It is difficult to know where to start with Joey Barton and even harder to know where to finish.
Newcastle have lost a talented player and Queens Park Rangers have signed one, but it is still difficult to decide who has made the better decision given the circus he brings with him.
I doubt it is possible to sum Barton up in 15 words, but I’ll give it a go. Volatile, intriguing, articulate, arrogant, stupid, rash, bold, talented, competitive, disruptive, angry, difficult, inspirational, bright and deluded.
There are several contradictions there, but then Barton is a contradiction. On one hand he is a hugely talented footballer who played a big part in Newcastle’s return to the Premier League. On the other he is a hugely disruptive influence, divisive in the dressing room, difficult to manage and difficult to control.
In four years on Tyneside he fell out with four managers, Sam Allardyce, Alan Shearer, Chris Hughton and Alan Pardew. Some made up with him, others didn’t.
On the one hand he is seen as a hero at Newcastle United, one of their best players and a vital member of a side which stayed up with relative ease last term. On the other he is a player who had one good season out of four at St James’ Park and who has been, at various times, hated by large sections of Newcastle’s ever-loyal support.
On the one hand he is a humble working class lad, with a leaning towards socialist politics, generous with his time and committed to helping good causes. On the other he is conceited and arrogant, referring to people he doesn’t like as peasants while crowing about how rich he is.
On the one hand he is a footballer who refuses to be pigeon-holed, a reader of philosophy, a player who pledged his loyalty to Newcastle United even when they withdrew a contract offer at the start of the summer. On the other he is merely predictable in his desire to be different, ultimately leaving for more money elsewhere as soon as someone offered him the chance.
Barton, who last season claimed he was the best English midfielder in the country, said he would only leave Newcastle for a team in the Champions League and has, instead, signed for one who, with the best will in the world, will be battling against relegation all season.
He may not have felt loved by Newcastle’s owner Mike Ashley and managing director Derek Llambias – the feeling was most certainly mutual – but Alan Pardew fought long and hard to keep him. Even while those above him refused to forgive and forget his Twitter rants and misdemeanours, Pardew did.
Barton only started the season in the side because he told his manager he would stay for the rest of the season, regardless of contract issues, but left, using the lack of a contract as his excuse.
Barton is always keen to paint himself as victim at Newcastle and, yes, he should have been retained if the manager wanted to keep him. He has been a big presence over the last 18 months and his loss is a blow to the team on the pitch, but I suspect it may be a relief in the dressing room.
When Kevin Nolan left – also in acrimonious circumstances – for more money and a five year contract at West Ham – earlier this summer, Barton lost more than just a friend, he lost the one person who could keep him in check.
Barton’s performances last season justified his £56,000-a-week wage packet, but the previous three years were soured by injuries, jail terms and even a bust up with Alan Shearer during his short spell as manager in 2009.
Even in the successful Championship promotion campaign, Barton was injured for most of it and was dropped by Hughton at the start of the season after he questioned his authority as caretaker manager.
Barton complained he deserved to be rewarded financially, yet he conveniently forgets most people would not have had a job to come back to after he was jailed for assault three years ago, just as you and I wouldn’t if we used a public forum like Twitter to slag off our employers in a bid to incite customers/fans to turn against them. Yet this is precisely what Barton did last month.
It is also worth pointing out that a new contract was offered to him on the same terms, minus image rights, earlier this year. Barton shook hands on that deal, but returned on the day it was due to be signed and asked for more money.
It was a move that infuriated the Newcastle hierarchy – it does not take much it has to be said – and the bad feeling lingered until the offer of a new deal was completely withdrawn back in May.
In my first blog for the Telegraph I praised Barton for being a footballer who was thoroughly enjoyable to interview. Lively, challenging and far more intelligent than your average Premier League star.
The problem is, being intelligent in the dressing room does not make you an intellectual and it does not make you a genius.
Sometimes I think Barton’s problems are due to the fact he thinks he is not just a better player than he is, but also far cleverer.
Some of his comments on Twitter have been brilliant, insightful and thought-provoking, some of have just been plain stupid, vicious and hypocritical.
At times this summer, it feels as though I have written about nothing but Barton. He has been centre stage in another dramatic summer on Tyneside. Newcastle will miss him as a footballer and they must replace him in the transfer market, but I’m not sure they will miss everything that comes with him.
Now he is Neil Warnock problem and you can be certain of one thing, it won’t be long until he is making headlines in west London, for all the right or wrong reasons.
No comments:
Post a Comment