English football’s youngest recruitment boss has described Joey Barton as a “bully” after a negative experience working with him at Bristol Rovers.
The outspoken former midfielder was the club’s coach from February 2021 until his dismissal in October last year.
Former Bristol Rovers analyst and current head of recruitment at Aldershot Town, Jamie Hedges, has spoken about his experience with Barton, in which he claims he was asked to do “50 keepes” before being told he was “unwell”. ‘in front of other staff members.
Barton has since responded on social media, insisting that the 23-year-old’s interview with the Bristol Post is “full of lies” and that he was a “spy” in Tommy Widdrington’s camp. Widdrington was Bristol Rovers’ head of recruitment at the time and is now manager of National League side Aldershot.
Hedges in his interview with the Bristol Post said: ‘It was after we lost 2-1 to Wigan in midweek and then we came on Thursday. I was just on my laptop doing my job and minding my own business with the rest of the support staff and Joey walked in and I could tell he was angry. He just looked at me right away and I think that made him angry.
Former Bristol Rovers analyst Jamie Hedges (left) described Joey Barton (right) as a bully after working with the former midfielder when they managed the club.
Hedges recalled that Barton asked him to do ’50 keepes’ despite not being a player before telling staff ‘this is the shit I have at the club that will never have a career in the game’.
“He just picked up a football in the room, pointed at me in front of all the staff and said, ‘Hey, come out now and give me 50 maintenance or I never want to see you again.’ At first I laughed a little, but he said that he was serious.
‘I came out and obviously I’m young at the moment and it surprised me. Obviously I didn’t do 50 maintenances. hAnd he added: “My role has nothing to do with being able to play football. I’m watching, not playing.
“I went back to the office and he just said to all the staff: ‘This is the shit I have at this club that will never have a career in the game’. He basically said he never wanted to see me again. That was it. and to be honest, it was probably the first time I spoke to him.
‘I’m not going to lie, it hurt me a lot. I’m working for my club and I’ve never worked harder. Things didn’t go well but that’s football. I told Tommy and my family at the time, if he had ever called me for a chat and said, ‘look, we want to go in a different direction and I have other people I want to bring on board.’ I would have said just: that’s football. The way he did it is just wrong.
‘He’s just a bully. I think he waited until the person who would have defended me was no longer present. The first day Tommy was gone, he decided to pile in with me.
Hedges is a lifelong Bristol Rovers fan and has had a season ticket since he was four years old.
He soon followed Widdrington, a former Southampton player, to the city of King’s Lynn, where he was appointed head of recruitment.
Hedges then followed Widdington to Aldershot Town and is the youngest person to hold the position in the country.
Barton has denied Hedges’ allegations and said he was fired because he was “bad at his job.”
Barton, on Monday, responded to the article, in which he claimed to have eight witnesses to the “maintenance incident” and attacked both Hedges and Widdrington.
He tweeted: ‘This article is made up by Jamie. It’s full of lies. He’s a fantasist who was @TommyWidd’s spy in our camp. This is proven by the fact that TW took the last two jobs with him.’
Barton added: “Ask TW why @waelaqadi (Bristol Rovers chairman) sacked him.”
‘I have 8 witnesses to the aforementioned ‘Keepy ups’ incident. All willing to give statements to the contrary. Jamie was fired because, like most at the club at the time, they were bad at his job. Really incompetent.
‘If the Bristol Post does not remove the article within the next 24 hours and apologize for the lies printed in it, I will be forced to involve my legal team. The ball is on your roof.
Meanwhile, the Bristol Post reported that Barton issued the publication a statement saying: “IWe inherited an amateur atmosphere at Bristol Rovers created by Tommy Widdrington, where terrible player recruitment had left us comfortably relegated and he was chief scout. He had too much influence for someone with such a poor record, and as per my instructions to fix things, I removed him for that reason.
‘We were promoted the following season at the time we first asked for it, winning 7-0 on the final day of the season against Scunthorpe to give the Gasheads a day to remember forever. For the record, he (Hedges) did two maintenances.
The publication also reported that Bristol Rovers in a statement said no complaints were made at the time, but that all complaints are taken seriously and fully investigated.
Barton was coach of the current League One team from February 2021 to October 2023.
Barton was recently branded a ‘bully’ for criticizing 17-year-old Partick Thistle goalkeeper Ava Easdon.
The former Fleetwood Town and Bristol Rovers manager mocked the teenager on X, formerly known as Twitter, when he shared a clip of a goal the youngster scored against Rangers.
Barton reposted the video and wrote: ‘I mean let’s just talk about the goalie! How is this nonsense on the box?
Easdon’s father, seven-time world kickboxing champion Lex Easdon, accused Barton of trying to “belittle and intimidate” his daughter.
To the harassment allegation, Barton responded on social media, saying: “Yes, I’m the one ‘bullying’ a 17-year-old woman by posting a clip of her playing football.”
‘The victim behavior of these people is beyond pathetic. You’re on love TV. You don’t know where your goal is. You basically let in a free shot. You and your dad are now in the papers complaining. Playing the victim because you sucked. Maybe leave the proper stuff to the guys and do some work to locate the network you’re protecting. Nonsense Football off TV.’