Barton slams 'rotten' English football culture

Joey Barton has branded the culture within English football "rotten from top to bottom".

English football cultura is rotton ... according to Joey Barton (AAP)

English football cultura is rotton ... according to Joey Barton (AAP) Source: AAP

The former Queens Park Rangers midfielder, speaking in the wake of England Under-21s group stage exit from the European Championship, said the national team was destined to fail at major tournaments.

"Everybody wants to blame it on something and it's not a case of that," he said on BBC Radio 5 Live. "It's not the players, it's not the coaching staff, it's not one thing, it's an accumulation of many things.

"The culture within English football is not changing - no St George's Park, no massive spend, no change of coach, this isn't going to change it.

"The culture is rotten from top to bottom. England's national team will under-perform at every single tournament because of this reason and that filters down."

Barton also claimed England players should be unavailable for selection for the senior team for a number of years if they turned down the chance to play for the Under-21s.

"The FA should say to them 'if you don't make yourself eligible for an Under-21 campaign if you're selected, you won't be considered by the national team for however many years'," he said.

He added: "We need to get in line, we need to get a passion restored in the badge of representing your country at any level."


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2 min read
Published 26 June 2015 6:34am
Updated 26 June 2015 1:26pm
Source: PA Sport

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