Joey Barton has fight on his hands

Oct 26 2008 by Ken Oxley, Sunday Sun

IF second chances were drinks Joey Barton would be permanently off his face.

He’s had more second chances than Newcastle United have had managers. Let’s just recap, shall we?

This is the prat who was blamed for causing a mass brawl . . . at a pre-season “friendly” between Man City and Doncaster.

The same prat who got into the festive spirit by stubbing out a lit cigar in the eye of young team-mate Jamie Tandy at City’s 2004 Christmas party.

And the prat who knocked down a pedestrian in Liverpool city centre at 2am, breaking his leg.

The prat, in fact, who was found guilty of gross misconduct after being involved in an altercation with a 15-year-old Everton fan at a Bangkok hotel.

And, yes — you’ve guessed it — the prat who dropped his shorts to expose his backside in the direction of Everton fans, prompting a police investigation.

This is also, I might add, the prat arrested on suspicion of assault and criminal damage after an incident involving a taxi driver in 2007. And, furthermore, the self-same prat who brutally beat up Man City team-mate Ousmane Dabo, leaving him needing hospital treatment

Finally, let’s not forget that this is the vicious prat who was handed a six-month jail sentence for carrying out a sickening, alcohol-fuelled assault on a 16-year-old outside a burger bar in Liverpool last December.

Despite this catalogue of shame — and those I’ve mentioned are just a selection — Joey is asking for another second chance.

He wants to prove he can change . . . and become a role model, no less. A better role model, in fact, than either David Beckham or Michael Owen, both of whom he describes as “squeaky clean”. To which I’m inclined to say: “Heard it all before, mate”.

When he’s on form, Joey Barton is a phenomenal player. But off the field, he talks a pretty good game too. And talk, I’m afraid, is cheap. Barton claims he hasn’t had a drink in 10 months and that staying sober will keep him on the straight and narrow.

But blaming the booze rather than the boozer is a cop out. And besides, there have been plenty of incidents — including the awful attack on Dabo — in which alcohol played no part.

So should we give Barton the benefit of doubt yet again? I’ve said in this column before that I believe people can change, that even repeat offenders can be rehabilitated and make a positive contribution to society.

For Barton, it will take more than great performances on the pitch to redeem his character. It will take 100 per cent commitment in every aspect of his life.

That means turning the other cheek when he’s taunted, learning to respect other points of view and, above all, finding ways to control that explosive temper of his. In short, he will need a personality transplant.