Former Celt Alan Thompson: I worked with Joey Barton at Newcastle so my door is open if he wants advice on the Old Firm goldfish bowl

Thompson worked with Barton when both men were at Newcastle and he believes that while the 33-year-old midfielder has very deliberately stoked up the rivalry in the city, that he needs to think carefully about how he conducts himself in Glasgow – including where he wants to live.

Thompson has been on contact with Barton via a couple of text messages and he has told the Liverpudlian to seek a bit of advice about Glasgow protocol.

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“I sent Joey a message telling him that he knows where I am but I do think he needs to think a wee bit about how he goes about his business.

“It has all been a little bit of banter this summer but the lads at Celtic will have taken notice of it and it stokes up that first Old Firm game – which already has a fair bit of weight on it. He has to go out now and do it on the pitch but the Celtic boys won’t let him forget what’s been said – especially if they hammer them in that first game.

“He needs to think carefully about where he wants to live and what kind of environment he will be in if he wants to go out for a meal or whatever. That is the kind of thing I have told him that he needs to ask the club about.”

And Thompson has admitted, though, that he can’t wait to see Barton go up against Scott Brown after the new Ibrox acquisition insisted that the Hoops skipper “wasn’t in his league.”

“Listen, Joey is nobody’s fool,” said Thompson. “He is an intelligent lad. When I worked with him he was a first-team player who would come in and work with us when he was coming back from injury or whatever and I always found his attitude top-class.

“People forget that he is a very good footballer because of the off-field stuff. That is just his way. He loves to get under people’s skin. He will have known exactly what he was doing when he had a pop at Scott and a wee dig at the reception Brendan [Rodgers] got.

“It just sets it all up nicely. I have worked with both Scott and Joey and they are both excellent footballers. But if I were Scott, the first thing I would be asking Joey when we walked onto the pitch is ‘where are your caps?’

“Scott is an established international player, whereas that is an environment that Joey has never really been in, although he has been at some top clubs.

“But I think it is all good for the game. Scottish football has been seen as a bit of a wilderness again down here over the last wee while and signings high profile players just puts it back on the map again.”