‘Class’ - Controversial ex Newcastle United star swoons over Eddie Howe in viral clip

Former Newcastle United star Joey Barton has heaped praise on Eddie Howe for his 'class' after a comment made about Jamaal Lascelles.

The infamous former midfielder is now a manager himself at League One outfit Bristol Rovers and spends a lot of time broadcasting his opinion on social media platform Twitter, now X - Barton has even launched his own subscription service for those wanting to 'unlock the mind of a football maverick'.

Barton spent four years on the books at Newcastle United but his spell was overshadowed by red cards, bans, time in prison and injuries.

However, the former Magpie let his love for Howe be known to all online after a clip of the Newcastle United manager defending club captain Lascelles circulated.

The defender had been explaining how the 'leadership group' at St James' Park works with five experienced players (Lascelles, Callum Wilson, Dan Burn, Kieran Trippier, Matt Ritchie) as well as his own ambitions to push back into the starting XI.

The press conference was then brought to a close before Howe interrupted with a desire to add to the player's thoughts. He said: "Can I just add a little bit on? I just want to say with Jamaal in the room, he's been an unbelievable captain for us.

"Captaincy for me doesn't just exist on the pitch, it has to exist off the pitch. The two things are so intrinsically linked. A lot of our success last year didn't just come to the team, it came down to a group of players giving everything on and off the pitch. There was a group of people off the pitch who were absolutely magnificent and Jamaal was one of them.

"Jamaal will want to play like every player does but it's how you react when you're not playing that's key and I just want to pay tribute to what Jamaal did last year and we move forward together."

As the video was shared online, Barton wrote: "The Off field takes care of the On field. So important to have complete buy-in from the whole group. Class from Eddie to honour JL like that."

On Monday the Bristol Rovers manager, who made 84 appearances in black and white, extended his Magpies praise to youngster Elliot Anderson after his goal against Aston Villa. He wrote: "Going to be some player this boy."