Sunderland

Joey Barton: 'Chris Coleman is better than Sunderland'

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 20 November 2017

Former Newcastle United midfielder Joey Barton questions why Chris Coleman has decided to join Sunderland rather than wait for a job in the Premier League.

Joey Barton has questioned the mentality of Chris Coleman after he decided to leave Wales for the vacant role at Sunderland.

Coleman has opted to pen a two-and-a-half-year deal with the Black Cats, who currently sit at the bottom of the Championship table after failing to win a league game since August.

Barton - a former midfielder at Sunderland's rivals Newcastle United - says that he cannot understand why Coleman has not waited for an offer from a Premier League club given the recent uncertainty at West Ham United, Everton, Swansea City and West Bromwich Albion.

The 35-year-old told talkSPORT: "They have just set the record for most home defeats, they are bottom of the table, there is a disconnect with the owner. I didn't see him taking that job. I thought he was better than that.

"He must be getting weighed in to go there and been given guarantees to spend in January. Has anybody seen if he is alright? Has anybody checked to see he is all there, if he has had any problems with his mind or lost his senses?

"I thought he would he would have had an opportunity [in the Premier League]. You have seen David Moyes go into West Ham, could he have taken that? Paul Clement is under pressure at Swansea, could he have taken that? West Brom, could he take that? Everton, could he have taken that?"

Coleman has suggested that he will not have much money to spend when attempting to reshape his squad in the January transfer window.