Alex 35083 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 I guess I would say he's a tosser but just one I have a bit of time for, as I for me the things that he has in his favour outweigh the cuntish things against him. I'm not mad on him and I can see his faults though. I certainly agree that the image that people seem to have that he did great things on the pitch for us is misguided to say the least. In the end he got more out of the club than he put in. I suppose I don't feel that it was entirely his fault though (obviously being unable to play while he was locked up was totally his fault). Fair assessment I reckon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClubSpinDoctor 0 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Not according to the papers. You can't have it both ways. Â What were the papers saying like? Because I seem to remember him absolutely slamming the Nolan sale then leaving shortly after Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddockLad 17274 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 (edited) Â Â The 'bad influence' at the time was down to speaking out against the hierarchy though, wasn't it? Something most can't hold against him. Â Has he done that anywhere else?....tbf he had a point but why then? Why at that point to go out of your way to effectively get sacked? If he was as much a man of the people as he tries to portray he'd have difficulty accepting everything that goes with being a professional footballers especially the money. He got himself sacked because he wanted more money iyam but wanted to keep his self cultivated image and reputation among us lot intact. It was well publicised that all of Allardyce s signings were being offered much lower contracts than what they'd originally been on. Edited February 11, 2015 by PaddockLad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 35083 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Â What were the papers saying like? Because I seem to remember him absolutely slamming the Nolan sale then leaving shortly after What I meant was the papers had it that Barton had become a 'poisonous' influence in the dressing room before twitter outbursts and had already made his position at the club untenable. I wouldn't put too much stock in that but you have to apply the same logic when assessing the same media (particularly the Chronic / Journal) bigging up the influence of the senior players in the promotion season. I would suggest in both cases the local papers (where most of the stories emanated) were toeing the party line (because they can't afford to be banned from the ground, amongst other reasons). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClubSpinDoctor 0 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 What I meant was the papers had it that Barton had become a 'poisonous' influence in the dressing room before twitter outbursts and had already made his position at the club untenable. I wouldn't put too much stock in that but you have to apply the same logic when assessing the same media (particularly the Chronic / Journal) bigging up the influence of the senior players in the promotion season. I would suggest in both cases the local papers (where most of the stories emanated) were toeing the party line (because they can't afford to be banned from the ground, amongst other reasons). Â He rejected a new contract offer before the Twitter ramblings though didn't he? So it can't have been that untenable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 35083 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Â Has he done that anywhere else?....tbf he had a point but why then? Why at that point to go out of your way to effectively get sacked? If he was as much a man of the people as he tries to portray he'd have difficulty accepting everything that goes with being a professional footballers especially the money. He got himself sacked because he wanted more money iyam but wanted to keep his self cultivated image and reputation among us lot intact. Very plausible. The same bloke sat in limbo for weeks because he wouldn't move here until he got his loyalty bonus () from Man City. The net result being NUFC paying the difference (half a million quid iirc). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 35083 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015  He rejected a new contract offer before the Twitter ramblings though didn't he? So it can't have been that untenable. I think it was quite a while before that because the offer was subsequently withdrawn. What was the timescale exactly? I honestly can't remember. His rejecting a new contract several months before would allow plenty of time for his relationship with the hierarchy to breakdown. As I say though, I'm not putting too much stock into the media patter. If, as you seem to be suggesting, the press were contradicting themselves then that only serves to make me more sceptical about both the positive and negative spin they put on the various stages of his career. Either way, as I said earlier, what matters is on the pitch and, as such, I think it's fair enough to question the worth of a player who gave us one good season out of four and a bit years on £60k per week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClubSpinDoctor 0 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Â Has he done that anywhere else?....tbf he had a point but why then? Why at that point to go out of your way to effectively get sacked? If he was as much a man of the people as he tries to portray he'd have difficulty accepting everything that goes with being a professional footballers especially the money. He got himself sacked because he wanted more money iyam but wanted to keep his self cultivated image and reputation among us lot intact. It was well publicised that all of Allardyce s signings were being offered much lower contracts than what they'd originally been on. Â It was shortly after being offered a new contract complete with pay cut iirc, with Nolan being treated equally poorly and effectively forced to leave. We were all fucked off with it and so was he. I have to reject that he forced a move though. He hinted at digging his heels in and sitting his deal out, not the actions of a man that had been proactively trying to force a move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClubSpinDoctor 0 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 I think it was quite a while before that because the offer was subsequently withdrawn. What was the timescale exactly? I honestly can't remember. His rejecting a new contract several months before would allow plenty of time for his relationship with the hierarchy to breakdown. As I say though, I'm not putting too much stock into the media patter. If, as you seem to be suggesting, the press were contradicting themselves then that only serves to make me more sceptical about both the positive and negative spin they put on the various stages of his career. Either way, as I said earlier, what matters is on the pitch and, as such, I think it's fair enough to question the worth of a player who gave us one good season out of four and a bit years on £60k per week.  Fair enough about us the last bit, obviously that one good season was his last one here though so people can rightly criticise the club and ask why he was allowed to go when we were finally seeing the best of him on the pitch. He left when he was at his peak footballing-wise because of a dispute with a common enemy. That's why he's generally well liked here, nothing really odd about it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kelly 1245 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 I think the fact that Harper had him play in his testimonial (when he knew it probably wouldn't be a popular move with Ashley/Lambias) suggests that he thought well of him. This may just be that they were mates but my inclined to believe that there is a respect there from what Harper saw Barton do. Of course this is purely based on my own opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 35083 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 (edited) Â Fair enough about us the last bit, obviously that one good season was his last one here though so people can rightly criticise the club and ask why he was allowed to go when we were finally seeing the best of him on the pitch. He left when he was at his peak footballing-wise because of a dispute with a common enemy. That's why he's generally well liked here, nothing really odd about it Or he started performing when his contract was coming to an end*. Equally possible explanation (all rely on conjecture given nobody knows outside the contract negotiations what they actually were). Excuse me for being cynical and not lapping up a few tweets. Edit: *Or about to be renegotiated (to be more precise). Edited February 11, 2015 by Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClubSpinDoctor 0 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Or he started performing when his contract was coming to an end. Equally possible explanation (all rely on conjecture given nobody knows outside the contract negotiations what they actually were). Excuse me for being cynical and not lapping up a few tweets. Â 2 years remaining isn't really your contract coming to an end. The bit about leaving during his peak footballing-wise because of a dispute with a common enemy isn't conjecture though - so I don't know why you find it odd that people like him. They say nothing unites like a common enemy, after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 35083 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Â 2 years remaining isn't really your contract coming to an end. The bit about leaving during his peak footballing-wise because of a dispute with a common enemy isn't conjecture though - so I don't know why you find it odd that people like him. They say nothing unites like a common enemy, after all. See the edit above. I agree he spoke out saying a lot of what the fans wanted to hear. Again, I'm a bit cynical about all that and if he is half as clever as he likes to think he is he would've known the outcome there. Which either makes him incredibly naive or someone engineering a move. Also, if he was at his peak and that is indisputable - what's he done since? In fact, he's done very little to back up his own image of himself over his whole career. If you think he isn't a bit deluded about his own ability then perhaps you missed the Clive Woodward interview (which was entertaining tbf) in which he claimed meeting Stevie Black earlier in his career would've resulted in his becoming England captain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClubSpinDoctor 0 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 I'm not saying he isn't a bit deluded or whatever, just trying to explain to you why he's liked because you called it odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 35083 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 I'm not saying he isn't a bit deluded or whatever, just trying to explain to you why he's liked because you called it odd. I said I found it odd. In retrospect people being easily taken in shouldn't come as a surprise, so I'll concede to you that it isn't really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 35083 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Â He was obviously well liked in what was a well-liked team at the time as well. His lashing out came when morale was particularly low as well, after Carroll was sold and we struggled for goals at the back end of the season. I think it's easier to believe that he's the outspoken heart-on-sleeve type (which some find refreshing in the world of boring media-trained footballers), than that he spoke out to engineer a move. Especially as his move came much later and to a smaller club. I probably should've added a wink to the end of that previous post. I take on board your points. Barton's popularity at the time was understandable when I think about it. I also think, looking at it retrospectively, he's probably afforded far too much esteem for his time here too. Re: the bit in bold though - his comments were in the summer (end of July/beginning of August I think) and he went to QPR that summer (end of August) so that's not the timescale you're suggesting. And the smaller club bit is neither here nor there given they were the only ones who offered him a contract in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClubSpinDoctor 0 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Well I was more suggesting that to engineer a move he'd have likely had a better move lined up and/or have been tapped up accordingly beforehand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 35083 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Well I was more suggesting that to engineer a move he'd have likely had a better move lined up and/or have been tapped up accordingly beforehand. I think, whether it was engineered or not, he probably thought he'd have a few decent offers from clubs of a comparable stature once it was apparent he was effectively available on a free. Of course one thing we've all neglected to mention in all this is that his agent is Willie McKay. He's reputed to have made £2.5m from the QPR move alone so you can guess at what his 'advice' was to his client during all of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddockLad 17274 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Â It was shortly after being offered a new contract complete with pay cut iirc, with Nolan being treated equally poorly and effectively forced to leave. We were all fucked off with it and so was he. I have to reject that he forced a move though. He hinted at digging his heels in and sitting his deal out, not the actions of a man that had been proactively trying to force a move. Â Well he's not as clever as he thinks he is if he couldn't work out the likely end result of publicly criticising his employer. He was told to rap it and continued twisting on. Barton loved the money he was on more than he loved us. When he could see it coming to an end he fucked off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayvin 5223 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 He's different to many other footballers who are ultimately all going out of their way to be totally vanilla. He cost Man Utd the title the first year that City won it by elbowing Aguero in the face (or was it Tevez?) I found that hilarious  At the end of the day, he's an utter cunt, but I find him pretty entertaining for this reason. I basically just think he's a lot more honest than your average footballer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 44894 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 He's certainly more interesting than your average footballer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayvin 5223 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Lambert sacked... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayvin 5223 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Didn't they just give him a four year contract like...2 months ago? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 30616 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Less than six months into a four year contract Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 30616 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Watch now how Tim Sherwood becomes favourite for the job only to miss out at the last minute. Again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts