Joey Barton’s dream job is available – and he says he wants it!

Robin Bairner

• 19 Feb 2024 12:04 GMT
• 3 min read

Joey Barton has put his name forward to become Marseille’s next head coach following the imminent departure of Gennaro Gattuso.

Following a 1-0 defeat to 10-man Brest on Sunday, Gattuso finds himself on the brink of becoming the second boss to leave Stade Velodrome this season.

Marseille lie ninth in Ligue 1, despite significant investment in the summer, and are eight points short of the Champions League places. A run of one win in nine games has led to widespread reports that Gattuso will be fired imminently.

Barton, meanwhile, enjoyed a one-season spell at Marseille in the 2012/13 campaign. The Englishman became a cult hero at OM, where his tough tackling and straight speaking appealed to the nature of the supporters.

During this season’s Europa League campaign, he appeared among the Marseille supporters during a clash with Brighton.

He has often talked about a potential return, and having dabbled in management with Fleetwood Town and Bristol Rovers, he is eager to land the top job at the Velodrome.

Taking to Twitter, he tweeted: “Je suis prêt.”

Translated into English, this simply means: “I’m ready,” and sends a clear message to the Marseille board that he is eager to land the job.

Marseille have made their decision

Barton has cut a controversial character for years due to his up-front on-field attitude and scrapes with the law, which included being sentenced to six months imprisonment for common assault and affray as well as a four-month suspended sentence after admitting assault occasioning actual bodily harm on former Manchester City teammate Ousmane Dabo.

He is set to miss out on the Marseille post, though.

L’Equipe reports that veteran coach Jean-Louis Gasset is set for the role on an interim basis, having been sacked during the Africa Cup of Nations when it appeared that Ivory Coast were going to crash out in the group stage. In the event, the hosts qualified as one of the best third-placed teams and won the competition under the guidance of Emerse Fae.