“Get f**d” - Joey Barton launches explicit attack on Wayne Rooney after Manchester United legend doubts QPR players over infamous Man City title win

Joey Barton has hit back at Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney with an X-rated rant about the final day Premier League match between QPR and Manchester City in the 2011/12 season that saw City crowned champions at United’s expense.

Manchester United thought they had won the league after securing a 1-0 win against Sunderland, thanks to Rooney’s strike. After United’s game was over, City at one point trailed QPR 2-1, meaning Manchester United were temporarily champions. However, in a dramatic turn of events, City scored two late goals and won the match 3-2. Consequently, they snatched the title away from United on goal difference.

It was a heartbreaking moment for Manchester United fans and Rooney in particular. In 2022, Rooney expressed disappointment with how events unfolded in the match, claiming QPR kicked the ball straight back to City after Edin Dzeko scored the equalizer. The former England international also hit out at then-QPR forward Djibril Cisse for celebrating with City players after the final whistle.

More than 13 years later, Barton has reignited the debate, furiously responding to Rooney’s claim during an episode on the Common Sense podcast. The former QPR midfielder pulled no punches, tearing into Rooney’s allegations and using colourful language to defend his teammates.

“There's been a bit of a spat online between Djibril Cisse and Wayne Rooney,” Barton began. “Rooney has said that the game was bent and that QPR threw that game. 'I'm only commenting on it because he referenced me in it.

Contrary to Rooney's claim, Barton explained that his QPR side were fighting for their Premier League survival that day. He continued:

“Half of our team knew we were safe and stayed up and half of our team didn't. You can see when you see it. Five or six of the team did. I can hear it getting shouted from the sidelines. We had all been in City's academy. You had Nedum Onuoha, Shaun Wright-Phillips and myself. So we would have wanted Manchester City to win the league over Man United, make no bones about that. But at the time, we were fighting for our own survival, so we had to better other people's results on that day to stay up. As it was, we all got beat.

“I have to disagree with Wayne. Wayne is trying to say that this game is some kind of bent fixture, that the lads had given up. He does say Paddy Kenny has basically thrown the two goals in that led to City winning the league. I don't think Paddy knew. You might say Paddy should have done better with the goals, but I don't think Paddy Kenny is the type of lad to throw a game to help Man City win the league.

Barton continued his tirade by accusing Rooney of clinging to 'conspiracy theories' to explain Manchester United’s failure.

“So Wayne, and the other Man United fans - and I know loads of Man United fans have come up and asked me - no. I got told by Bobby Zamora to get someone sent off, so I tried. That's where the book stops with me. Your conspiracy theories, Wazza, are untrue” he snapped. “Sometimes people tell you stuff in life and you want to believe it because it fits your narrative and you want to have that cognitive dissonance. It might be the same fellas who were saying that if you get one more hair transplant it might come back. This might be the time you get a fringe. As you found out, that is complete nonsense.

“Stop wasting your time on nonsense. The game at Man City was not thrown. Man City won the league, Man United never. Am I happy about that? Abso-f***ing-lutely, because I hate Man United. But I didn't go out my way to make City win the league. To say that me, or Djibril Cisse, or Shaun Wright-Phillips, or Nedum Onuoha, or Paddy Kenny have somehow concocted to make sure you don't win the league is b****cks.

Barton concluded his rant by dismissing Rooney’s claims entirely and placing responsibility for Manchester United’s title loss squarely on their own performance.

“You should have got yourselves in a better position. You didn't. Man City had to beat QPR on the last day of the season at home, who were in the bottom four. That's your fault.The fact he's even had a sniff of winning the league is a testament to the lads at QPR and the battle they put up, because that was an easy f***ing win for City. 'QPR stayed up, happy days. City won the league, happy days. And you ****s were all crying on the pitch at the f***ing Stadium of f***ing Light or Middlesborough or wherever you was, which is f***ing triple whammy. Get f***ed.”

What was DJibril Cisse’s response to Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney criticizing him for celebrating with Manchester City?

Before Barton’s latest X-rated remarks, DJibril Cisse had also hit back at Wayne Ronney, who criticized him for celebrating with City after the match. Speaking to FourFourTwo, Cisse made it clear that he didn’t care about City winning the title and was only happy for his friend Samir Nasri.

“I’m not going to take this accusation any longer. I was celebrating with Samir Nasri. I didn’t celebrate with Mario Balotelli, Sergio Aguero or anybody else. I celebrated with my brother, Samir, who had been a friend of mine for 15 years.

“I was happy for my friend and also that we managed to stay up. I don’t care about Man City. My friend finally won the Premier League after many years in England and I was happy for him and also for me. That’s all,” Cisse said.

QPR goalkeeper Paddy Kenny, who Rooney also accused in his statement did not also hold back either. A few days after Rooney bemoaned QPR's supposed antics, Kenny took to Twitter, posting a picture of himself and the Manchester United icon and joked that Sergio Kun Aguero's stoppage time winner had aged Rooney.