't be done through the press, in my opinion anyway, as it just opens up the corridors of criticism.

Interesting though isn't it?