Joey Barton Wants to be a Role Model. Seriously.

By: Laurie | October 24th, 2008

Newcastle’s perennial bad boy Joey Barton has done a new interview where he says he wants to be “a role model.” (Because hell, yeah. I know I want to raise my kids so they’ll stab their cigars into people’s eyes and beat their teammates bloody.)

But on the other hand, if you listen to the interview, you just might hear somebody who’s really repentent and ready to turn his life around. Or at least somebody who has good intentions of doing things differently from here on out.

I’ve listened to the interview twice now and still can’t decide if I think he’ll make a go of it.

On the positive side, he does seem to have realized that alcohol is not a great mix with his previously diagnosed anger management issues, and he hasn’t had a drink since December 27, 2007. He frequently says things like, “And that’s my own stupidity,” and “I’m not asking anyone to feel sorry for me,” and , “I can’t stand here trying to defend meself because I’m undefendable.” And he says them like he means them. He doesn’t sound self-pitying, which is kind of refreshing.

On the other hand, though, when he talks about the fights, he still has to point out that “it takes two to tango,” apparently referring to the Ousmane Dabo situation. Classic deflection of blame.

But there are surprisingly few of these moments in the interview. And here’s the part I found most interesting:

“There’s going to be young kids who look at the likes of Michael Owen and Beckham, who are unbelievable professionals, squeaky clean, and they can’t relate to them,” Barton told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I’ve met people on the street, met people while I was in prison, and they can relate to you. When I speak from experience about the things I’ve done wrong in my life and how I’ve tried to change them, I think they respect that. Hopefully I’ll be able to reach them people who, maybe before, were a little unreachable.”

By the time I got through listening to the interview the second time, I was actually hoping he’d be able to follow through. (Not that I’ve entirely bought into the transformation as the real deal. Just that I would be happy if he’s actually able to do what he says he wants to do.)

To see what Joey’s up against (meaning his own nature), here’s a little CCTV video of one of the Barton assaults, as posted on YouTube by The Mirror. I’m pretty sure this is the infamous McDonald’s incident from last December which happened, not coincidentally, on the day Barton says he had his last drink.

(Note to the woman with the dark hair: You stay classy, honey.)