Joey Barton makes a surprising claim following his Sunderland jibe

The former Newcastle United midfielder hit the headlines earlier this week after his comments on the women’s game – in which he suggested smaller goals and lighter balls may be required.

And Barton, now in charge of Fleetwood Town, irked Sunderland supporters earlier this season while claiming they must ‘pine for him’ given the attention he receives throughout the season.

But the 37-year-old insists that his comments are only part of the ‘showbusiness’ surrounding football – and are designed to help increase the attention on Fleetwood rather than being serious digs.

That said, Barton did admit he enjoys ‘poking the box’.

“This is showbusiness,” he said, speaking to BBC Lancashire.

“This is about raising the profile of our football club and we're in a game of showbusiness where we're competing for attention.

“Because of the way I am, people are genuinely intrigued by what I say.

“It does make a headline, it does make copy and this week alone there were three different podcasts with stories about me.That's not my doing, that's just how I live my life.

“If I'm honest, I don't really care what people think. I do like noising people up and seeing how they react. I do like poking the box.

“It's something that is in my personality and something that, unfortunately, people don't understand when you're being humorous with it.

“They take everything seriously.”

Meanwhile, Sunderland defender Joel Lynch has made a donation to the Sans Street Youth and Community Centre.

Lynch and midfielder George Dobson made a visit to the centre, based in Hendon, earlier this year and the centre back has now pledged his support by providing a donation.

He told safc.com: “Although I’ve not been at the club very long, throughout my career I’ve always felt it’s important that as players our contribution goes beyond what happens on the pitch.

“The volunteers make a massive effort to put these things on, and it was great to see so many people benefitting, but they need some support with things like equipment.”