Joey Barton hailed Wes Hoolahan as a "cult figure" in football and marveled at the Ireland midfielder's technique on TV3 tonight. Barton's arrival as a pundit on TV3 - where he appeared on the Extra Time programme - has been well publicised and the new Rangers singing did not disappoint one bit.
In praising Hoolahan's stunning effort against Sweden, Barton managed to get his customary dig in at the English squad.
"The goal [Wes] scored the other night... we were asking the question. Imagine if that chance fell to Raheem Sterling; where would it have gone? He'd have done well to keep it in the stadium. He had a good chance today [for England against Wales] and the ball's still in orbit."
Barton went on to expand on why Hoolahan has not gained the recognition his skills deserve.
"I've played against him a few times and he has been very good or very bad. He's not been in the middle and that's been his problem at club level. Also in our part of the world we don't value number 10s.
If he was born in France or Italy he'd probably have gotten a lot more recognition because he's such a good technician... Hoolahan is fantastic. It's strange that he hasn't had more recognition for that because I think he's one of those cult figures where people know how good he is."
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Photo by Sportsfile
