Joey Barton has a message for Celtic fans pestering him on social media

Joey Barton just wants the Celtic supporters who have been giving him grief on social media to "go away."

Barton and Celtic fans have not had the best relationship these past few years. Having initially claimed to support the Hoops, Barton quickly ended up in the bad books on the green side of Glasgow after deciding to sign for arch-rivals Rangers last summer. The controversial midfielder wasted no time in endearing himself to his new side's supporters by trolling Celtic, mocking Scott Brown and predicting that he would dominate the Scottish Premiership. We all know now that Barton's time in Scotland wasn't as memorable as he would have hoped and he left Rangers in unceremonious circumstances following a suspension over a training ground row. As he serves his ban for breaking rules concerning betting on matches following a brief second spell at Burnley, Barton has been considerably more active on social media and, on Friday, he received plenty of abuse from Hoops fans when he posted a bizarre response to a Celtic supporter on Twitter. https://twitter.com/Joey7Barton/status/923626066081611776 Barton then distanced himself from any controversy by explaining what he meant by the above in a lengthy monologue. https://twitter.com/Joey7Barton/status/923826257971818496 https://twitter.com/Joey7Barton/status/923826586419384320 https://twitter.com/Joey7Barton/status/923826878657548288 https://twitter.com/Joey7Barton/status/923827239648677888 https://twitter.com/Joey7Barton/status/923827489461456897 Well Barton must have received plenty of stick over the weekend as he has taken to social media to ask to be left alone. The 35-year-old has issued a succinct statement on Twitter requesting that Celtic fans "go away". https://twitter.com/Joey7Barton/status/924728934033391616 We don't imagine they will listen.