Joey Barton relieved he didn't bow out from football on back of Rangers v Celtic horror show

via Evening Times |

JOEY BARTON reckons his controversial exit from Rangers was a blessing in disguise – because he didn’t want to end his career on the back of an Old Firm defeat.

The midfielder lasted just weeks at Ibrox and played only eight matches for the Light Blues before a bust-up with boss Mark Warburton.

He returned to Burnley and was a key part of Sean Dyche’s squad before being hit with an FA betting ban that all-but forced him into retirement.

“You learn from every experience, good and bad,” Barton said of his Rangers departure. “I don’t hold grudges. It is what it is.

“Maybe it was the right thing to happen to me at the time. I went from a phenomenal environment at Burnley with Sean Dyche who would do things at an exceptional standard to an environment that wasn’t at the same level and it was difficult for me.

“I had solutions but I didn’t have enough power. I wasn’t the manager.

“Had I been the manager I would have done things differently and I expect Stevie Gerrard to do those things and be successful.

“But I was a player and when it comes to a head and its either the player or the manager then usually the player goes and in that case that happened.

“The flip side is that I got the chance to go back to Burnley again in the Premier League and be part of a group that I loved playing for.

“My last game before the ban could have been for Rangers at Celtic Park getting trounced 5-1. As it was, it was for Burnley against Manchester United and Paul Pogba, the world’s most expensive player at the time, with a group of men I adored playing with and at a club I adored playing for.

“So I am very, very lucky. I wanted it to be successful up there. Rangers is a great club and I would loved to have been successful there.

“It didn’t work out and I have to live with that for the rest of my days. All the clubs I have been at have had successful spells apart from Rangers.”