Joey Barton has a murky past, more so than most footballers. His unfavourable antics away from the football field include stabbing a cigar out in a team mate’s eye, fighting with youths in the streets of Liverpool and assaulting a fellow pro in a training ground incident.
All of the above incidents have, of course, been and passed. Barton, 29, now captain of Queens Park Rangers, seems to be a reformed man – albeit with a few loose hinges. He’s playing fine football and seems settled in London. Neil Warnock, the Rs manager, took a chance on Barton this summer, capturing his services from Newcastle United on a Bosman after the midfielder saw out the full four years of his contract up at St James’ Park.
Being handed the captain’s armband as soon as he entered the Loftus Park gates must show that Warnock has the utmost faith in Barton and believes he has the maturity and ability to prove himself as club captain. Barton has repaid him too, putting in a number of decent shifts in midfield and chipping in with a couple of goals. However, the question remains – is he a targeted man in the Premier League?
Long-time viewers, followers and players of the Premier League are, by now, very familiar with Joey Barton’s work – we all know his past, we all know he’s feisty, but are we all willing to accept that he may well be turning a corner?
His opponents, of which there’ve been many this season, could care less for such aspects of his character and, when on the field, all that matters is three points and it’ll sometimes take rough tactics to achieve this. Take, for example, Tuesday night’s game at Loftus Road – QPR’s 2-1 defeat to Norwich City. Opposing midfielder Bradley Johnson got involved in a tussle with Barton midway through the first half and, after a coming together of heads, Barton saw red and walked. Interestingly, in the post-match interview, Neil Warnock pointed to a couple of filthy challenges put in on Barton prior to the sending off. Let’s be honest, the tackles he referenced were anything but ‘fair challenges’.
Let’s cast our minds back, too, to September of this season and QPR’s away game with Wolves, a match in which they triumphed 3-0, Barton himself getting on the scoresheet. There was a number of incidents in the game involving Wolves midfielder Karl Henry and this article’s protagonist. Bitter exchanges were swapped frequently throughout the 90 minutes and a couple of hefty challenges were shared too. The following day, Barton appeared on Sky’s football highlights show ‘Goals on Sunday’ and roundly slated Henry for his antics on the field.
The points referenced are just a couple of moments during this season where I get the impression that the midfield man has been singled out for rough treatment. Now, to Barton, this may be no big deal. He’s a tough player, capable of handling himself. But, with him trying to rebuild his reputation on the pitch, it won’t help if others attempt to sully it.
Nonetheless, the fact remains – Barton is an excellent player. Very composed, a confident passer and not afraid to get stuck in. Despite having a tumultuous past, could he end up having a rosy future in the game? Only he can decide that. Over to you, Joey.
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he is a marked man cant shake his past unfairly treated,does it remind u of some one else