He didn’t bet on his own games. That was proven and acknowledged by the FA early on. Can’t disagree with what you are saying, but worth a read though. Some of the stuff that went on wasn’t actually reported correctly by the papers either. Always 2 sides to a story - and to be fair, he doesn’t try to wiggle out of anything.
Read it or listen to it. He explains it all. I’m no Barton fan, and simply read it as the reviews were good. It surprised me a bit.
He bet against his own teams yes, but he was never playing in the games he did, as he was out either due to injury or suspension or not picked by manager. He mentions he did so when not picked by manager as he was pissed off and felt this was like a revenge bet. Not sticking up for the guy - just saying it’s an interesting book, whether you like the guy or not, there’s plenty to read about other people, especially Mike Ashley and Alan Shearer. Loved the bit when he ripped into Shearer and Dowie - called Dowie ‘boxing glove head’ in front of full team.
Most Barnsley fans would have said the same - usual Shearer coming across whiter than white, until Joey told him some Home truths of how dirty Shearer used to be as a player. Worth the read just for that!
He also placed bets on games he was playing in. Not bets for his team to lose bets such as for player X to score a goal which would obviously influence how he plays the game because if he has two strikers to pass for and he's bet on one of them to score and not the other I think we all know which one he's going to keep passing to. I think your comments about the ''highlights" of the book really speaks volumes about the kind of disrespectful person he is. I'm sure it's an interesting book but interesting in the way that it would be interesting to read Osama bin Laden's autobiography. It would be fascinating to see what goes through the mind of a mad man but it wouldn't mean I'd believe a word he says.
Yeah, you’re right. It’s worth reading whether you like him or not. Sometimes the best books are about people you don’t like normally, as you find more out.
Think I'll give this one a try. Not a fan of Barton, but the controversial players have the better stories to tell. I'd recommend Paul Merson's for the same reason. Professional footballer with a major drink, drug and gambling addiction, far better than reading someone's squeaky clean tales. I recently read Alex Ferguson's newest one. Totally boring. Just page after page of him writing how wonderful he is. Was dying for him to unveil a secret that he loved gay threesomes, or something out of the ordinary, but nothing!!!
I doubt any footballer has written their own book.Half of whats written is probably bs. Not read the Fergie book , he's one of the best managers of all time doubt a bookll change that.