'I told Newcastle I was going nowhere': Bristol Rovers boss Joey Barton on his refusal to join Portsmouth after meeting Tony Adams

The Blues had finished eighth in the Premier League and were FA Cup holders when Harry Redknapp sought to capture the Newcastle midfielder in the summer of 2008.

Toon owner Mike Ashley had given the deal the go-ahead, with Barton meeting Pompey assistant manager Tony Adams at The Dorchester Hotel in London for negotiations.

However, Barton was unconvinced and the potential move was scrapped from his end.

According to his 2016 autobiography No Nonsense, he returned from the meeting and ‘told the Newcastle hierarchy in no uncertain terms that I was going nowhere’.

The former England man, who was again linked with Pompey in January 2009 when Adams was by then manager, later played for QPR, Marseille, Burnley and Rangers.

Now he’s boss of 14th-placed Bristol Rovers, trialling the Blues by nine points after leading them back into League One.

And the sides meet at the Memorial Ground on Saturday as Barton seeks revenge for the 3-1 Fratton Park defeat in August.

In his autobiography, Barton wrote: ‘I was surprised to receive a call towards the end of the summer transfer window, informing me that the club had agreed to sell me to Portsmouth without consultation.

‘I was ordered to travel to London to meet Tony Adams, Harry Redknapp’s assistant, who was overseeing their end of the deal.

‘I liked Tony, having known him through Sporting Chance, and paid him professional respect by listening to what he had to say. Something was not right, since I was unconvinced by his response to basic questions about the short and medium-term goals of the club.

‘He seemed to lack insight. His team-building strategy was as vague as his assessment of the extent of the owners’ ambitions.

‘Kevin Keegan didn’t have a clue. I had nearly three years left on my contract, and he urged me to stay. I told the Newcastle hierarchy in no uncertain terms that I was going nowhere.’

Barton’s account was backed up by Adams during a May 2020 interview with The News.

The former England skipper was reflecting on those he missed out on as Blues boss following his October 2008 succession to Redknapp.

And he named Barton alongside Yaya Toure, Edin Zeko, Per Mertesacker and Giovani Dos Santos.

‘I met Joey Barton at the Dorchester Hotel, in London, and he was prepared to come and give it a go and to fight,’ he told The News.

‘He was up for it, his attitude was spot on. I always liked meeting the players.

‘Joey would have come down and done us a job, he might have been a character to get us out of trouble for a couple of years and I was willing to do that, yet it was the money situation again.’