SCOTT Arfield feels that Rangers' loss is Burnley's gain when it comes to Joey Barton. The combustible 34-year-old midfielder, who departed Ibrox in a storm of controversy in November just months into a two-year deal, has wasted little time in making an impact on his return to Turf Moor, the ground where he played a key role in taking the club back into the Barclays Premier League during the 2015-16 season. While it all means Arfield has acquired another rival for a first team place, the veteran midfielder was named man of the match last weekend as the Lancashire side managed to take a rare point from Chelsea and the Canada international finds it hard to believe that such a model professional could be the disruptive force he was made out to be during his time at Rangers, which reportedly came to head in a heated exchange with midfielder Andy Halliday and then manager Mark Warburton as they raked over a 5-1 Old Firm reverse at Celtic Park.
"If he is coming in here, winning man of the match awards and going strong in the Premier League, then he can't be that bad a guy, a colleague or a professional," Arfield told Herald Sport. "Joey just loves winning games and thankfully that is what we are doing. Up until that time at Rangers I don't think they were losing many either but it just came to a head and sometimes that is football.
"Since he first came in here two seasons ago, there were no egos, none of the 'big I am'. He completely buys into the gaffer [Sean Dyche] and if the gaffer thought he was going to upset any player then he wouldn't be here. Joey totally bought into that, bought into the culture, and we went 23 unbeaten, winning the championship quite comfortably in the end.
"He then goes up to Scotland and it has been well documented over the duration how bad it went for him. But when he signed for Rangers I actually thought this was going to be the start of Rangers going on a big incline.
"Whatever happened I don't know, he doesn't speak about it in the dressing room. But I just think he is a winner. He just loves football games and the one he didn't win was the one which has been well documented, when they got embarrassed in a 5-1 defeat at Celtic Park.
"There were always going to be a few verbals on the Monday morning or the Sunday or whenever it was after that. We would have a discussion in here afterwards too if something like that happened, I think that you would have that in every club. Which is why I can't believe everything that was written in the papers because you know sometimes people get heated, sometimes you stand up, sometimes you sit down. But at the end of the day it all went pear shaped, he has left the football club for a reason and has come back in here. He is buying in to everything that we do, and deserved to be man of the match last week against Chelsea."
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