Former Man City player Joey Barton under fire for sexist tweets about women commenting on football

Former Manchester City player Joey Barton has come under fire for a string of tweets claiming that women should not comment on men's football.

Barton left his job as Bristol Rovers manager last month, and has re-emerged on social media with a strange rant over women commentating on men's football.

He wrote: "Women shouldn’t be talking with any kind of authority in the men’s game. Come on. Let’s be serious. It’s a completely different game. If you don’t accept that. We will always see things differently.

"The women’s game is thriving. Fantastic to see. I cannot take a thing they say serious in the men’s arena." In another post, he said: "Any man who listens to Women commentary or co-comms needs their heads testing…"

Barton's backwards views included him referring to men's football as 'far superior' to women's, and in one post he criticised a female employee of City - who Barton represented between 2002-2007 - previewing a recent game. The club declined to comment.

He continued his string of posts by replying to those criticising him in further sexist and misogynistic terms.

Among those hitting back was broadcaster Laura Woods, who wrote: "Usually avoid these conversations as I don't like adding more oxygen. But throwing young bloggers to the wolves is wrong .... Joey's entitled to his own opinion. If he feels that strongly about women in the men's game, he could ask for a private conversation with the broadcasters and state his case.

"These tweets only encourage a pile on for the women getting on with their jobs. Or was that the intention?"

City's Matchday Live presenter Natalie Pike wrote: "Proud to be a woman working in football, for a club that champions women across all departments. Man City's [employee] is a