• Premier League

Villas-Boas shrugs off Barton comments

Andre Villas-Boas played down Joey Barton's comments © PA Photos

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Chelsea 'closest' to £40 million Eden Hazard
  
• News: De Bruyne hoping for January Chelsea talks
  
• News: Cech hails Chelsea's winning mentality
  
• News: AVB wants Blues to play like Barca
  

Andre Villas-Boas dismissed the impact Joey Barton's personal attack on John Terry might have during Chelsea's Premier League clash at QPR.

Rangers captain Barton this week criticised Terry over his alleged affair with the ex-partner of former Blues and England team-mate Wayne Bridge. Barton and Terry will lead their respective sides out in Sunday's London derby at Loftus Road.

All eyes will be on their pre-match handshake to see if there is any ill-feeling from Terry. But Villas-Boas was confident nothing Barton had said would spill over onto the field.

"Nothing Joey says or we say about him will have any role to play on Sunday," said Villas-Boas. "Joey Barton is one of the characters of the game. He has strong charisma and personality.

"He's a person who's not afraid to say what he thinks. He's also a pretty good footballer. I like his qualities. Not all of us share his opinions and views, but that's normal. That's life."

Barton's outspoken opinions have made him one of the biggest football personalities on Twitter. They have also landed him in trouble, with his free transfer to QPR the direct result of him using the social media website to attack Newcastle's board.

Villas-Boas would not tolerate similar outbursts from his own Twitter-loving players either.

He said of the club's policy: "It has been put in the same segment as 'dealing with the media'. Twitter and Facebook are social tools and should be used as that.

"It shouldn't be used as a tool that affects your professional way of life, like commenting on what happens in your professional life. That's not yours in football - that's for an entire group of players.

"Twitter has grown up in the last couple of years immensely, out of the ordinary. A couple of guys here use it. It has that kind of power, and they know that."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.