Express Sport exclusively released Ince’s open letter to Barton following his David Unsworth jibes yesterday.
Barton last week labelled the Everton caretaker boss as a “glorified PE teacher” who was “out of shape” and “waddled” on to the team coach.
Ince was left shocked by the remarks and he described Barton’s jibes as “disgraceful and disgusting”.
But the bad-boy midfielder has retaliated by suggesting Ince could be annoyed at Barton’s radio criticism of his son Tom, who plays for Huddersfield.
He then blasted Ince for now looking “massive” – and suggested that’s the reason he hasn’t a job as a manger.
“I don’t know whether Paul heard the commentary on Saturday – maybe he’s a little bit biased because I did criticise Tom Ince,” Barton said last night.
“I said he wasn’t having the impact on the game he could have, maybe that’s a factor?
“Incey was a manager, he now can’t get a job. Fantastic player, great player to watch, loved watching him play but when you look at him on the touchline he went massive.
“He lost his self-discipline as a leader of men and that coincided with him not being able to get a job.
“When I see Incey on the TV now, he’s not in fantastic shape.
“Have I upset him a little bit? Have I rattled his cage? Has he come out and said that because it’s a little bit too close for home? I don’t know – but I have to take it in my stride.
“Of course people are going to disagree with me. There’s no problem with that, no problem with Incey putting the letter in.
“It’s a difference of opinion, it’s my opinion, it was what I thought.
“It’s not the absolute truth. We live in a world that is very subjective.
“Fortunately all of us are paid to do a job to give opinions on the information we have on hand or the experiences we have in life.”
THE FULL LETTER FROM PADDY POWER AMBASSADOR PAUL INCE
Dear Joey,
I’ve been looking at the comments you made about Dave Unsworth, and I think they’re a disgrace.
I don’t know if you have a personal issue with Unsworth, but what I do know is that there’s absolutely no reason to come out and castigate him on his physical appearance and weight.
To you, it’s as though football isn’t about what you know about the game – it’s about how many people you can get to follow you on Twitter.
I didn’t have social media in my playing days but I do understand the times. What I don’t understand, though, is why someone would say something nasty just to make headlines or get more followers, like you have done here.
To comment on someone’s weight – which is totally irrelevant to their ability to be a football manager – is just stupid. And anyone who’s sensible knows that.
You could’ve come out and said ‘I don’t think Unsworth is the right man for the job because of X, Y & Z’ and given a considered argument. But to actually personally attack his appearance, and insult him, is beyond a joke.
Those things have no bearings on his credentials as a manager. Some people might think it’s funny, but as someone who has been in the game a long time, it’s an assassination of his character – and it’s a complete disgrace.
What you said is an absolute liberty. It was unprofessional. It wasn’t funny. I was disgusted. I thought TalkSport wanted people to give proper football opinions.
Paul