Joey Barton is the nearest thing to

[DeeGame]

Joey Barton will never be as good as Stevie G

I'd compare him to the likes of Diouf in the sense that if he ever signed for bigger club he would just be a small fish in a big pond. He will only play good football at a smaller club.

[Redspin]

Steven Gerrard i've seen in many a year.
Quality footballer this lad, he's got the lot really, i'd be delighted if we snapped him up but then again we've already got the real Gerrard as well as Alonso and Sissoko, maybe Mascherano to come in as well.

Do me a favour, he's adequate at best. That's why he's linked with Everton and Newcastle. He's only good enough for second level clubs like them. Not good enough for us.

[Redspin]

Joey just gave a great interview on sky.
Basically said he's dead happy at citeh and playing some great football.
If anyone came in for him they'd be wasthing their time.

Brutally honest - but if one of the big four came in for him then I reckon he'd reconsider.

He's nowhere near good enough for the four top teams

[burntyoungster]

the one thing that always strikes me about barton is how much he looks like dalglish, if he had fair hair he'd be like his twin.
if he was spanish half the people on here would probably want to pay 10 mill for him.

[Lecter]

Massively over rated player, no way close to the quality of Gerrard and not good enough for us by a long long way.

I actually rate Barton very highly have done for a couple of years now

I personally think he'd be a better move than Mascherano in the long term

You know what you are getting with Barton, hes nowhere near as technical as Gerrard in fact I'd go so far as saying hes more of a box to box player than Gerrard (hes more similar to Keane)

One thing Barton has improved on dramatically is his contribution in the final third, hes now scoring goals and creating chances with his runs into the box

You only had to look at City's first goal last night, great run into the box and the lad had the composure to look up and pass the ball across the box for his teammate to side foot in

We could do a lot worse than sign Barton imo

[The Wolfman]

I actually rate Barton very highly have done for a couple of years now

I personally think he'd be a better move than Mascherano in the long term

You know what you are getting with Barton, hes nowhere near as technical as Gerrard in fact I'd go so far as saying hes more of a box to box player than Gerrard (hes more similar to Keane)

One thing Barton has improved on dramatically is his contribution in the final third, hes now scoring goals and creating chances with his runs into the box

You only had to look at City's first goal last night, great run into the box and the lad had the composure to look up and pass the ball across the box for his teammate to side foot in

We could do a lot worse than sign Barton imo

he has a good shot on him too.

Not in the gerrard/lampard class but better than most.

[Jack D Rips]

Do me a favour, he's adequate at best. That's why he's linked with Everton and Newcastle. He's only good enough for second level clubs like them. Not good enough for us.

Maybe you are the one to answer my question above. What players ARE actually " good enough for us"?

[Jazzmaster]

I actually rate Barton very highly have done for a couple of years now

I personally think he'd be a better move than Mascherano in the long term

You know what you are getting with Barton, hes nowhere near as technical as Gerrard in fact I'd go so far as saying hes more of a box to box player than Gerrard (hes more similar to Keane)

One thing Barton has improved on dramatically is his contribution in the final third, hes now scoring goals and creating chances with his runs into the box

You only had to look at City's first goal last night, great run into the box and the lad had the composure to look up and pass the ball across the box for his teammate to side foot in

We could do a lot worse than sign Barton imo

Have to agree with you on this one Lecty, Barton has impressed me for a long time now. Plays at a very consistent level, rarely gets injured and is worth over 10 goals a season. Is city's best player at the moment. Good attitude, committed to the team.

And a scouser. And he turned down Everton.

What more do you people want?

[honk]

He is a quality player for City, however I don't think he is up to our standard. He will probably be a good pro and play to the standard he is at now for a long time, but i don't think he will go to the next level.

I don't understand why he would even think about Everton. City are as good as them so its not as if he is making a step upwards.

[Jack D Rips]

Another who thinks he is not up to our standard. For the third time I ask who ARE actually "good unough for us"?

[Whitey85]

Is this a wind up? You are clueless Marky18.

[Marky]

Arsene Wenger is a big admirer of him also.

[thesilverfoxlfc]

Is this a wind up? You are clueless Marky18.

[lfc4ever]

Another who thinks he is not up to our standard. For the third time I ask who ARE actually "good unough for us"?

The ones currently playing for us obviously.

Looks on team sheet, nope, can't see Barton, J anywhere.

[Depth_Charge]

Barton is not a bad player at all, but at the current time I don't think he would be an automatic first choice for us unless we dumped at least two of Gerrard, Alonso and Momo.

If he was a red I reckon he would be used as cover - appearing as a sub and starting in the odd cup game. He would probably be used in a similar to the way that Bolo is employed (upon whom he would be an improvement).

Barton probably knows that too and that this would be the case if he was to move to any 'big' team just now. However at city he has a chance to prove himself by playing regularly and who knows what his future might hold - he is improving all the time and is well adapted to the English game, but 'the nearest thing tio Gerrard' - I'm not so sure on that one...