Joey Barton has been defended by Carl Froch amid his ongoing feud with football pundit Eni Aluko.
Froch agrees with a lot of Barton's controversial opinions after it emerged Aluko had fled the country following the abuse she received online.
In the last month, Barton has regularly posted his view that women should not be commenting on men's football.
The former Manchester City and Newcastle star has often singled out Aluko for criticism on his X account.
Carl Froch has defended Joey Barton's comments about Eni Aluko
PA
Earlier this month, he compared Aluko and co-commentator Lucy Ward to serial killers Fred and Rose West.
ITV condemned the comments in a statement after the duo had appeared on their channel for an FA Cup third-round match.
Aluko revealed on Tuesday that she barely left her house last week as she was scared to do so.
She has now gone abroad in an attempt to escape the abuse she has received.
But former boxer Froch has leapt to the defence of Barton, revealing that he concurs with a lot he has said.
Froch says women pundits 'can make themselves look stupid' and claims they're given a job 'because they’re ticking that box'.
He told instantcasino.com: "Joey Barton’s having a rant.
"He probably shouldn’t do it on social media as it looks like he’s lost the plot a little bit but there’s a lot of valid points that he’s making.
"There’s a lot of things he’s saying that you go, hang on a minute he’s dead right here.
"They’re giving women jobs that they can’t really do as effectively as a man.
"As a sports pundit you can kind of get away with it but these women can make themselves look stupid, like when Eni Aluko couldn’t do her maths right.
"Some of the positions that these women get, you do have to say, they’ve got the roles, purely because they’re ticking that box, and their gender fits the role and they’re not actually good enough to do the job.
"So they’ve taken the job away from somebody who’s more capable, that’s basically what Joey Barton’s saying."
Aluko outlined the fear she has felt in an Instagram video on Tuesday.
She said: "I've genuinely been scared this week. I didn't leave my house until Friday and I'm now abroad.
LATEST SPORTS NEWS:
Joey Barton has singled out Eni Aluko on social media
PA
"Online abuse has a direct impact on your safety and how you feel and how safe you feel in real life.
"I've felt under threat this week. I've felt like something is going to happen to me.
"And I don't say that for anyone to feel sorry for me - I say that for people to understand the reality and the impact that hate speech has, the impact that racism has, the impact that sexism has, the impact that misogyny has on all of us females in the game, in sports broadcasting."
Barton was quick to leave a response on X on Wednesday morning.
He wrote: "Cry me a f*****g river…
"I was waiting for the victim card to be played.
Eni Aluko has left the UK following the abuse she has received
Getty
"Eni, sorry luv, you’re dreadful as a pundit.
"Tone deaf, can’t count and most importantly you know next to nothing about men’s football.
"You should have ran off to a desert island after your ‘Arteta phoning Pep to put a bid’ in nonsense.
"Everyone is laughing at you.
"Not just me."
