Barton allies speak up
by Tom Kell, 05 September 2008
Joey Barton does at least find himself with two people in his camp ahead of his disciplinary hearing on Friday afternoon.
The latest chapter in Barton’s chequered career comes when the Newcastle midfielder goes before The Football Associtaion having pleaded guilty to a charge of violent conduct.
The charge stems from his training ground attack on then Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo, for which he was handed a suspended sentence.
Kevin Keegan publicly backed Barton at the weekend before ushering himself out of St James’ Park, and Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Gordon Taylor has now urged leniency from The FA.
"It is a difficult one when you are trying to get justice right in any sphere of life," he told the BBC.
"He has previous incidents and you are not usually expected to take those into account but you can't ignore those instances.
“There is no Kevin Keegan to speak for him so I think we can expect a number of games suspension but hopefully some will be suspended to try to encourage some better behaviour from him.
"They will want to make an example to look to make sure it does not happen again.
"I think most players accept they are seen as role models and not only are they expected to behave in the best manner on and off the pitch but also to contribute to the community.
"That is being taken on board by the vast majority of professionals but such incidents do get blown up and tarnish the rest of professionals.”
Sam Allardyce, the man who brought Barton to Tyneside, also believes it would be unwise to throw the book at his former charge.
“It’s going to do neither Joey Barton, Newcastle United nor football any good if they suspend him,” he said in the Daily Telegraph.
“He has already paid his penalty. If you want to keep Joey Barton on the straight and narrow, it should be getting him playing football because that’s where he is at the happiest in his life.
“To slap a severe punishment on him again would almost be as if they are doing it because it is politically correct and not because it is the right thing to do.”