Joey Barton: Sociopath?

[Philtaz]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/...t/0/football/18054142

http://uk.eurosport.y...ton-hits-sending.html

Two links because one tells of a tirade of abuse aimed at Shearer, the other doesn't.

How much longer will he be tolerated? Surely he needs psychiatric help, given his record on and off the pitch?

P.S. Note to Lily (Robbie) Savage: If you're going to try and carve a career for yourself as a BBC pundit, it's 'could HAVE', not 'could OF'.

[Mick-Talbot]

I read somewhere that he was just...misunderstood .

[FredPuli43]

Reckon he's incurable. People keep getting in his way; likely to happen quite a lot on a football pitch. It's not even clear that people set out to wind him up; the latest seemed no more than a normal occupational hazard of being a player, whoever the player is.

[mrs_overall]

He is a nutter

[tonyav]

He certainly is, mrs o.

[MarkRae]

Football has always had its "hard men" - Norman Hunter, Vinnie Jones etc. And that's fine - it's a contact sport. But Joey Barton isn't one of them. He's little short of a thug, and deserves nothing short of a life-time ban, IMO. I hope QPR put him on the transfer list over the summer. Question is - who on earth would want to buy him...?

[tonyav]

I think he would suit Stoke City's style of play.

[Mick-Talbot]

Vinnie Jones was no 'hard man'

He was clever enough to shy out of tackles that he would come of worst in.
Also a better footballer than given credit for.

[Hopkirk]

I wonder if they have enough just to terminate his contract for gross misconduct.

[chelle7272]

He's a thuig and should be banned, can't understand why any team would want such a liability anyway

[rowanwitch]

Hard to justify supporting a team that would have someone like that as their captain... says the woman with John Terry as hers

[Mick-Talbot]

Maybe the could get him using
The Trade Descriptions

[Mick-Talbot]

Oops

act

[TheNovice]

agreed markrae....except I wouldn't sell him (who would buy him), simply terminate his contract, let the FA (for once) stand up and dish out the punishment this man fully deserves (4 game ban for the first offence, by my reckoning 5 for the second and six for the third as well as any other for his comments, that would be at least half a season out) and let him try and earn a living out of football.

[MarkRae]

> let him try and earn a living out of football

Unless he's made some extremely foolish financial decisions, he will surely already be a multi-millionaire and, as such, have no need to work again for the rest of his life...

[Smowball]

He is an absolute disgrace to football and to sport in general. In no other job would such behaviour be tolerated.

[TheNovice]

that's a good assumptin Mark but I would think his financial commitments (mortgage etc) are based on him continuing to earn an extraordinary salary, it will soon eat away his 'savings'. This is what happened to Tevez despite all the hype, no income fo 6 months......makes people (at any level) think twice me thinks

[cazzz1975]

I bet this all gets forgotton about like balotelli's antics

[FredPuli43]

Reckon they could cancel any contract. A player who keeps getting into trouble, whether on or off the pitch, is making himself unavailable to perform his contractual duty, the fundamental one of not making himself for work, as and when required. Of course, any club has to accept that players will get sent off; there are few players with long careers who have never been; but this one has such a chequered record in and out of play and no valid excuses,which tends to suggest that he really has no wish to change,or cannot, that the time must surely have come.

He'd probably survive better in non-league or the lowest division. They , and the refs,tend to treat violent tackles and violent behaviour more leniently, but even then his behaviour might lead to termination of contract.

[mccfluff]

i think he should be banned from football