The former Newcastle and Rangers midfielder was talking on The Robbie Fowler podcast. The Fleetwood manager was fairly straight to the point when talking about the best midfielders in the Premier League and some of the best he played against and he wouldn’t hold N’Golo Kante to the same level as he does some of the top midfielders from the ’00’s and ’90’s
“Some people think (that) the level of the Premier League has gone up. I think it’s gone down,” the 38-year-old said
“I had a discussion the other day about who we’ve played against.
Your (Frank) Lampards, (Steven) Gerrard, (Michael) Essiens, (Paul) Scholes, (Patrick) Vieiras, (Roy) Keanes. The creme de menthe of midfielders.
“They talk to me now about N’Golo Kante being an enforcer. I’ve played against N’Golo Kante.
“He wouldn’t have lasted a minute. They were all 6’4 machines.”
Some big calls there from Barton, would agree with him?