Joey Barton's Twitter Philosophizing - New York Times (blog)

There's something about Joey Barton. There always has been. His career has been punctuated by disturbing outbursts of violence: as a 22-year old he stubbed out a cigar in a teammate's eye at a Christmas party; in May 2007 he brutally attacked Ousmane Dabo, another teammate, until his ears bled and his eyesight was damaged; and six months later he punched a man 20 times in the head outside a Liverpool McDonald's – a crime for which he served 77 days in Strangeways prison.

And then there's the peculiar, gnawingly likeable Joey Barton: the footballer who regularly — and admirably — pierces the dull fog of footballerisms that sterilizes the vast majority of post-match interviews and press conferences. He criticized the England team for cashing in on dismal World Cup performances by publishing post-tournament books; he flashed his bum at Everton fans who had been taunting him about his incarcerated brother; and, of late, he has been become quite easily the most surprising player on Twitter, re-tweeting quotes by Nietzche, offering his opinion on the Labour Party leadership, and recommending Naomi Wolf novels to his followers.

Somewhat predictably, his boundless honesty has landed him in trouble — a flurry of barely-veiled tweets criticizing the blundering board at Newcastle United proved the final straw, and Barton was transfer listed on Wednesday. Whoever his new employers prove to be, it's likely that his online activities will be highly scrutinized.

They'll find some interesting reading ….

Benji Lanyado is a London-based writer, who blogs at benjilanyado.com.