Rooney failing to live his life "correctly," says Barton

BBC PERSON #1: "Should we get Joey Barton on the radio?"

BBC PERSON #2: "I don't know. He's just so afraid of saying anything. What if he doesn't have any views on the abilities of the England team?"

BBC PERSON #1: "Well, everybody else is busy. Let's give it a whirl ..."

Our players aren't world class. They are not world class. Rooney could have been world class but look at his mentality compared to Cristiano Ronaldo. Polar opposites. Why does Ronaldo achieve what he achieves and Rooney doesn't? When you see Wayne Rooney smoking cigarettes, does he live his life correctly? From the questions I've asked of players who have worked with both, [Ronaldo] is in the gym or honing his game. The level of discipline he has for his chosen profession is the reason he is the best player in the world at the present time, and that's the reason Rooney isn't.

Bang! Boom! Oof! Kindofafairpointburiedunderneatheverything! Etc!

It would, of course, be entirely too easy to simply list the numerous indiscretions of Joey Barton as a counterpoint. It would be particularly obvious to draw a comparison between the relative merits of on the one hand smoking a cigarette, and on the other extinguishing a cigar in somebody else's eye. So we won't. Ours is a higher path. You have a nice day, Joey.