Joey Barton sends x-rated threat to Mark Hughes, 61, as he accuses him of ‘acting the ****’ at QPR: ‘The last person you want to see is me’

Joey Barton has re-ignited a feud with his Mark Hughes after accusing his former manager of ‘acting the ****’ during their brief spell together at QPR.

Hughes had taken over as manager of relegation threated QPR side in January 2012, with Barton serving as the club’s captain at the time.

Barton played 16 times under Hughes as QPR narrowly avoided relegation from the Premier League on the final day of the season.

The midfielder was sent off on the final day of the campaign in a 3-2 defeat against Man City, a result that saw the Citizens crowned champions.

Barton was handed a 12-match ban after being found guilty of two acts of violent conduct, which led to him being fined and stripped of the club captaincy.

He left Hughes’ QPR side in the summer transfer window, joining Marseille on a season-long loan.

Barton accused Hughes of ‘acting the ****’ and said ‘If I get the opportunity to make it 1-1, I will’

Speaking on Liam Tuffs’ ‘The Dozen’ podcast, Barton claimed his issues with Hughes would remain for the ‘rest of our lives’.

‘I told him when I locked the door in his office “this is not a football argument, this is not manager to player, this is like me and you for the rest of our lives the way you are carrying on here,’ Barton said.

“Don’t forget you are 20 odd years older than me, you might be 75 on a beach in Dubai, the last person you want to see is me”.

‘If I get the opportunity to make it 1-1, I will.’

When asked to explain the clash with Hughes, Barton claimed the Manchester United legend had ‘acted the ****’ while at QPR.

He claimed Hughes, now 61, had attempted to ‘psychologically dominate’ and insisted he had been used ‘as an example’ to his team-mates by his former manager. 

‘He just acted the ****, he just thought being the manager means he could do whatever he wants to you. Forgetting that football in Narnia, it is like a f***ing fairytale land. There is a big wide world outside of that,’ Barton said.

‘He just tried in his stupid, ill-coordinated way to try to psychologically dominate you, which is fine if you are capable of it. You should never try that to someone you are not capable of because it can really blow up in your face, and did for him.

Barton was sent off against Man City for violent conduct in his final match under Hughes

Barton was banned for 12 matches over two counts of violent conduct and lost the captaincy

Barton left QPR on in the summer of 2012, joining French side Marseille on a season long loan

‘Luckily for him I can let stuff go, but there was a period and I see him a little bit later on in Dubai where I was in the pool with my kids and he was in the pool – this was about 10 years later – and it was on and he knew it was on.

‘He had to go and walk around the other way, because I see him look over and go “oh for f*** sake”, as I told him in his office when he was acting the ****, we can sort this out there is no problem at all.

‘At that point it was really personal, like “you are using me as an example to the others and unfortunately for you I am not prepared to stand for that”.’

Barton, who made 99 appearances for QPR between 2011 and 2015, had previously claimed he had offered to fight Hughes in the Welshman’s office.

Speaking in 2016, Barton said ‘One high-profile manager, I followed him into his office, locked the door on him and said, “Come on let’s just sort this out, me and you. The only way to sort this out is me and you have a fight ’cause I hate you so much and you hate me, let’s just sort it out and whoever walks out, walks out and we get on with it’.

After confirming the manager was Hughes, Barton added ‘He was like, “What do you mean?” I said: “You’re treating my like a k***head, you think I’m a k***head”, and he was like, “I obviously can’t fight you, I’m the manager of the football club”, and I was like, “Oh yeah – actually you can’t”.

‘So we had to kind of de-escalate it.’

Hughes, 61, returned to club management earlier this month by taking charge of Carlisle

Barton had returned to QPR following the club’s relegation at the end of the 2012-13 season, with Hughes having been sacked during the campaign.

Following his retirement from football in 2018, Barton managed Fleetwood Town and Bristol Rovers but has not been in charge of a club since being sacked by the latter in October 2023.

Hughes remains in management having taken charge of League Two side Carlisle United earlier this month.