Disgraced violent criminal rewarded with Premiership appearance
Joey Barton’s controversial return to football has been much discussed (with 62 per cent of Spoiler readers believing he should never be allowed to play again), and this weekend we were finally treated to the return of the former Strangeways resident. His brief and aggressive post-slammer debut, however, was not as troubling as Kevin Keegan’s post-match comments:
“He’s going to have to play somewhere.”
Mr Keegan, you may have problems with the depth of the Newcastle squad, but does Barton really have to play somewhere? Does he automatically deserve a career at a top club because of his talent, regardless of his abhorrent extra-curricular activities?
Let us know what you think with a comment below…
42 responses so far
1 iZno // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:08 am
I don’t even understand why Newcastle is letting him wear the shirt again
2 sirjasontoon // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:10 am
Believe it or not Joey barton is paid to play football for Newcastle United..strange but true.
As a born and bred geordie who ever wears the black and white gets my support and full backing,the lad has served his time…Look at Lee Hughes…now that to me is serious criminal behaviour resulting in death but you don’t hear the gutter press(including your dumb self) going on about it.
Give it a rest…it’s boring now.
3 RobM // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:10 am
I’m an Arsenal fan and I’m glad we got to tell him what we thought of him. He’s an abhorrent moral cess pit and if any of his club colleagues had any balls they’d refuse to work with him on and off the pitch.
4 sirjasontoon // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:11 am
iZno shut up you buffoon.
5 sirjasontoon // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:12 am
RobM,
He had some fights,served his time..big deal.
6 WelshGunner // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:12 am
I think Kev brought him on so MOTD had something to talk about rather than how bad his team played.
Newcastle were so awful by bringing on the thug it moved the emphasis away from the team.
7 daniel // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:13 am
RobM - I assume you felt the same way about Tony Adams when he made his return to football after being jailed?
8 Chris Wright // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:15 am
Why not give Joey Barton his second? He has served his time, and still has an FA disaplinary to come on Friday. He commited these offences when he was a Man City player. They have had none of the punishements, because he is now a Newcastle player. we have been punished for the lack of control over there players at Man City. Now you and the rest of the media again try to destroy a players by constantly having a go at Barton. The french claim to hate him, maybe because they are so narrow minded they forget the Cantona incident, when the frog leapt into the stands to attack a fan. Other people get second chances after a jail term for far worse than what Barton did. Time to leave him alone and let him proove he has mended his ways.
9 MickG // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:16 am
Lets just get one thing straight, Joey Barton has served his time. Not that i condone violence in anyway but lets face it some of the Arsenal fans that jeered him on Saturday probably get up to the same thing every Saturday night. Of course Arsenal standards of players are much higher, Tony Adams (Jailbird), Paul Merson (Junkie) to name just 2.
Get of Bartons back and stick to watching your foriegn football team every saturday.
10 toontoon // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:18 am
Maybe Barton should have crashed his car whilst drunk, a far more acceptable reason to do time it would appear. Tony Adams anyone?
11 peter // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:19 am
i think he had every right being there.
why not?
hes been in prison and served his time
your all just unforgivers. at the end of the day its football and whats on the pitchj is on the pitch and it dosent matter whats happend off the pitch!
12 shad // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:23 am
The snide smirk on Bartons face after making an unnecessarily brutal tackle in the dying moments of a lost game summed him up perfectly. If he’s got to play somewhere how about sunday league where he can be on the receiving end of a few “hard tackles” himself. With Mike Ashley quaffing pints against stadium rules I despair for Newcastle. It’s not long ago they had Sir John Hall and Bobby Robson and were a respected football club, now they seem to want to be the Premierships answer to the old Wimbledon “crazy gang”. It should go down well in the championship next year.
13 FunkyMunkey // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:23 am
Yes, Chris Wright: you really help your intelligent arguements by calling Cantona a “frog”. You classy chap.
14 Born Again Geordie // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:25 am
I have to say that people have very short memories !!!! Eric Cantona ring any bells anyone?? I also echo what sirjasontoon says - your constant slagging off of anything to do with Newcastle is boring !!!!!!
15 MickG // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:27 am
Newcastle will not be playing Championship football next season you fool. Newcastle are still a respected team shad, i guess you are probably a glory hunter of some kind. Newcastle United club and fans are Football.
16 Born Again Geordie // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:29 am
@shad - that was not a snide smirk - it was gamesmanship. And it worked - Nasri the monkey tripped Barton not 60 seconds later 1- 0 Barton me thinks !!!!!!
17 Mags09 // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:29 am
Shad your comments are totally inaccurate (his tackle was hard but fair, remember it was Nasri who committed the foul and was booked). Your remarks therefore out of order and unnecessary.
Just remember players and fans of Arsenal, we Geordies have long memories!
18 chate // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:32 am
Hes not the first criminal to play in he premier league and he wont be the last. We’ve had class a drug users, drunk drivers and violent criminals. And there never a premier league party without claims of teenage girls getting abused. People need to stop relying of footballers as role models.
As far as keegan bringing him on is concerned, he had a tired team and no1 else to bring on. If its the fact that he was allowed to play that annoys you, its the fa that should be blamed.
And besides, Bartons tackle was strong but perfectly legal, if it had come from gallas or sagna it would have been applauded. It was no excuse for the deliberate off the ball foul that nasri committed, which by the letter of the law is a red card and a 3 match ban. Nasri was the real disgrace by lowering himself and then trying to buy cheap points by criticising barton after the game when he was the only one who was out of order.
19 Purefootball // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:39 am
Mags09…Yes you Geordies need long memories 1970 was the last trophy wasn’t it ?
20 Matt // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:41 am
Rather worried about the brash look that a Barton gave Nasri after his initial challenge. Stank of a guy who believes his “hard man” reputation has become further enhanced by his stretch inside. Remember this guy is not on his second chance its about his 5th or 6th. The difference between Adams and Barton is quite a great moral gap due to the fact that the only thing Adams hurt was a brick wall… What does the likes of Keegan need to sack him..wait for him to murder someone?
21 KyonoRocks // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:44 am
Has Joey Barton actually served his time? Last time I saw it said he had served 11 weeks of a 6 month sentence… that is not serving time.
There’s also a difference between Barton and a lot of other criminals playing football. Barton attacks people. That’s not the same league as drug takers or drinkers (although drink driving is highly irresponsible, there is no intention to crap all over someone).
Barton was being a smarmy ass after his tackle on Nasri and I’m glad the young frenchman didn’t take any shit from him. He did do something dirty yes, but when you’re a team that gets kicked and fouled all the time it’s nice to finally see someone saying “I’m not takin this crap”. Maybe could have been done in a better way but hey, playing dirty is the only thing these thugs understand
22 chate // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:46 am
The moral decision with adams wasnt him deciding to crash into a brick wall instead of a person. It was his decision to get into the car after being so blind drunk. Im pretty sure drunk drivers kill more people that violent drunks, adams was just lucky it wasnt a person he hit.
23 Matt // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:51 am
Chate -looking at Bartons record he’s obviously trying to rebalance the figures on his own then.
24 Sav // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:52 am
And if Barton were a chippy or a sparks, would he have no right to take up his tools again? You don’t have to like the bloke. I don’t. But your article is irrational. There is every argument for rehabilitation. His tackle WAS fair. he was provoked by a baying Arsenal crowd and then cynically fouled. I’m not trying to make a case for Barton. These are the facts. And if he is being paid by NUFC, the manager is entitled to put him on whether you, your readers or I agree.
25 Urgg // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:56 am
Sav -Thats the kind of resoning used by the defence lawyer of Gary Glitter
26 sirjasontoon // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:57 am
Most supposed “gooners”are all just glory chasers anyway I mean “welsh gunner”I can’t take any comments from muppett glory hunters seriously..stick with your local team..be true to yourself.
Get back to the valleys you Ck.
27 chate // Sep 1, 2008 at 9:58 am
Matt, im not saying what barton did was acceptable, im just saying hes not the first or last criminal in history to play in the premiership.
Hes plead guilty to his charges, hes going to accept an fa ban in the next few days, im just not sure what more you want from him. Hes a good enough footballer to play in the prem, so like kev said: “hes got to play somewhere” I dont see how anyone could claim that he shouldnt play in the periods between bans and incarcerations, he criminal justice system is meant to rehabilitate as well as punish
28 amuzed // Sep 1, 2008 at 10:05 am
Why hasn’t anyone stuck to answering the question? Was Kev right to bring Barton on? The answer is yes from a footballing sense, coz as Kev said he didn’t have a choice. In respect to the moral question I didn’t realize that morality or fair play come into the equasion. If it was your team who Barton was playing for you’d agree and if not you wouldn’t simple as that. So all the acusations being made against Newcastle being morally “out of order” are a load of tosh churned out by a bunch of pseudo intelectual morons (especially southern shandy drinkers).
29 Urgg // Sep 1, 2008 at 10:20 am
amuzed - Why asume that it’s only Arsenal fans that beleive NUFC are morally bankrupt, believe me their is alot more people in the country that think it too. Obviously Mike Ashley is not particularly worried about the image of the club …he proved that on Saturday
30 Gooner89 // Sep 1, 2008 at 10:25 am
I personally think that Keegan should have waited until after the FA hearing and then left the comeback until a home game, in a more friendly atmosphere! The fact of the matter is yes the tackle was fair in as much he won the ball but quite clearly didnt care what happened after the ball had gone. Dont get me worng i do not think for one minute that the Arsenal are whiter than white but 3-0 down with no minutes to go, was there any need? Barton is capable of playing a good game, you dont have to be a thug to do that. he needs to make a bloody big effort to not only win over the Newcastle fans but fans in general and most importantly the impressionable kids watching and idolising footballers.
31 RobM // Sep 1, 2008 at 10:26 am
I see the comments about Tony Adams. I actually felt very badly about the guy at the time and it was quite some time before I felt fully able to get behind him again. But he got caught drunk driving once. One time is one time too many, sure, but just compare that to how many times Barton got caught out doing something he shouldn’t.
Tony Adams hasn’t been caught putting out a cigar in someone’s eye.
I’m not aware of any time Adams or Merson or any other Arsenal player got banned from a club tour for assaulting children.
I can’t recall any Arsenal players intentionally carrying out a serious assault on fellow players that required that player to have treatment for a detached retina, among other things.
I don’t know of any incident where any Arsenal player has got caught on CCTV beating up several people to the point they required hospital attention.
If someone makes a mistake, I’m actually quite happy with the idea that they should be able to put that behind them and move on.
At some point though, someone who repeatedly offends in the same kind of way moves beyond any easy redemption, and I think Joey Barton has reached that point.
If he was on Arsenal’s books, I’d want him sacked.
Sorry if that is difficult to understand for any of the few morally bankrupt Newcastle fans out there.
32 Hammer69 // Sep 1, 2008 at 11:32 am
Keegan had every right to bring him on, whether he had any choice or not. The challenge was actually a very good one, and if Nasri had any balls he would have said or done something after the challenge as Barton laughed in his face. Instead, he had a sneaky swipe at Barton off the ball and ran away.
Barton has made mistakes. Obviously more than one, but so does everyone. Barton needs to control his temper, because unfortunately for him, he will get provoked into reaction both on and off the field. And if / when he does make his next mistake, there’s obviously a queue of people ready to chastise him once again
33 RobM // Sep 1, 2008 at 2:21 pm
“churned out by a bunch of pseudo intelectual morons (especially southern shandy drinkers)”
Amuzed…
As you clearly feel that what someone drinks says something important about them, do you believe your chairman’s claims that he was drinking “non-alcoholic” beer so that even us “shandy drinkers” can all enjoy a good laugh at him…
Or do you concede that he was breaking the law and should be banned from football grounds across the country like the rest of us would be?
No dodging the issue, it’s either one of those or the other.
34 Daniel // Sep 1, 2008 at 2:38 pm
RobM - what you don’t seem to understand is that plenty of NUFC fans - myself included - despise Barton as a human being. But what I hate even more is the vacuous moralising of people such as yourself - who the hell are you to decide what Barton or his employers can do after he has served his sentence? Or are you, suggesting that the UK justice system is inherently wrong in its notion of rehabilitation following punishment?
Are you perhaps so devoid of independent thought that you follow the cue of comics such as the Sun (editor charged with assaulting her husband) or the NOTW (employers of Rob Shepherd who was himself jailed for assault) in claiming that Barton should be perpetually punished?
In response to your earlier post, I see drink driving as a vastly worse offence than getting drunk and chinning people. But I also believe that it was right that Adams was allowed to return to football, just as it is right that Barton should.
The fact that I’d rather he wasn’t at Newcastle is neither here nor there.
35 Gooner89 // Sep 1, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Hammer69…
Barton has made mistakes. Obviously more than one, but so does everyone.
yeah but not everyone stubbs cigars out on youth players eyes etc etc etc when they make their mistakes! and lets not forget that the lad he beat ten ton of shite out in Liverpool was 16? i feel your comment ‘if nasri had more balls’ maybe if barton picked fights with people his own age / size!
36 Hammer69 // Sep 1, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Gooner89
But has anyone asked why Barton did those things? Why did he stub a cigar in someones face? Why did he slap a young everton supporter? What was the 16 year old doing in Liverpol city centre at 5 in the morning? He wasn’t following Barton around for his autograph. I’m certainly not saying how he reacted was right, but all his punishments for these offences have been rightly served.
I stand by what I think about Nasri. If you can’t say or do something to someones face, you shouldn’t do it at all. Barton obviously has a problem, which i’d like to think he is trying to get over. So it doesn’t help when people like Nasri take cheap shots like that in an atempt to provoke Barton. Which is probably why Keegan was so annoyed.
37 Hj // Sep 1, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Daniel ….”I see drink driving as a vastly worse offence than getting drunk and chinning people”
So he was drunk when he physically assaulted his team mate on the training ground ? Oh well guess that makes it okay then.
Yeah everyone makes mistakes but c’mom
He can causes a mass brawl in a pre-season friendly at Doncaster, stubbed a lit cigar into the eye of young team-mate, break the leg of 35-year-old pedestrian while driving his car at 2am ,
smack a 15-year-old Everton fan, drop his shorts in the direction of Everton fans, try to end
the career of Dickson Euhu, assault his own team mate on the training ground that left the player fearing he would suffer permanent eye damage and punching a guy 20 times before leaving a teenage boy with broken teeth
All from a guy who described Newcastle fans as “vicious”
Well most of the Geordies I know are bloody nice blokes who don’t deserve the likes of Barton staining Newcastle’s reputation
38 Daniel // Sep 1, 2008 at 6:39 pm
HJ - “everyone makes mistakes but c’mom” - there is no “c’mom” about it, this is how the UK justice system works. You serve your time and you get on with your life; I’m a criminal and mental health solicitor and every day I represent decent enough people who have done bloody awful things. I’ve also represented hardened thugs and the law treats everyone the same, as well it should.
If Arsenal fans want to boo Barton then they have to accept the arch hypocracy of their actions just as Barton has to accept the arch stupidity of his.
39 RobM // Sep 1, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Clearly we can’t agree so there’s no point to going backwards and forwards.
I’m just going to say I’m disappointed with the lack of moral backbone shown by the Newcastle fans posting here. Sorry if you don’t like that but I’m entitled to see things how I want just as you are.
The Geordies I’ve actually met have all been a very decent bunch who deserve much better than people like your current chairman and Joey Barton representing them.
40 GunnerGirl08 // Sep 1, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Barton is a dirty criminal who should be in jail locked up with all the other convicts. Not living a life of luxury on £75,000 a week! He’s a disgrace. Samir should’ve kicked him harder!
41 Urgg // Sep 2, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Daniel -HJ - “everyone makes mistakes but c’mom” - there is no “c’mom” about it, this is how the UK justice system works.
Yeah go look at the photos of Dabo and tell me the justice system is right - 11wks of a 6month sentence for 3 assaults. Thats about the sentence needed for shoplifting …once again it’s a case of ” oh thats how it is” but it doesn’t means its right. As Dickens wrote ” then the law is an ass” … and you my reind are one also if you think that makes it ok. But would more could we expect from a guy who gets his living defending people that he knows is guilty. Yeah it’s money but it’s tarnished. Big dollars but pretty low ethically.
Also most of the criminals returning into society do so with thier careers in tatters not 30K a week.
Plus why do you think this is just an Arsenal thing ? Believe me the loathing of Barton is pretty much a national thing
42 aristeia // Sep 3, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I’m kind of on the fence, but I have to admit… the look on his face after his tackle was chilling:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Wky8rvWDOM
I’m not saying the tackle wasn’t good, I’m just saying… the man creeps me out.