Has Joey Barton made himself a target again?

Posted on November 15th, 2010 | 101 Comments |

Joey Barton and his latest transgression.
Joey Barton and his latest transgression.
Last week we saw the red mist descend on Joey Barton once more as he lashed out at Blackburn’s Morten Gamst Pederson.

Whether you call it punch, dig, slap, tickle or whatever, the fact remains that Joey Barton raised his hands on the football pitch. Regardless of what other players at other teams get away with, what Barton did was wrong.

The video evidence was damning, and the fact that the referee missed the incident completely left Joey open to retrospective punishment from the FA. This punishment has, of course, been delivered, and Barton started off his three-match ban against Fulham at the weekend, which is a real shame as he was beginning to make people change their opinions about him. Even if they weren’t changing their opinions on him, he gave them no reason to get on his back. He could just simply play his football.

Then Joey came out and said that he is still battling his anger issues and has a ‘natural instinct to stand and fight’. This bit left me questioning the wisdom of publicly declaring such an issue and made me wonder if Wor Joey has just set himself up for more hassle down the line.

Few can deny that Joey Barton has been targetted by opposition teams, and the game against Wolves immediately springs to mind. Now, no matter how many cliche’s are rolled by opposition fans, players and managers, the fact is that we all know that these tactics still exist, even in the self-proclaimed best league in the world.

As it happens, those tactics didn’t work on Barton, and he failed to react to even the strongest hint of provocation from hatchet men such as Karl Henry. Sure, the pundits on MOTD may have found it funny, but I found it amazing that Barton showed a level of restraint that not even mild-mannered old me could have mustered up.

Those tactics were starting to fade as they just weren’t working on Joey. Teams were having to target him tactically and keep him out of the game using team formations and such, like Blackburn did for example, which is the way it should be.

My worry is now though that other managers will know that Joey still has this streak of rage within him and will start to target him again knowing that they could get a rise out of him. Fair play to him for being honest and big nough to admit that he has problems, but sometimes some things are best kept secret.

I think this could have been one of them!

NUFCBlog Author: toonsy toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.

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Comment on this post

101 Responses

  1. It was a little dig, that’s all.

    I noticed Fabregas, Henry and Cattermole all got off absolutely scot free last week after tackles that could have ended a players career. Barton gives someone a punch in the chest and he’s public enemy number one!

    Ridiculous really.

  6. First of all it’s articles like this that stop Joey from moving on, whats happen has happend now lets leave it to rest.
    And let us and joey move on.

    Joeys temper is a crucial asset for him, it’s what
    Makes him so good, of course if he could handle it
    A tad better it would make him even better.
    I wouldn’t want joey to be a soft guy, we need someone
    On the pitch like Joey.

    Just let him carry on doi g what he’s done this season, being awesome :-)

  7. batty says:
    November 15, 2010 at 11:25 am
    stu i must confess iam a big take that fan as well

    Well you’re only human, batty.

  8. With the power in that punch he would’ve knocked over Fraudly Harrison..Joey son back to square one, need to win us over again, now you have given the opposition vultures hope they will be circling to see if they can get you sent off! Absolute plonker..

  9. Stuart

    No, it’s not ridiculous at all. A bad tackle is completely different from PUNCHING SOMEONE IN THE CHEST DURING A FOOTBALL GAME. I am getting sick of people defending this incident or comparing it to a reckless challenge just because he is a Newcastle player.

  10. he should’a knocked the c@nts heed off – what’s the point of a little tap in the chest & getting a 3 game ban like ?

    next time joey de a proper job man.

  11. This is such a boring topic of conversation, that I only reply and comment on the hope that it will stop. Lets get over what Joey did and stop mulling it over in various different ways to make news!!

    Its HISTORY old news dont be dullllllllllll. Find something more interesting to write about.

  14. Ah man. LuaLua’s broken his ankle at Hartlepool, the cheesy chip munching trackie top wearing scrotes.

  15. DJG you did canny with your bets mate,i would have got dog-shit,for gods sake didvt back the toon either way,who can?

  27. I think it’s actually rather topical. It’s just shame that some people don’t like the faults of our players pointed out…..

    It’s also probably going to be accurate that the oppo will start to target him again….

  28. For me, I’m back to hoping Fat Sam is daft enough to want to sign Joey all over again in January. Nobody’s worth this much hassle and damage to the club; sorry. Yes, he’s played well at times this season (not as good as some are making out; his passing has been awful) but at what cost to the club?

    Glad to see Guthrie put in a good shift and showed that we’re not as dependent on Joey as some are making out. And that’s before Gosling ‘arrives’..

  29. toonsy well me for 1 reckon digger barton has sorted his heed oot ,a couple of years ago he would of stuck the boot in while he was on the floor :lol:

  30. Yep, I do think the opposition will target him again. If he’s that easy to provoke, it’s a no-brainer for them. They just have to do better homework than McCarthey did on which buttons to press.

    On a different topic – anyone know the latest on Carroll’s injury? Is he definitely out of Wednesday’s match?

  32. TOONSYy,i think its been that way since season start,but it will be more highlighted now as you have said.
    has to live with it more-so now :(

  34. Its a real shame Barton had to lash out in the way that he did, its only irritating because he is, in my opinion, such a brilliant footballer when he gets into it and plays, and some of his passes may even have opened up fulham enough for us to grab a win, he’s better on the right than guthrie anyway. You can’t forgive him for it I guess, but I understand where he’s coming from and quite frankly its bullsh1t that theres one rule for him and another for the rest of the league, thats certainly how it appears anyway. Pedersen collapsed like a sack of bricks, looking for a card, which says it all really. Not only is joey going to have to act like the “average” premier league player, he’s going to have to be an angel in comparison to not get carded.

  35. Joey is definately worth the hassle he has been the main reason for our start, He creates everything and if it wasnt for him we would fighting with the ‘appy ‘ammers for the wooden spoon.

    We need to get through to january and bring in a proper number 10 and a pacey winger to take the creative emphasis of Barton and wor left sided latinos like Benny was meant to before De Jong got involved…

  38. ~ El Toro ~ says:
    November 15, 2010 at 11:46 am

    Steady on Stelios!

    Barton deserves his ban, it was a stupid thing for him to do and he’s getting punished. But does he really deserve all the hatred that’s been thrown at him by the media?

    There were three tackles that could have ended careers last week and not one of them were treated a quarter as bad as Barton was treated and by any stretch of the imagination Barton’s punch wasn’t going to ruin a career!

    He was silly, he’s been punished, now get over it.

    I just ask that everyone is treated the same.

  42. Nah, disagree CC. Joey has the right idea, but his passing completion is often terrible, and he’s led to a lot of counter-attacks, some of which have lead to goals against us. I like the fact that he runs at defenders, but to put our success down to him is unfair on other players who have shown more consistency and effectiveness than Joey.

    Nor do I agree with any desperate need to buy. The injury situation is awful right now, but in those situations loans make a lot more sense.

  44. Now that we’ve picked up a few injuries and suspensions… Why is it that no belief is shown in our development squad? The Development squad need to be given the opportunity of a baptism of fire in the EPL? Otherwise how will we know if they have the potential to be great or merely good prem players?

    I am a little frustrated when we big up the younger players, who in my mind did so well in the Carling Cup, not to be offered a chance to shine on the big stage. Nile admittedly needs a run of games in the side, but like AC is considered a raw talent, but now seems to be the centre of attention.

    Young Haris Vuckic, who has the talent, potential and composure to be a great player, could have easily done the job on the right side of midfield against Fulham, though he prefers to play down the middle. Little Shane has some growing to do but he is a bundle of energy and certainly has a better delivery of the ball than we have seen Jonas put into the box for a few weeks now.

    Tamas Kadar now I think he could be a awesome nufc player but yet again needs a run of games. These boys need game time and soon, they are hungry for a bite at the big-time and I am sure that the work ethic and desire shown by the senior members during our rebirth will stand them in good stead. These kids need the chance to be counted with the men of the Toon. I just hope Hoots will give them the opportunity as the French professor has so successfully throughout his tenure. No need to over protect them, just give them a chance to shine.

    HWTL till I die!

  45. Stu – agree on the media front, but are we surprised? It’s not as if they just made up his past record, is it? And there IS a difference between what he did and a bad tackle, because a bad tackle is still a bad version of something a player is supposed to do. Punching a player while play is stopped isn’t and shows a very different type of mental problem to just being a dangerous thug like Cattermole.
    Of course the media treat him differently. That’s because he IS different. He’s proved it over and over again, and I can’t think of another player with anything like his god-awful record of violence and stupidity.

  47. NewkieBrown says:
    November 15, 2010 at 12:46 pm
    batty where’d ya hear that mate?<<<< jay jay told me on face book m8

  48. Whumpie

    I never said buy i just think we need more strength in depth up front and a proper winger to balance the team.

    If we could do loans for Robbie Keane and Obertan/Cleverley or players like them i think we would stay up easy…

  49. Whumpie says:
    November 15, 2010 at 12:48 pm

    Well Lee Hughes did kill someone, and but for the grace of god Tony Adams would have done the same when he was drink driving.

    Marlon King has done time for assualting a women, he gets away scot free too, nobody even mentions him now and he’s playing at Cov.

  50. Well that run of three wins got us the same amount of points as what the bottom 2 are on from the whole season. We are currently on double what they are at 18 points. This season we can forget about top half ect but we need to keep getting these occasional little runs to keep us out of the dog sh!t. Blackpool in 14th are one win away from us and the two teams below them a win and a draw. So we can’t think we have done anything yet. We have hard games coming up and I can see us going on a winless streak here. A point at Bolton anyone? Considering the players they’ve got upfront I would say a it would be a good point. We have to hope we can put in another away performance like Arsenal and West Ham but I can see them beating us anyway. If the do I hope it doesn’t knock the lads confidence and the away form, coz thats whats got us in the top half this season.

  51. Whats the betting Chelsea have a kick up the backside by the time they play us. There’s no way he’ll let them slip down the table to 3rd or 4th.

  52. I still say it’s too early to take any notice of the table. The only real important thing to meis that we are 5 points off the relegation zone. If we end the season like that I will be happy….

  53. whumpie,
    Barton’s issues have been mostly ‘off field’.
    Stu is right on this one.
    People are mixing his ‘on field’ behavior with his ‘off field’ transgressions.
    paedoson deserves a smack for the cheating he’s done.
    He cheated their free kick, scored a handball the other year, got into one with Beye, & elbowed Barton to deserve his bitch slap.
    YES, Barton shoulda went down like a puff & then went crying to the ref like paedoson & the rest do.

  55. This is where we will see how good our fringe players are, with Barton, Tiote and possibly Carroll out. Who knows, we could get another away result and catch Bolton cold at home and then Chelsea on a poor spell. Anything can happen and it’s impossible to predict with Newcastle. In the games we though we would get points from we haven’t so in these next two games we could get points.

  56. DJG – I don’t think it’s just Newcastle that have been unpredictable this year. Every team has had an element of that about them to be fair. It’s weird.

  57. Just as important is the fact that we’re 9 points clear of the bottom two sides. That’s a lot of points at this stage of the season.

    Still say we need a couple of reinforcements in January though as this is going to be one hell of a tight league.

  58. Like all of you I have been impressed with the doggedness and ethos of the team and it’s fighting spirit. We have seen this season when chances have been hard to come by we have struggled to unlock defences…So why is it that we have players of type sat on the bench? Surely there is one player in the development and reserves that fit’s the bill? If there are more, who are they and how far are they away from making the bench?

    Yes I understand that survival is the priority, but in a god given opportunity like we find ourselves in surely we should be looking to change this way thinking. I guarantee if we asked Vucic to do he job he’d wouldn’t let us down..How long will it be before we can get a creative midfielder from our set up onto the pitch for the last 20 mins on a matchday?

  60. Aye,
    it was a tight & weird prem last season too.
    It’s all bunching up.
    & soon teams will have to balance the books too, so it should get even tighter.

  61. roy cropper et al. Hilarious. Well, it does take barton assaulting someone on the pitch to spark a debate, in fairness. It’s grim reading all the bravado on here about ‘it wasn’t a punch, etc’. It was an angry man maliciously trying to fell an opponent. It was unsavoury and tarnishes the club AGAIN. What worries me is what do his team mates think? They will already be scared shi2less of him but now won’t dare to even have a say or put a tackle in in training. Having said that, his apology was genuine, and he’s played brilliantly this season, so we move on.

  64. clint flick. I’m sensing scratch cards, grey tracksuit, 3 mobiles, happy meal every day and a weapon dog. Am I close?

  65. Not even close mate,
    never done the lottery, don’t own a tracky(never have), on a contract, vegetarian & never been in maccy D’s, don’t even drink coke.
    Bad miss dood!
    :)

  67. Its was silly, but if you watch the incident, he actually stopped himself from hitting with any force. In fact I would say barely any contact was made and the Blackburn player made a complete meal of it.

    Silly non the less. It should have been a one match ban.

  68. CLINT i love coke mate has to be in j/d like,often been in maccy D!s,when caught short ganning to match :)

  69. boater,
    just venting on t’inter-blog man, keeps it off the streets y’know.
    Do have an aversion to cry babies though & feel that Barton coulda/shoulda found another way to fettle the little shit.
    Maybe nipped him or pulled his hair, possibly told his mam.
    :)

  70. ice,
    never touch the stuff mate.
    Wild Turkey on the rocks for me.
    Wouldn’t piss on McDeath’s if it was on fire.
    :)
    See if you can ‘miss’ the bowl next time y’caught short mate.
    :)
    ;)

  71. ice,
    in fact, drop a match & i’ll get a warm as i walk past whilst ‘not’ pissing on it.
    :)

  72. JD makes me sick. Had a night on it when I 15 and got ratted. Never touched it since. Even the smell of it ,akes me wretch now :(

    Southern Comfort on the other hand….. ;)

  73. CLINT never hit the bowl yit,thats why i keep ganning :).
    if carroll is oot 6wks we might be in a bit of bother,should have put a couple of kids in last season like we kept saying.
    nee benny
    nee carroll
    nee joey
    nee shola
    plus more to come i think

  74. toonsy,
    same only with scotch, yuk, the smell knocks me.
    Bourbon is a totally different buzz though, give it a whirl.
    ;)

  76. I own on trackie, that I hardly ever were and usually just the jogger’s, never do scratch cards, although I have a m8 who spent his last £2 on one and won £120. One mobile, first in 3 years and on contract, go in MacD’s sometimes but Burgerking is the best like. Have a cat not a devil dog. :)

  79. Toonsy, its the same for any drink thats nearly killed ya, for me its Brandy. I like JD and coke though, but gins my favorite, I like Bombay Saphire, don’t like old fart wiskeys.

  82. toonsy,
    AC’s getting a little taster mate.
    CH’s probably asked capello to go with the injury thing, cos we can’t afford a real injury in a daft ‘friendly’.
    ;)

  87. dickie – gambling – big mac’s – tracky’s – pocket’s full of mobile fones & dogs with big teeth – life wouldn’t be worth leading with oot them m8

  90. I seriously hope batty’s winding us up about AC; we need him! Too many strikers out right now, on top of everything else (Benny, etc.)

    Far too much sense being talked on here today – where’s the fun in that?? Stu, TC etc. please stop making points I agree with or I’ll have to shut up and stop talking cack myself… ;)

  94. So when is Carroll supposed to have picked up this groin strain anyway? The threesome in Nolan’s house by any chance? ;)

  95. Without mr Ashley how would we all get our affordable 21st century clothing. Made from 100% something not cotton. :)

  97. batty- :P haha. Nolan did say he was going to show Carroll the ropes, maybe his wife just wanted to help him out as well like.

    Also, anyone else seen Kazenga’s had his leg broken? sorry if its old news like.

  101. The Guardian online had a cheeky headline yesterday:

    “Newcastle Lack Punch Without Banned Barton”

    heeheehee

    –Cybertoon