Joey Barton got England Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman's name wrong during an intense chat with Piers Morgan.
The ex-Premier League midfielder appeared on Morgan's Uncensored show to defend comments he made about female football pundits and commentators on social media. The controversial 41-year-old claimed that men who like listening to women analyse men's football match "need their heads testing", sparking a fierce public backlash.
While chatting to Morgan on Talk TV, as well as to former Sky Sports presenter Bianca Westwood, among others, Barton appeared to call Ms Wiegman "Sandra" in a blunder that prompted accusations of sexism online. He also claimed female pundits offer "factually incorrect information", and compared women commentating on football to him analysing "knitting or netball".
READ MORE: Barton slams ‘farce’ during heated debate following rant over female pundits
READ MORE: Joey Barton claims 'any man who listens to women commentators needs head testing'
Wiegman led England to glory at Euro 2022, landing the team's first piece of major silverware, before guiding them to the World Cup final a year later. She's one of a number of female managers tipped for a job in the men's game and was recently named as Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate's potential successor.
Barton's initial post on X read: "Women shouldn't be talking with any kind of authority in the men's game. Come on. Let's be serious. It's a completely different game. If you don't accept that. We will always see things differently. The women's game is thriving. Fantastic to see. I cannot take a thing they say serious in the men's arena."
What did you make of Barton's appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored? Let us know in the comments section below.
When encouraged to elaborate on Piers Morgan's show, the ex-Manchester City and Newcastle star said: "I’ve seen tokenism creeping in, and it’s ruining my experience and the journalistic standards. It’s nothing to do with sexism at all. I’m against tokenism and poor journalistic standards, especially when it comes to football… you have to be there on merit, not to fit this woke agenda that is going on in society."
Westwood branded his comments "out of order", and Morgan was left unimpressed when Barton refused to name a female pundit or commentator who he thought wasn't up to scratch. In response, the Liverpool-born former footballer fumed: "You’re just shouting at me, it’s a farce. Let’s have a serious conversation.
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"This is becoming a farce. I’m here to talk about the men’s game. I’m not here to be shouted at. I’m not being paid to be shouted at, not by yous. I’m here to have a sensible conversation."
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