08 December 2023 , 14:41
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Alex Scott has mocked Joey Barton on social media in the wake of his comments criticising female football pundits.
The former Bristol Rovers boss caused controversy earlier this week when he claimed that women "shouldn't be" talking about men's football. He then went on to query the number of women who currently commentate and co-commentate on top-flight games before questioning their credentials to do so.
Barton was challenged by television host Piers Morgan to appear on his show to debate those comments. And it was during his appearance on Thursday night's broadcast that he took aim at Scott, who won 140 caps for England. Scott has become a prominent pundit since her retirement and is the current host of Football Focus on the BBC.
"She hasn’t played in it [the men's game]," Barton said of Scott during his appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored. “One is 200 years old and one is about 40 years old… It’s the same rules but football is about a lot more than rules… The games are at two different speeds."
Scott took her opportunity to hit back via an Instagram story on Friday morning. While waiting to conduct an interview at Manchester United, Scott was seen chatting to a man sitting in shot.
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After light-heartedly asking if he was conducting an interview, he then asked what Scott was going to discuss. She quipped back: "Joey Barton?", before breaking out in laughter.
While Barton has been chastised for his comments, he doubled down on them on Friday morning following his appearance on Morgan's show. He also challenged Laura Woods and Bianca Westwood, two prominent figures in the football broadcasting sphere, to debate his stance.
Barton has since doubled down on his comments about female pundits (PiersMorganUncensored/YouTube)He posted: "Anyone who wants to come and debate me in this space? All genders are welcome. It will be 2 hours of raw debate. Unedited. Any of you brave enough?"
Westwood did debate with Barton during his appearance on Piers Morgan's show. She responded to Barton's claims that women were "unqualified" to speak about men's football by saying: "Who is qualified to speak on football then? I’ve been watching football for 40 years, my first game at West Ham was before Joey was even born.
"I’ve been watching hours and hours of football. I worked behind the scenes at Sky for 10 years before I was even given a shot on camera, watching my male colleagues who maybe weren’t as good as I was, getting chances I was never given.
"I don’t really understand what we need to know, how long we need to work behind the scenes before we are allowed on camera. To be a pundit, the laws are the same. Emma Hayes and Sarina Wiegman can both read the game, are you saying they can’t offer an insight?
"Sounds like to me that Joey has a problem with particular pundits who haven’t done enough in the game, but how does he know? And how do we quantify that? There’sEFLplayers who are commentating, co-commentating onChampions Leaguegames. So what level - as far as Joey Barton is concerned - do you have to get before you can be an expert on the ‘men’s game’?"