Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha has outlined how Richard Dunne was the 'exact opposite' of Joey Barton during their playing days.
Barton has hit the headlines in recent weeks for taking aim at female pundits, and the 'woke mob' in general, in a series of bizarre rants on Twitter. One high-profile example was his tirade against ITV pundits Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko in which he compared the two to serial killers Fred and Rose West.
Aluko has since come out to say that Barton's social media posts made her fear for her safety and if stories from the former midfielder's playing career are anything to go by, then nobody should be that surprised by his behaviour.
Onuoha, who played with Barton at both Manchester City and Queen's Park Rangers, has branded his former teammate a bully, and has used former Ireland defender Dunne as an example of how a senior player should act.
Dunne, who was captain of Man City during Onuoha's time, was cited as an example of how to guide young players, while Barton was made out to be a bully who would essentially try and hold them back.
"Players in the team like Sylvian Distin, Richard Dunne... they were of the understanding that even though you weren't ready yet, they'll hope you get ready because there's a reason why you're here," said Onuoha on the Filthy Fellas podcast.
"Joey was the exact opposite. He took the idea that you fight to keep your shirt, literally. For me, one of the problems with him is that he lacks perspective. He can drop a joke and he can't really take one."
Nedum Onuoha recalls Joey Barton incidents
Onuoha went on to recall famous incidents involving Barton, including the time he allegedly put a cigar out in a youngster's eye, as well as a training ground attack on Ousmane Dabo, for which the former Bristol Rovers boss was charged with assault.
"To start with, it was the Christmas party and Joey and, I think, his brothers are trying to set this guy's costume on fire with a lighter," Onuoha went on.
"So Jamie Tandy starts doing it back, like a joke or whatever. But Joey didn't like the joke so then the cigar goes out in the kid's eye.
"Ousmane Dabo, one of the nicest guys I've ever played with, he was getting kicked by Joey every day in training. When Joey decides that someone is fighting for his position, he'll do all sorts. Kicking, talking, everything.
"So one day, Ousmane says 'Nah that's enough for me now'. So Ousmane kicked him back. That was the same day that Joey knocked him out, held his head and continued to hit him.
"There was a guy called Leyton Slack and he went up to head the ball. Joey's studded him in the head, six feet in the air. He's a bully."
Onuoha speaks out on toxic behaviour
Dunne and Barton were famously involved in another spat, this time in Thailand during a Man City pre-season tour, of which you can read more here.
Onuoha is a regular face on the BBC's Women's Football Show, and appears to have had enough of his former teammate's derogatory comments towards his colleagues.
It's likely that Onuoha has now joined Barton's long list of people he plans to attack online but for the rest of us, it's good to see a former player speaking out against his toxic behaviour.
