You’d be hard pressed to remember the last time that Joey Barton made headlines for the right reasons. The controversial midfielder has garnered negative press in seemingly every way a football player could. So would QPR be better off without him? And even if they did decide to sell, who would want him?
It could easily be argued that Barton’s most recent tabloid exposure was not his fault. Barton was attacked outside of a nightclub in Liverpool in the early hours of Monday morning.
Barton has since been bailed and of course hasn’t actually been convicted of anything but cynics would say that there is no smoke without fire and that no other players were reported for having a fracas in a nightclub this weekend, just Barton. However it wasn’t this most recent story that has caused the most problems for his club, it was the one before that.
Let me set the scene, it was the last day of what had been an extraordinary Premier League season. QPR, fighting to avoid relegation, are playing away at Manchester City who themselves are in the thick of the title race. A must win game for both sides.
QPR were playing out of their skin, competing with Man City in a way that few had predicted they could. With the game finely balanced at 1-1 QPR were in a great position to get a result that would secure their Premier League status for another year. Then Barton struck.
A kick to Carlos Tevez, a knee to Sergio Agüero, an attempted head-butt at Vincent Kompany. Barton was sent off amidst the three. QPR go on to lose the game and barely (luckily) stay up after results elsewhere go their way.
Before this incident QPR had already had an amazing 8 red cards during the season. By the time that the 9th (and Barton’s 2nd) came along Mark Hughes’ men had already learnt the hard way the benefit of having 11 men on the pitch. So it’s fair to say that they could have expected more from their captain in this, the biggest game of their season.
Barton claims to be one of England’s best midfielders and has at times been a hugely influential player for Queens Park Rangers. His absence was certainly felt on the last day of the season, but the 35 minutes at Man City that they had to get by without him pales in comparison to the 12 games that he will miss next season. Due to his actions on that fateful at the Etihad Barton has been hit with a 12 match suspension by the FA. He can only be so influential from the stands.
With the Premier League rules quite strict on the use of only 25 players, it has been suggested that Barton may not warrant a place in QPR’s 25 with his huge suspension awaiting him. The 25 man squad can be amended in January but, even so, Barton may have to sit and twiddle his thumbs until the new year.
Barton has a track record of being a combustible element within any dressing room. Every time you think he has matured he finds a new way to prove that he hasn’t. Trouble seems to follow him and this is not a trait that would be attractive to a manager.
At the start of last season Barton seemed like he would be QPR’s talisman, the inspirational leader who was helping them move away from the Premier League trap door. His importance to Rangers now is next to nothing. Suspended for the first third of the season he will be difficult to rely on when available.
Barton’s confrontational side was on show yet again recently when he took to his infamous Twitter account to verbally attack former England captain Alan Shearer. Now a Match of the Day pundit, Shearer had understandably criticised Barton for his sending off at Man City and Barton took offence to it.
Shearer seemed to be universally supported by fans during the online altercation, a well-respected pundit doing his job and doing it well. It prompted the below joke that circulated on Twitter:
Alan Shearer, 63 Caps, 30 Goals, OBE
Joey Barton, 1 Cap, 0 Goals, GBH
This sort of behaviour, along with putting out a lit cigar in a team-mate's face (2004), being jailed for 6 months for assault and affray (2008) and other incidents too numerous to mention have painted a picture of Joey Barton which is not all that flattering. At 29 years of age the ‘young and naïve’ excuse no longer carries any weight and he will struggle to shake this reputation for the rest of his career.
It would be easy to understand if QPR wanted rid of Barton now, but who would take him? Ordinarily there would be Premier League clubs willing to take a gamble on Barton just as QPR did last summer, but not with a 12 game suspension hanging over him. Even the richest of the Premier League's money-men wouldn’t part with cash for a player who they know will hardly feature next season.
It looks as though QPR, for lack of a better phrase, are stuck with Barton. Hopefully this latest experience can be a turning point for him. That when he returns for QPR he’ll come back a better, more influential midfielder who is just as important off the field as he is on it.
But then, we’ve believed that before...