Joey Barton could be the unlikely hero.
Posted on May 13th, 2010 | 36 Comments |
Joey has had a turbulent three seasons on Tyneside, with his playing time having been interrupted by long injury lay-offs, suspension, and a spell in jail. As a result of that, Joey has struggled to make an impact in the team since his arrival, although towards the end of last season he demonstrated just what he is capable of with some superb assists and even managed to grab a goal against Peterborough. I have been less than impressed with his antics off the field, but if he can avoid any more transgressions, remain injury free and get back to the form that landed him on the periphery of the England squad a few years back, then he could be a real asset for us next season.
His role will be even more important now as it seems likely that any money for transfers will have to be used in priority areas of the team. Barton will need to be aware that now we are back in the Premier League his actions will be magnified, and he hasn’t exactly made many ‘friends’ over the years so people will be targetting him to try and provoke a reaction.
“There is a lot of baggage which goes with me. I know all about that, and there always probably will be,” Barton told The Chronicle today. “However, there is nothing better than to hush your critics by playing and scoring goals.”
Lets hope he can hush his critics next season. I actually think the penny may have dropped with Barton, as we saw in the last few weeks of the season that he can knuckle down and prove a point. It’s refreshing to hear him speak aswell as he always seems to talk sense and ‘tells it how it is’ so to speak. As I have said earlier, I feel he can play a vital role in our midfield, despite me being one of his strongest critics at times.
The last few games of the season demostrated just what a fit Joey Barton played in his natural central role can offer the team, and I personally feel that our midfield is already comparable with teams that are likely to be in and around us next season, and with the creativity and physical presence of Haris Vuckic ready to make the step up to the first team, the centre of the park is another area that can be viewed as ok.
My only worry is if we suffer an injury to Jonas Gutierrez or Wayne Routledge on the flanks, which in all probability is likely to happen at some point of the season. I would make signing a player to cover on the wings, preferably a player who can cover either a wing, a priority. Granted we already have Ryan Taylor, who has to be kept due to his versatility, but I still feel that an extra winger is needed.
NUFCBlog Author: toonsy
toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.
Barton~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ^_^ ^_^