English football’s youngest head of recruitment has described Joey Barton as a ‘bully’ after a negative experience with him at Bristol Rovers.
The outspoken former midfielder was manager at the club 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 opened up about his experiences with Barton, claiming he was asked to do ’50 keep-ups’ before being told to ‘s* ** used to be. ‘ in the presence 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 head of recruitment at Bristol Rovers at the time and is now manager of National League side Aldershot.
Hedges said in his interview with the Bristol Post: ‘It was after we lost 2-1 to Wigan in midweek, and then we came in on the Thursday. I was just sitting on my laptop doing my work and minding my own business with the other support staff, and Joey came in and I could just tell he was angry. He just looked at me straight away and I think that just put him off.
Former Bristol Rovers analyst Jamie Hedges (left) has described Joey Barton (right) as a bully after working with the former midfielder when they managed the club
Hedges recalled Barton asking him to do ’50 keepy-ups’ despite not being a player, before telling staff: ‘This is the s*** I have at the club who will never have a career will have in the game
‘He just picked up a football in the room, pointed at me in front of all the staff and said, ‘Oh you, come out now and give me 50 goal-ups or I never want to see you again.’ I laughed it off a bit at first, but he said he meant it.
“I went out and obviously I’m young at the moment and was surprised by it. Obviously I didn’t do fifty keep-ups.’ He added: ‘My role has nothing to do with being able to play football. I watch, I don’t play.
‘I was walking back to the office and he just said to all the staff, ‘This is the s*** I have at this club who will never have a career in the sport.’ He basically just said he never wanted to see me again. That was that, and honestly that was probably the first time I actually spoke to him.
“I’m not going to lie, it really hurt. I work for my club and have never worked so hard. It all didn’t go well, but that’s football. I said to Tommy and my family at the time, if he had ever pulled me in for a chat and said, ‘look, we want to go in a different direction and I’ve got other people I want to bring in’. would have just been honest: that’s football. The way he went about it is just wrong.
“He’s just a bully. I think he was waiting for the person who stood up for me to no longer be there. The very first day Tommy wasn’t there, he decided to attack me.’
Hedges is a lifelong Bristol Rovers fan and has held a season ticket since the age of four.
He soon followed Widdrington – a former Southampton player – to the city of King’s Lynn, where he became head of recruitment.
Hedges then followed Widdington to Aldershot Town and is the youngest person to hold the role in the country.
Barton has denied Hedges’ allegations and said he was removed because he was ‘poor at his job’
Barton responded to the article on Monday, claiming he had eight witnesses to the ‘keepy ups incident’, hitting both Hedges and Widdrington.
He tweeted: ‘This article was made up by Jamie. It’s full of lies. He’s a fantasist who was @TommyWidd’s spy in our camp. Proven because TW takes two jobs with it.’
Barton added: “Ask TW why @waelaqadi (Bristol Rovers president) fired him.
“I have eight witnesses to the aforementioned ‘Keepy-ups’ incident. All willing to make statements to the contrary. Jamie was removed because, like most people at the club at the time, they were bad at their jobs. Actually incompetent.
‘If the Bristol Post does not remove the article within the next 24 hours and apologize for the lies it contains, I will be forced to involve my legal team. The ball is in your court.’
The Bristol Post has now reported that Barton has issued a statement to the publication saying: ‘I’m on boardinherited an amateur environment at Bristol Rovers, created by Tommy Widdrington, where we had been comfortably relegated due to terrible player recruitment and he was the chief scout. He had far too much influence for someone with such a poor track record and as per my orders to resolve matters, I removed him for that reason.
‘We were promoted the following season at the first time of asking and won 7-0 on the last day of the season against Scunthorpe, giving the Gasheads a day to remember. Just to be clear, he (Hedges) did two keep-ups.”
The publication also reported that Bristol Rovers said in a statement that no complaint had been made at the time, but that all complaints are taken seriously and fully investigated.
Barton was manager of the current League One side 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, writing: “I mean, let’s just talk about the goalkeeper! What’s with this crap on the box?’
Easdon’s father, seven-time world kickboxing champion Lex Easdon, accused Barton of ‘belittling and bullying’ his daughter.
Barton responded to the bullying accusation on social media by saying: “Yes, I am ‘bullying’ a 17-year-old woman by posting a video of her playing football.
‘The victim game of these people is more than pathetic. You’re on TV, luv. You don’t know where your goal is. You’re essentially letting in a free shot. You and your father are now in the papers complaining. Playing the victim because you had a stinker. Maybe leave the right things to the guys and do some work to locate the net you’re guarding. Nonsense football from the tele.’