There've been countless footballers who came across as unintelligent and who weren't eloquent speakers, who were good to great players.
Players such as Lampard and Le Saux, who we are told are academic geniuses, are a rarity.
I can't answer as I rated Barnes all the way from him joining us at Withdean to his surprise departure. I defended him to the hilt on NSC.
It was depressing when the Barnes haters appeared from nowhere in the Amex era, usually CMS lovers, who saw everything in binary terms.