Joey Barton made his unceremonious return to football last
Saturday, taking to the field for the final few minutes of a 3-0
flattening at the hands of Arsenal, booed by the entirety of the
Emirates Stadium. His first act upon taking the field was a heavy
and potentially dangerous tackle on Samir Nasri, and despite
winning the ball, the manner in which he dove in and goaded the
Frenchman thereafter was not to come without consequence.
Moments later, in an off the ball incident, Nasri tripped Barton
and, having not been seen by the referee, escaped punishment. It
was as if the former Marseille man was making a statement that he
would not be bullied in the Premier League, and despite taking a
barrage of criticism from Kevin Keegan, who tried to bring the
player to the club, he has also made himself a few friends for
giving Barton, a renowned thug, a taste of his own medicine.
It is by now known across the country and beyond just what Joey
Barton has become during his footballing career. The midfielder has
been hit with various assault charges - most infamously on former
Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo - for which he recently
served a prison sentence. He has since had his Nike sponsorship
revoked and was on the verge of leaving St James' Park only for
Keegan, in one of his final acts as manager before quitting the
club for a second time, pleaded for him to stay and to be
supported.
He has been hit with a 12-game ban by the Football Association, six
of which are suspended. Therefore, a recently convicted criminal
will face only double the initial punishment faced for a two-footed
tackle. Arsenal captain William Gallas, who leapt to Nasri's
defence upon the final whistle last Saturday, believes the ban
should have been far more severe. “In my opinion [the ban] is not
long enough, especially when you think about his attack on Ousmane
Dabo and everything he has done besides,” the Arsenal captain told
the Sunday Express. "I don't understand The Football
Association."
Gallas, himself something of a hate figure for his notorious bad
attitude, then made a controversial remark of his own, contending
that Barton deserved being tripped by Nasri in light of his various
misdemeanours. Keegan rightly contended in his post-match press
conference that when considering the referee's assistant had seen
the challenge from the touchline, it was his duty to flag and for
Nasri to be shown a red card.
The Gunners' skipper, with unashamed bias against Barton, felt
differently. "The moment Barton came on to the pitch [against
Arsenal] he made a bad challenge on Samir Nasri," he said,
continuing, "Samir responded with an act that maybe wasn't
especially nice. But bearing in mind the player he did it to, then
fair enough."
crazy captain?