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Barton has been no stranger to controversy off the pitch over the years with such incidents as –
• Assaulting a 15 year boy
• Stubbing a lit cigar in a youth players eye at Christmas party
• Breaking a pedestrians leg whilst driving his car
• Hospitalising former team mate Ousmane Dabo in a training ground punch up
• Being sent to prison for attacking a teenager outside a McDonalds in Liverpool
On the pitch his conduct has been questionable on a number of occasions with various opponents being punched, headbutted, taken out with reckless challenges and even karate kicked.
On Sunday though he elbowed Carlos Tevez, kicked Sergio Aguero, attempted to headbutt Vincent Kompany and had to be held back from fighting with Mario Ballotelli. You could almost imagine the FAs fair play team spontaneously combusting whilst watching the incident.
He took to twitter after the game and admitted that in kicking Aguero he had attempted to “take one of them with me”. It seems unlikely that he will be getting any invites to the Aguero’s for Sunday lunch anytime soon.
Of late he has tried to cultivate a brand of being a misunderstood philosophical character on Twitter quoting Neitzsche, Orwell and Morrissey (the lead singer of the Smiths, not Neil Morrissey of Men Behaving Badly although the latter’s show would be ultimately more appropriate).
Time and time again Barton has been given chances to redeem himself. Stuart Pearce, Kevin Keegan, Sam Allardyce, Alan Shearer and Neil Warnock are among those who have been burned in doing this. So where does this latest incident leave current manager Mark Hughes?
The FA have already charged him with bringing the game into disrepute which could lead to a ban of up to 10 games. What good will this do though? Baring in mind previously being sent to prison has failed to make him curb his behaviour. In the grand scheme of things if he did what he did to Aguero in the street he could be charged with assault.
At this stage in his career he should really know better. Its a shame really as on his day he a great player. His stats will tell you that he is one of the best ball winners in the Premier League. However with everything thats gone on around Barton saying that that he should be remembered as a good footballer is like saying that Hitler should be remembered as a good painter.
Given how he behaved on Sunday and the subsequent unremorseful comments made on twitter hopefully QPR cut their losses and get rid of him. Failing that maybe all of the other teams could have a whip round and offer them some compensation to do. Then once he’s gone from there and no manager in the land will touch him with a barge pole he might finally start to grow up.
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About the Author
John started his comedy career back in 2008 after his wife signed him up for a comedy competition in the Sunday Mail, without his knowledge. He ended up winning it and going on to the final of So You Think You’re Funny. A year later he won Scottish Comedian of the year. He talks about his home life with his wife and 3 daughters mostly as there is very little else exciting that happens in his life.
He has followed Rangers all his life. As a 5 year old boy he spent his birthday money on his first Rangers strip complete with number 9 on the back. It was also around that time that he was taken to a barbers for a haircut and asked to get his hair done like Frank McAvennie. As he had short, brown, poker straight hair the barber struggled to recreate the long blonde permed look that McAvennie sported at the time. This is a tale that his mother likes to share from time to time.
He also distantly related to Rangers hall of fame member Willie Waddell. It is very distant, but its close enough that he likes to use this to make him look like a big man.
His football career took a nose dive in secondary school when he found out he was actually a better rugby player than footballer. Brief stints at 5 a sides in 20′s followed. Since a tragic accident in which he slipped and fell on some ice due to his insistance on wearing converse all stars, he broke his left leg. Since then he has been too much of a big Jessie to grace a pitch again.
“All the makings of a class act” – Chortle
“Brilliant” – Sunday Mail
“Hard hitting and side splitting” – Daily Record
“There’s a rosy future ahead for John Gavin” – Scotsman
“Very Impressive” – Edinburgh Evening News
Follow John on Twitter – @johngavincomedy
John’s website – www.johngavincomedy.com
C’mon. Even pacifists have an off day.