New midfielder Joey Barton has been speaking about how he believes he’s entering an excellent football environment given the players and staff we have at Rangers, and he believes that work ethic, the standards and the spirit within the group will be key given the return to the Premiership this season.
Speaking to the Official Site as he gets his feet under the desk at the club following his free transfer arrival from Burnley yesterday, Barton said he wasn’t expecting our return to the top flight to be easy at all, so the club would have to be as focused as they have been this season on success.
‘I have watched them on a number of occasions. I am a football man, and someone who is completely obsessed with football all over the world – I watch it constantly. I watched Saturday`s game with a lot more of a keen eye as I knew in my mind I had made a decision, and I wanted to be a part of this great football club. You can only see so much on a matchday, but you learn a lot about your teammates in training when you are in and around them on a daily basis. I always think a team reflects what they do on a daily basis, and there are some incredibly positive things happening here – you can see the way the team carries itself and the performances and results they have had up to this point.’
As for ambitions next season, the top flight return and how difficult he feels that will be, he also thinks the club share that, so everybody knows it’s going to be a season of hardwork in 2016/17.
‘I`m sure everyone at the football club – and certainly I include myself – is aware going into the top flight it`s going to be no cakewalk as football tends not to have a great deal of respect for history and tradition, and what you have done in the past – it`s about being in the moment and being in the present, and I can`t wait for the challenge to begin and to get out on the training pitch to start putting in the hard work which is what is required of us to take this club back to where it belongs. I want to be part of a successful collective. You are only as good as your teammates here, and this is far from only being about one individual or one person. This team here now is a sum of the collective and they have some great traits within the team, and hopefully I can come in and add to that.’
He also explained that given performances this year, he knew he’d have to earn his spot in manager Mark Warburton’s starting eleven.
‘I am obviously aware that it won`t be a case of me walking in the building and going straight into the team. There are some very good players here and the way you train and go about your business can hopefully put a marker down as what you`re about as a professional and as a human being. If that contributes positively to the group, and it always has done in the past, then I am very confident that this will be a phenomenal period of my football career.’
One thing he dismissed was that his signing would boost Rangers’ profile.
‘Rangers Football Club doesn`t need me to raise its profile. It is a huge establishment and is one of the powerhouses of British football, regardless of what has happened in recent history – that`s irrelevant and when you have hundreds of years of history as this great club has, you don`t need someone on social media raising its profile.’
