Can we live without Joey Barton?

So long, farewell....
I’m hardly one of those Legal Eagle type people but I’m pretty sure that somewhere along the line Joey Barton would have had one of those “I promise not to be a complete ****” clauses inserted in his contract.

It may have been related to him punching people in the street, or maybe punching people on the training ground, or maybe punching people during a televised Premier League match. Or maybe they had in mind his creative use of a teenager’s eye as an ashtray or the way he used Xabi Alonso as a doormat. No matter what the cause, there would have been a clause.

Ahhh the sheer Poetry!!

Following his last outburst he would have been taken aside and told “Now, now, Joseph. No more silliness or I’ll count to 5…. !”

Joseph chose to be silly and the counting is, I suspect, complete.

To change the subject briefly I’m half way through writing a little piece on “loyalty”. I have never understood this bizarre idea that a footballer, being paid for providing a service, or lets say “plying his trade”, should be expected to show loyalty when a better deal comes along.

Imagine, you are stacking shelves at the local Co-Op and someone comes along from Tesco’s and offers you an extra hundred quid a week to stack their shelves instead.

How long would loyalty play a part in your decision?

I was, and still am, determined to show that in 99.9% of all cases – loyalty is the stuff of fairytales. It is, to put it in laymans terms, a complete load of bollocks. Does your plumber show loyalty? The woman at the Post Office? Your local News Reader?

No. And why should they?

Notice that I said that it was only in 99.9% of cases that loyalty was a load of bollocks.

So what about the other 0.1%? What’s that all about?

That other 0.1% is Joey Barton.

If anyone should show loyalty it is Joey Barton.

If anyone should keep it zipped when others are gobbing off, it’s Joey Barton.

If anyone was treated more than fairly, against all odds, it was Joey Barton.

If anyone was given a chance by the club when even the fans said he should be dumped, it was Joey Barton.

So if anyone deserves to be kicked out for being a complete ****, it has to be………well, figure it out yourself.

Andy Carroll – 35 million pounds. Unbelievable deal. Dumb to turn it down.

Kevin Nolan – wanted a 13 million pound commitment, couldn’t get it, went somewhere he could.

Jose Enrique – wants European Football, cant get it – out there actively lobbying

Joey Barton – wants, well I’m not really sure what he wants.

This is hardly the Teletubbies that we are talking about here.

The only reason that Barton has been transfer listed as a freebie is because the money saved on his salary equals roughly his expected transfer fee. Enrique should thank his lucky stars that he’s more bankable.

Last season I posted weekly assessments of all the matches.

I slated Barton almost every week.

Over the whole season I think I gave him one man of the match and just could not understand why everyone was raving so much about him.

We now have three or four midfielders who can distribute the ball better than Barton, can tackle better, are faster, and in all likelihood will make it through the season without punching anyone.

We can live without him.

Note from Toonsy – Thanks to Archie Brand for giving us this rather controversial and alternative vuewpoint on the Joey Barton situation.

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

116 thoughts on “Can we live without Joey Barton?

  1. 1-1 so far. williamson conceded an early penalty, then Sammie Ameobi headed in a Richardson cross.

    Also, apparently, solano just scored against Scumberland!!!

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  2. “We now have three or four midfielders who can distribute the ball better than Barton, can TACKLE better” We have one in the form of Tiote…Personally I agree with Barton to a certain extent but I see your point of view

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  3. Lee Ryder reported it was Tavernier??

    But ye Willo does need to get his head back into the game.

    He’s a reliable player on his day.

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  4. Agree that we can live without Barton but shouldn’t have to. Its the comical way it has been dealt with and the madness going on behind the scenes that gets to me. We are making headlines for looking stupid

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  5. Willo has usually been a very assured center back. Why does he seem to be losing it this preseason?

    Happy for a goal for Sameobi though. Could make some impact for us this season. Any agreement on our second goal yet?

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  6. Apparentky our second goal was a deflection off a sammie cross 😉 and GH has hit the post twice 🙄

    “There’s only one Ameobi!”

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  7. Yes, but only if once him, Smith, Routledge, Enrique and probably a striker (Ranger/Lovenkrands) leaves, we bring in at least 4 players…….

    Dreaming?????? Probably! But I honestly think that is what is needed to move forward!

    As I Said……I’m Most Probably Dreaming! Got to try and be positive though………however hard it may be.

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  8. I had thought that Sameobi might be loaned out this season, but there is a very real chance of him sticking around the first team, especially if we sell any more of our midfielders!

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  9. Rather Sammy here than Ranger, at least he can find the net.

    BTW @72 I was being sarcastic.

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  10. I have given fair credit to Pardew for steadying the ship after hughton was sacked, Ihave openly said i dislike Llambias, there is smething not right about the bloke, and I honestly hoped Ashley ahd learned a lesson on what to do and what not to do to bring a club forward. But I’ve had enough now, getting rid of Carroll was not the end of the world, but getting rid of Nolan our skipper and leader on the field and then our player of the year for nothing is taking the absolute p***, and just because they want long contracts without pay cuts. So what, it’s how they benifit us that matters. As for making Barton train alone and giving him a fine, grow the f*** up whoever was responsible for those things. We already look stupid and ‘suicidal’ as Barton’s agent put it (and i agree), and now we look petty and spiteful. Well done to all responsible for the recent events at the club, well done. And thanks for delivering blow after blow of dissappointment and shock, you’re doing a great job. So tell me now in all your smartness, how the f*** are we going to move forward and become a force again ??

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  11. lee_ryder Lee Ryder
    Vuckic curls in a decent effort which was turned round the post by Farman #nufc

    lee_ryder Lee Ryder
    Vuckic has just attempted something special a dink from an impossible angle which crashed off the upright #nufc

    lee_ryder Lee Ryder
    Vuckic chip was something Davor Suker would be proud of, real shame it didn’t go in #nufc
    🙂
    Looking forward to seeing him play…real talent. 😛

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  12. Vuckic has to be in line for the first team squad this season. He’s actually deserved it to be honest and is starting to show why people have been banging on about him for so long.

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  13. Colm rose, those two upstairs don’t care about making us a force. We’re going to be Wigan’s twin for 4 more years. Will that see the end of the latest 5 year plan? (typing that out seriously disgusted me)

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  14. Sy- I think he will play in HBA’s role agains arsenal and I think sammy will get a decent run out aswell.

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  15. Vuckic went off the boil after I originally raved about him but I think he’s sharpened up. Cracking natural talent. A bright chink of light on a dull horizon.

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  16. I agree with this article except for the part about wages. I’ve never understood the if someone offers you an extra £100 at your work argument. Theres a greater gap between getting £200 a week and £500 a week then there is in say getting £20k a week and £50k as it’s relative. For example for example £200 a week = 9600 a year not alot to spend, 500 – 24000 a comfortable life without looking over your shoulder. 20k a week just shy of 1mill a year don’t have to worry about anything, 2.4 million still don’t have to worry about anything. If someones paying me a million quid i’m going to show some loyalty.£9600 a week not so much the gap lessens the larger the somes if this makes sense.

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  17. I really hope phil airey gets loaned out to a good club this season. He needs the regular first team football to push on where he left off for the reserves last season

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  18. There’s just something about our youngsters coming up the ranks that excites me more than splashing out 9/10 million bringing someone in.

    We’ve seen the fruits of the youth policy beginning to show – Vuckic, Ameobi and Ferguson to name a few. I’m actually glad that we’re not splashing the cash on squad quality players, because that means that the kids get a chance to cement their place and play PL standard football. Would be fantastic even if only one of them burst on the scene ala Rooney in his first season at Everton.

    4 in 4 out for those of you who like to keep track, but there are 4/5 youngsters coming in from the fringes that are starting to prove that they’re worth a shot in the first team. Let’s put the whole Barton fiasco behind us, and start getting excited about what the Vuckics and Sameobis of our club can do.

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  19. Twitter saying that Pardew was booed at the end of the game. Very poor form if u ask me as any manager at NUFC has no control on what is done with players from above. I think Pardew needs to actually be treated with more positive feelings as I’m sure he is having second thoughts. He is also the best person for the job at this time in our history

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  20. Yes, we can live without Joey Barton. We can certainly live without someone -assuming the rumours are true – who spits out his dummy because he’s not the captain and not taking the corner kicks, and free-kicks. We all need to move on, including Joey. There’s a new breed of players in the NUFC fold now, young ones and French ones, and they have not been through the recent sagas of the club and they just want to play football. I believe we have some real good ones in there and we don’t need to soil them with all the baggage of the past few years. Joey, your number is up, and Derek Llambias, you should be shame faced for bringing far too much unrest to this great club.

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  21. Pardew booed. Shame. He will get the flak for decisions made by the people who employed him. KK knew Pardew wouldn’t get the promised transfer kitty from the Carroll sale. We are still selling and he won’t see that either. Still better than unapproved purchases through YouTube.
    Fans are not happy so the pressure is on.

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  22. Sammeobi seems to be showing real promise, two goals and a forced own goal from him, playing on the left? Nice work.

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  23. Archie – post 70

    I cannot deny that Barton hasn’t shown eternal loyalty to the people who didn’t sack him during his sentence.

    However, there are two things that stand out in particular.

    Firstly, the only reason they were seen as ‘loyal’ wasn’t because they were loyal, but because they had a saleable asset. A player still young enough and talented enough who could potentially be worth many millions. I’ll base this on the fact that I have seen no loyalty by this regime through their time here, other than twisted logic loyalty to unsuitable comrades (Wise, Kinnear etc). You only have to look at the bizarre treatment of Keegan to see how far their actual loyalty extends.

    That Barton has now been moved on is because he is simply adding to the major cracks in the structure of darkness towers. If he lets his lips loosen any further then Ashley and Co. have judged they may well have an awful lot more on their hands to deal with than simple vague tweets. Mutinous momentum could build, and quickly.

    Let’s look at their outstanding levels of loyalty shall we? Our player of the season (yes that’s right he was outstanding) has wished to extend his contract, and has offered to take a pay cut to do so, but they refused. What? Is he like 34 or something? No, he’d still in his 20’s. So where is this supposed loyalty as shown by the club, just as he was starting to reward them for being loyal to him?

    Secondly, you have separated out the hierachy as the entity to which Barton’s loyalty should be owed. I’ve already pointed out that their basis of loyalty didn’t really exist, and the hierachy are NOT the club. They are a mere administrative element of the club and a twisted one at that).

    Barton did want to show the administrator’s loyalty, as you could argue at the time they stuck by him, but as he said in his own tweet, they don’t know what the shirt means. They’re not football people at all. His loyalty is to the club he fell in love with. It’s to the fans on the street, the buzz of match day, the crowds appreciation, the shirt, the club crest, the feel and vibe of it all. That’s where his loyalty lies. To the very heart and soul of the club. Something indefinable and untouchable, yet something we are all aware of.

    As for Barton’s past behaviour, it’s there for all to see. Nobody can deny his past stupidity and ugly violence. It’s true he has had far more than his fair share of problems, and pretty much all of his own making.

    Denying them isn’t the point though, is it? I haven’t denied them, nor am I trying to. I’m simply pointing out, that there is a massive bandwagon people have jumped onto here.

    You know, that bandwagon that was parked up in the garage gathering dust all season long, as it wasn’t needed. Barton grew up tremendously, and had far more than his fair share of targeted violence on the pitch to try and rile him. The Pedersen ‘camp’ punch alone, he handled it all impeccably and instead his football and passion shone through.

    So how come this bandwagon that was gathering dust has suddenly been in the jetwash and has been jumped on by everyone and their granny? Where were they during the entire season?

    Linking this tweet to that bandwagon is embarrassing. It’s being done purely because he is Joey Barton, and isn’t anything to do with the reality of his actions. It’s faux outrage on a grand scale.

    I don’t hear the same venomous outcry about Enrique’s tweet. He’s been a bit daft and stupid, but then again he’s not Joey Barton is he?

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  24. So some people are now playing a, ‘we didn’t win a single game without Barton’ card.

    He only missed 6 games and of those 3 were draws. Doesn’t sound so impressive now does it, daft mugs. 😆

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  25. Charlie
    August 2, 2011 at 17:29

    ‘Marveaux – Unproven, comes from a weaker league, injury problems
    Cabaye – Looks decent but still unproven, and as above comes from a weaker league’

    🙄

    Both technically far superior to Barton, whats so strong about the premier league it is only good because of the top teams and the foreign players!

    Forget about Barton mate he’s history.

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  26. Michael Laudrup, I don’t think the main point here has been the tweet, it has been the tweetS and, seemingly now even more importantly, his criticism of players and manager. Let’s not forget he did the same to Shearer, who would have got rid then.

    He wants to be the man on his own terms, in his own way, but the way this squad is evolving there is no room for him and his way, and he has just made it worse. If it had been anybody other than Ashley people would have been impressed with the hard nosed response to such levels of non-professionalism and self-centred bullsh-t.

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  27. We can live without Joey, yes, of course we can. But he is(was) an important player for us – this is why we were so angry about him being sacked.

    There should have been proper negotiations about his contract after his player of the season performance last year, instead of this farcical power play.

    Joey hasn’t helped by being a twitterer either.

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