Chris Sutton believes that irrespective of Joey Barton's failed spell at Rangers he must be counted as a good player.
Barton joined Rangers in the summer transfer window after opting not to extend his contract at Burnley and made noises about quickly dominating the Scottish game.
However, the midfielder flopped on the pitch, while off it a training ground row with a team-mate and a falling out with manager Mark Warburton led to him agreeing to terminate his contract at Ibrox in November.
Barton rejoined Burnley earlier this month and was in fine form on Saturday when he scored his side's only goal in a 1-0 win over Southampton at Turf Moor.
Sutton accepts Barton's spell north of the border did not work out and feels the midfielder said some silly things, but he still rates the midfielder as a quality player and dubbed his signing "shrewd business".
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"Joey Barton said a lot of things [at Rangers] didn't he? A lot of silly things", Sutton said on BBC Radio 5 live.
"But it was carnage really at Rangers.
"[Burnley manager] Sean Dyche knows him inside out.
"He's a good football player is Joey Barton.
"That's the bottom line.
"Shrewd business.
"Well done Burnley because I thought they would struggle this season", the former Celtic striker added.
Burnley now sit a comfortable tenth in the Premier League standings after picking up 26 points from their 21 league games so far.
They next host Sunderland in an FA Cup third round replay on Tuesday night and Barton will be angling to start after only coming on off the bench against the Saints.
