With Joey Barton facing a club record six-week fine, and the captain’s arm band long gone, Clive Whittingham and Chris King assess the way QPR have dealt with their errant player’s behaviour.

As far as we could go

Clive Whittingham - One of the first ports of call for the disgruntled football fan outraged by the latest excesses of today’s professional players is to place the scandal in the context of the everyday work place. “I’d be sacked if I did that,” and “I’d get my P45 if I was this bad at my job” are regular 606 squeals – often with some merit but almost always missing the point that football isn’t like any other profession and to try and compare it with everyday careers is futile.

Only in football, for example, does a company which spends more than 150% of its annual turnover on staff wages alone win plaudits and trophies. In everyday business a company with such a ridiculous strategy goes bankrupt very quickly.

Sure, if Joey Barton worked in your office and one day he decided to pop over to a rival company’s headquarters under some minor provocation or other and deck one employee, kick another in the back of the knee and head butt a third then I imagine it’s a pretty safe bet he’d find his contract terminated. But then Joey Barton probably wouldn’t have been employed in your office in the first place, because in the real world CVs are poured over for holes and negatives whereas, in football, managers seem willing to overlook epilogues of poor behaviour and failure in favour of one positive which they hope will suddenly come to the fore and dominate despite being buried under mountains of shit for years.

The power of players in the modern game, and their union led be the ever-odious Gordon Taylor, means that footballers cannot be sacked. They can do pretty much whatever they like, and you cannot sack them: drink, smoke and snort coke; fight with other players, their own team mates and their manager; bring their club, team and profession into disrepute.

If clubs could sack players, then there is little doubt in my mind that QPR would have just done so with Joey Barton. This is a player with a previous record as long as his arm, signed in a bit of a last minute post-takeover panic last August and essentially given the keys to the castle with a four year contract on big money and the captain’s armband. He repaid the club for this with performances that were occasionally alright but mostly mediocre or worse, and two stupid sendings off in potentially crucial games – not to mention the Twitter comments, falling out of nightclubs at 5am and having a fight, etc.

The first sending off, against Norwich at Loftus Road, was reached in scandalous circumstances by the match officials who initially waved play on with QPR in possession suggesting they’d seen little wrong with his actions. But, even allowing for that, Barton still shouldn’t have got involved with Bradley Johnson at all and given them a decision to make. Likewise at City, had Barton hit the deck when Carlos Tevez struck him initially then it probably would have been the Argentinean sent off rather than the QPR captain. Two incidents that show Barton as being short tempered, stupid and loose cannon-like. Looking back over his career there is no suggestion that this sort of behaviour will not happen again.

I’ve seen a lot of comments about backing our man, giving him our support when he finally returns to action after a 12 match ban, moving on and forgetting what’s gone before and to be honest I laugh at the sheer fickleness of them. Ultimately the reason QPR stayed in the Premier League was because Bolton scored one too few at Stoke, or Stoke scored one too many. Had the Trotters got a third, or prevented Stoke’s second, at the Britannia Stadium on the final day of the season then QPR would be looking forward to a 46-game, second tier season beginning with an appetising trip to Burnley. Were that the case, I doubt Joey Barton would ever be able to set foot inside Loftus Road again. There’d be a hysterical lynch mob after him; threatening to tear up season tickets in the street and hang his effigy from lampposts should Rangers even consider playing him again. But because Bolton are crap, and only drew with Stoke, Joey’s alright after all and we should give him our full support.

But, by the same token, I find those who say we should just sack him and to hell with it rather amusing as well. It can’t be done.

It has been my opinion since Mark Hughes arrived that he would tolerate and indulge Barton for as long as he needed him in the team and then the first second he didn’t, he’d be out of the door – probably to West Ham to join another of life’s genuine arseholes Sam Allardyce for the second time in his career. The Manchester City debacle has robbed Hughes of that opportunity, because even that fat, uncultured oaf currently festering in the hot seat at Upton Park isn’t going to take Barton now given how he behaved and his 12 match ban for next season.

So QPR can sack him and no doubt find themselves embroiled in a costly, lengthy legal battle played out across the back page of the Evening Standard for the next 18 months. Or they can back him and act like nothing ever happened, welcoming him back into the team after his 12 match ban and risk alienating fans and other players. Or they can ostracise him from the club and the squad while still paying him his handsome weekly wage for the next four years, but having just got rid of Rowan Vine do they really want another situation like that on the balance sheet? To be honest, none of that sounds particularly productive.

What they have done is eminently sensible. They’ve managed to exceed the limited two-week fine and dock him six weeks of money, they’ve ended the ridiculous and divisive situation that saw him captaining the team, and they have created a situation whereby he can now be sacked if he strays again. Sadly, in the modern game, that really is the best QPR could have done in the circumstances.

Not nearly far enough

Chris King - I would like to take this opportunity to applaud Queens Park Rangers for removing Joey Barton as club captain. Had it been me making the decision on the skipper’s future at Rangers, this would have been paragraph one in a 20-page document passing sentence on Barton’s crimes, which merit a far greater punishment.

On a day where QPR so nearly denied Manchester City the Premier League title, and won plaudits from many observers for coming from a goal down to lead 2-1 at a ground where no other side had won all season, one man took it upon himself to drag the club’s name through the mud.

On that day, and since, Barton has not had any excuse to support his actions. Had an 18-year-old lost his head at the Etihad Stadium and lashed out at three players, before taking to Twitter to vent at the world in the most unprofessional manner possible, he might be excused. The exuberance of youth can be forgiven, the lack of self-control of an adult cannot.

The 29-year-old is an absolute liability; the experience and paltry quality he adds in the centre of the park are entirely eclipsed by his self-centred nature and lack of respect for colleagues, the etiquette and rules of the game, and managers who place so much faith in somebody who is yet to live up to the hype he so readily creates.

Many a time this season, the captain has looked unfit to wear the shirt. He is a drain on resources, and a moral stain on the club. Not once have I been inspired watching Barton don the blue and white hoops and no amount of Nietzsche quotes, Smiths lyrics or repetition of the little boy lost act will convince me that one of football’s most notorious characters has any place at Loftus Road.

In the past, many sides have put up with the antics of star players because the value they add outweighs the problems they cause. This is true of Mario Balotelli and Wayne Rooney, formerly it was the case with Paolo Di Canio and Eric Cantona, and it could even be said to be the case with our own Adel Taarabt. It is not true for Barton, and fining the player six weeks’ wages and stripping him of the captaincy will not force a drastic change in Barton’s outlook, or behaviour. Since the announcement he has said himself, through Twitter naturally, that he’s not bothered about the fine.

A month or so ago I suggested placing the former skipper in the reserves for the entire season in order to teach him the value of humility and allow players who truly deserve a place in the starting line-up to have their chance. I stand by this. The club has acted with far too much leniency towards Barton, and although there is a clause allowing the R’s to release him should any further serious breaches of disciplinary be forthcoming, it still stands as a bit of a cop out.

One can only hope that Alejandro Faurlin is fit to start against Swansea City. He was the biggest loss for Rangers during the second half of the season, and left a gaping void in midfield which big money Barton could not fill. The two players couldn’t contrast more in style, ability, temperament, and personality.

Faurlin is a gentleman and a classy individual in everything he does. Barton is a thug who, were it not for the shirt on his back, would be arrested for some of his disgraceful antics. A family club can ill-afford to associate itself with an individual like this for much longer.

Tweet @loftforwords, @chriskking

Pictures – Action Images

Photo: Action Images

N12Hoop added 00:05 - Jun 27 Had Rangers thought they could sack him without any risk of a lengthy trial i would like to think that is what they would have done. But 3 years of let's say a 40k a week contract is £6m which we have no right to tell the owners to cough up to get rid of him. Therefore the conclusion was inevitable and the question now is whether he'll be give the opportunity to fight for his place (not literally hopefully) or whether they'll look to stick him out on loan when his suspension finishes, at least until the new year when we will need to name our 25. We have to be realistic here and appreciate that a commercial view has to take precedence over emotion.

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SonofNorfolt added 00:38 - Jun 27 Clive, it's Gordon Taylor! Rangers have done pretty much everything they can bar sacking him, he's out until about November so was never going to stay on as captain. There's no way Ali will be fit to start the season, and may only be available about the same time Barton is which can only be a good thing. We're not a family club either, we're a football club.
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BromleyHoop added 00:49 - Jun 27 Barton's career was really hanging by a thread as a result of this incident and his humble response on twitter to his punishment, to me, indicated that maybe the penny had dropped with him. IF he had been sacked and found himself clubless then who would've been prepared to take on such an underperforming, expensive liability? The only option he would have had would've been a newly promoted team willing, as we did last year, to take a risk. Other than that it would have meant Championship football and a vastly reduced wage. A player like Barton, with his overinflated opinion of his own ability, would have not felt at home in such a lowly environment and I can just imagine him becoming unhapp(ier)y and disruptive and his career begining a real downward spiral. Maybe he has realised that he is lucky to be being paid the amount he is and still be in the Premiership.

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swissqpr added 05:04 - Jun 27 ''that footballers cannot be sacked. They can do pretty much whatever they like, and you cannot sack them: drink, smoke and snort coke'' It would be interesting to know whether they could release him he would make the above WHILE a game.Footballers are a bit like bankmanager,they can make rubbish business but have a long contract what is valid.A normal worker has other conditions.Unfortunately red cards belongs to the game and even what he make so destructive and idiotic he was.

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Kaos_Agent added 06:05 - Jun 27 Good assessments Clive and Chris. One can only hope that the Joey Barton reality TV show is over. Who do you think should be captain?
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Westy75 added 06:58 - Jun 27 "We're not a family club either, we're a football club. " well said mate
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Monahoop added 08:56 - Jun 27 Two interesting perspectives on the clubs dark star, wild child, prize pillock, whatever you want to title him with. Personally I am in the camp of good riddance to the man, but realise things in football are never straight forward. He could be more of a liability to the club had they sacked him than they are to still have him on board. He could have made things very messy and expensive with compensation claims and all the other financial shenanigans that can follow a dismissal, especially if the culprit sees his employers as being unfair and hasty to get rid of him. It's sad he is still with us. In fact I wouldn't want to see him saddled with anyone else for that matter. The result is a hollow victory for the 'give him a second chance' brigade.

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MelakaRanger added 09:04 - Jun 27 Its all the club could do other than pay up his contract, which would just be rewarding Barton rather than punishing him. Barton is a poison within the club and must be kept out of the first team, even when his ban has finished. Keep him fit, keep him in the reserves from November and in that way keep him in the 'shop window' so we can get rid of him in January. He must never be allowed to play for QPR first team ever again.

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Jamie added 10:12 - Jun 27 As said on the Barton thread, would expect to see him quietly moved on in January, most likely with QPR subsidizing £25/30k per week of his wages for the remainder of his contract. The fact that he has been banished from the PR trip to Malaysia and wont be 'introduced' to the fans out there speaks volumes of his prospects of featuring for us again IMO.
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Spiritof67 added 10:16 - Jun 27 It’s a sign of the times that a player like Joey Barton, talks the talk but finds difficulty in walking the walk, oop’s, I forgot his one England cap. In the week when we lost a fantastic and loyal servant of the club in Alan McDonald, who played over 400 games for the R’s and gained 52 caps for his country. Maybe this type of loyalty and dedication is something that might be a thing of the past. For those of us who are slightly longer in the tooth, my mind went back to other loyal servants of the club, such as Mick Leach who’s career lasted over 10 years at the club, a player you could always rely on, and although he was overshadowed during his QPR career playing, by the likes of Rodney Marsh and Stan Bowles, was a vital team member during the 1975-76 season and eventually played over 300 games for the club. Another player I remember is Dave Clement, a stylish and cultured full-back who came through the youth team and played nearly 500 games for the club and in addition gained 5 England caps. Unfortunately both of these players are no longer with us, and during a week when the vast majority of R’s fans and colleagues, of Alan McDonald, are reflecting on their own personal experiences of the man, I reflect on our former captain Mr Barton, as I have previously posted, things could have been very nasty at the Ethiad, if our defeat on the final game of the season had resulted in relegation, I honestly can’t be bothered with his antics, and if he has to cut the half times oranges during his ban and we never see him again, then so be it.

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CiderwithRsie added 10:17 - Jun 27 "Backing him" is not really a case of forgetting what's gone before, its about a sense of realism. 1. As you say, we can't get rid of him, more's the pity 2. Since we can't, I hope that we have at least 4 midfield players better than him available at any one time, not least because most of his performances last season were sub-standard and we'll be in trouble if that's the best we've got. But the chances are that with injuries and suspensions there'll come a match where he has to play. He doesn't deserve much of a welcome but it would be counter-productive to undermine him. God knows we've had to cheer for some crap players in our time. 3. Best case scenario is that either he becomes a reformed character [as if] or that we can get him through some sort of half-decent season without a major screw up then just maybe someone will take him off our hands, at a loss no doubt, in the next close season. Neither scenario is going to be made remotely possible if we treat him like a pariah, which will just feed his paranoia. Basically we're into "if you can't say anything good, say nothing" territory.

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CiderwithRsie added 10:19 - Jun 27 "Backing him" is not really a case of forgetting what's gone before, its about a sense of realism. 1. As you say, we can't get rid of him, more's the pity 2. Since we can't, I hope that we have at least 4 midfield players better than him available at any one time, not least because most of his performances last season were sub-standard and we'll be in trouble if that's the best we've got. But the chances are that with injuries and suspensions there'll come a match where he has to play. He doesn't deserve much of a welcome but it would be counter-productive to undermine him. God knows we've had to cheer for some crap players in our time. 3. Best case scenario is that either he becomes a reformed character [as if] or that we can get him through some sort of half-decent season without a major screw up then just maybe someone will take him off our hands, at a loss no doubt, in the next close season. Neither scenario is going to be made remotely possible if we treat him like a pariah, which will just feed his paranoia. Basically we're into "if you can't say anything good, say nothing" territory.

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QPRFish added 12:49 - Jun 27 Family club. I dislike that moniker thats always been attached to this football club. Anyone want to tell me the last time a "family club" won anything? Wasn't it the great genius that is danny baker that once said "Goin over to QPR is like goin to see ya favourite auntie. An enjoyable experience & ultimately you always come away with a little treat.... I.e. A win. I can't quote verbatim but it was words to that effect. I've said for years that this has always been QPR's problem. That little club over in west london, that've always tried to play lovely football but never win anything simply because we're not nasty enough. I must be still in a minority of one that was happy to see Vincent Jones walk into the club, along with neil ruddock & keep us up by a point when we was surely heading to div 3. Six draws & a loss we got from the last seven games because we were a little bit nastier. Funnily enough, another member of that team, Gavin Peacock, was lauded down the bush. Yes, he scored a few goals & was a thoroughly decent fella but he wasn't nasty enough! I want a midfielder or captain in my team thats more likely to read the riot act in the dressing room rather than psalm 23. Lets get vinny & gavin to put their winners medals on the table and see who got the most from their careers.... And why aren't people sayin we should get rid of cisse'?? Here's a player that really could've cost our club its premiership status far more than joey barton. Here's a little list of clubs that have won somthing in the last 20 years & for me they all have one thing in common..... Man utd = Roy Keane Arsenal = Patrick viera Chelsea = Dennis wise Blackburn & Leeds = David Batty Leicster City = Robbie Savage And going back a little further, Wimbledon = Dennis Wise & Vinny Jones.

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R_in_Sweden added 14:14 - Jun 27 QPRFish I believe that Danny Baker was referring more to our fans more than our "favourite auntie" style players, with him being a Millwall fan it must have felt like a fairly unhostile environment coming to W12. I think that the "family club" thing is all a bit confusing, clubs don't want swearing supporters yet when we played Chelsea at home this rule goes out the window. The raw intimidation that helped knock the opposition off balance is praised by one and all, as it should have been on that occasion. Viera and Keane I can accept as these were genuinely talented footballers. But bringing in the likes of Vinnie Jones, Neil Ruddock and to a lesser extent Barton to save our club. Don't make me laugh.

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isawqpratwcity added 14:32 - Jun 27 I'm pretty near talked out on this one (hooray! I hear). Firstly, kudos to the club for negotiating a settlement that will, I'm near certain, save the club millions of pounds. The threat of paying out Barton's contract and leaving him as almost insignable or else burying him in the reserves for the rest of his contract (still the preferred option for some!) was the only stick the club had to get him to agree to be terminated for any future transgression. That was what I proposed weeks ago as the best outcome and good on MH and TF for landing that deal. Two reasons combine to make that deal so good: that the club would have been on a hiding to nothing to try to break his contract as it stood without coughing up 6-12 mill (depending on whether you think his weekly envelope contains 40k or 80k), and that Joey, being Joey, is a racing certainty to retaliate sooner or later as git after stroppy git tries their luck, on and off the pitch, to get him to bite. When he does, he will be gone, and the club's money will be able to stay in it's pocket. I can understand why people don't like him: long on mouth and aggression, short on performance; I just don't understand why people dislike him so much. He stands to lose millions out of this agreement, and I guarantee that the PR people alleged to have been helping him with his statement would much more likely be telling him to take the money and run get what he can elsewhere afterwards. He might be doing this for the club, but I don't really think that. He might be doing it because he is stupid. But I think he is doing this for his career, because wants to be a respected footballer and he genuinely thinks he can change. That really impresses me, and by crikey I really hope he succeeds. Prove my pessimistic predictions wrong, Joey. God loves a tryer.

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Northernr added 14:40 - Jun 27 Fish, I was absolutely with you until the Cisse comment. Look at the points won with his goals. We'd have been dead last without him.
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TacticalR added 17:16 - Jun 27 Utterly bored and fed up with Barton. Fish, perhaps sometimes you have to be nasty to win, but not all nasty players are winners, neither are all winners nasty. If anything the Manchester City and Norwich games have shown that Barton's not at all that good at being nasty. And surely we can aspire to more than that demented loner Roy Keane?
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Antti_Heinola added 17:28 - Jun 27 Apart from Chris's wilful misrepresentation of what Barton said on Twitter about the fine (he said what really hurt him is not playing and losing the armband, not the money - which is actually a rather sensible, refreshing and grown-up response, is it not, Chris?), two excellent summaries of opinions. Fully side with Clive, though.
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QPRFish added 18:10 - Jun 27 The comment on cisse was prob more rhetorical on my part rather than implying we should get rid. We shouldn't obv. As you said a few days ago clive, we ultimately stayed up because bolton couldnt get a win at stoke. Had cisse not been banned for seven games, stupidly in my opinion, then surely our premiership survival would have been assured sooner rather than in the last 5mins at Man City?

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derbyhoop added 19:27 - Jun 27 I'm with Clive on this. We got the best deal we could under the circumstances. At some stage, Barton is a racing certainty to commit a similar act. But this time we will be able to get rid at zero cost.
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derbyhoop added 21:09 - Jun 27 I'm with Clive on this. We got the best deal we could under the circumstances. At some stage, Barton is a racing certainty to commit a similar act. But this time we will be able to get rid at zero cost.
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