Jake Humphrey aims dig at Joey Barton and reveals who the 'laziest' pundits are

Former BT Sport and BBC presenter Jake Humphrey has aimed an indirect dig at Joey Barton over his comments towards female pundits in football.

Barton has attracted controversy on social media over his views towards female pundits working within men's football.

Former Chelsea and England striker Eni Aluko has confirmed she is taking legal action against Barton, with Lucy Ward reportedly doing likewise after the ex-Manchester City midfielder referred to them as 'the Fred and Rose West' of football commentary.

He has also targeted other prominent female figures within football, such as Premier League referee Rebecca Welch and Manchester United and England goalkeeper Mary Earps, who won the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year award for 2023.

Speaking in an interview with The Athletic, Humphrey - who left his role as a presenter for BT Sport last summer prior to its rebrand to TNT Sports - aimed an indirect dig at Barton's comments when talking about how 'miniscule mistakes' are judged on social media.

He explained: "There's all these blokes on social media picking up on every tiny, nuanced minuscule mistake that someone makes.

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"There are male pundits making far bigger mistakes all the time, yet the female pundits know that one tiny slip and they're gonna get criticised for it.

"You're trying to say that these people need to be perfect but, at the same time, you're setting such a high bar that you know it can't do anything but affect them. We're putting female pundits in an almost impossible position with that level of scrutiny.

"I have probably worked with hundreds of pundits over the last 10 years, and the laziest and most bone idle and least interested are not the females.

"The female pundits I work with are the hardest working. They realise that they're breaking down doors for others to walk through and they're responding accordingly.

"It tells us everything we need to know about society that one tiny slip of the tongue gets pounced upon and used as an opportunity to bash people."