John Hartson has no problem explaining why Celtic fan Joey Barton crossed the divide to join Sevco.
In 2000 the Welshman arrived at Ibrox for a medical only to sign for Celtic a year later and be part of the Martin O’Neill squad that sent Rangers accelerating towards liquidation.
That subject plus his dislike for the British Royal family and fondness for Ireland made him an unlikely recruit for Mark Warburton’s revolution even if the signing has still to be completed and registered with the football authorities.
Dave Murray opted to go for the injury plagued Ronald de Boer, on a routine salary backed up by the Discount Option Scheme tax scam, rather than Hartson. Having embraced the hoops Hartson enjoyed nothing more than hitting the net against the Ibrox club but has a realistic take on the mercenary nature of the game.
Discussing the Barton ‘deal’ in the Scottish Sun he explained: “One thing it has proved is that loyalty in football doesn’t exist when it comes to players being football fans.
“Joey is a massive Celtic supporter. He’s made that abundantly clear from his Twitter posts down the years.
“He’s slaughtered Rangers and everything they stand for and yet here he is signing at Ibrox like it’s a dream come true.
“Now I don’t have a problem with that. He’s a professional and professionals don’t pick and choose who they play for because of what team they preferred when they were at school but some supporters still think they should.
“Bottom line is that Joey will give Rangers everything he has when he pulls on that blue shirt because they’re the club paying his wages. When the Old Firm matches kick off he won’t hold back.”
Barton will miss out on the BetFred Cup group matches as he completes his Euro 16 media duties with TalkSport and Irish station TV3.
