Barton Done at City, clearly insane

May 1 - 2007

 

As commenter “Ben” brought to our attention, everyone’s favorite sociopath was at it again today:

“Manchester City will sell Joey Barton in the summer after the midfielder put his French team-mate Ousmane Dabo in hospital yesterday with a brutal and prolonged attack at the training ground. Dabo needed treatment for facial cuts after being repeatedly punched in an incident which was witnessed by a group of children who were watching the practice session.”  -The Guardian

Rather mild stuff for a man who once stubbed a cigar out in a youth player’s eye and attacked a schoolboy Everton fan on holiday.  Honestly - what City calls “an embarrassment to the club,” Barton calls “a Tuesday.”

Of course, the operative word in the above quote is “sell” which, by necessity, demands the concept of “buy,” and I can’t quite fathom any club willing to pay hard currency for a man who makes Craig Bellamy look like a Brownie.  I truly believe Barton is capable of ending a teammate’s, manager’s, or staffer’s life.  In his best moments he is uncomfortably amusing, and everything past that point is just frightening.

Luckily, though, his handlers have the situation under control:

Barton’s agent Willie McKay, who acted for Dabo when he joined City, tried to pin the blame on the Frenchman. ‘Joey was defending himself. But because it is Joey it makes headlines.  It happens on training grounds all over, from Chelsea to Yeovil.’

And that, people, is how you enable.  Good luck, Joseph.