He told Sky Sports News that the QPR midfielder runs around the pitch telling everyone that he’s on £80,000 a week will raise many eyebrows. Not necessarily that Barton does such a thing, which is a part of his unique charm, but the amount that he is paid.
£80,000? Joey Barton? How does he get paid so much? And of all people, Joey Barton, who in many ways is lucky to even have a career in the game after some of the antics of his youth. Sure, everyone is due a second chance, but being paid £80,000 for that chance seems somewhat excessive. Despite his evident improvement on the petulance of his youth, Barton still comes across as quite immature on and off the pitch. This was clear for all to see against Arsenal at the start of the season, as it was after the game with Wolves when he took to twitter to insult Henry.
“If that is what he wants to do, he can carry on doing it but that is why a lot of people dislike him,” said Henry, and his words were instructive. This is why a lot of people dislike Barton, and it is why managers like Alan Pardew and Neil Warnock have played a dangerous game with the midfielder.
Undoubtedly he is a talented footballer, but he is hardly as good as he thinks, or as many other players. He will go down in history as a mere footnote, and for his off field antics rather than those off it most likely. In the ranks of current England midfielders, he is well down the list, though it’s interesting to note he would be higher were it not for his temperament, or lack thereof.
But managers are not alone in culpability for the Barton effect. Journalists too, have satiated the player’s attention seeking behaviour this season by focusing so much on his antics. The problem with petulance is that when it is not ignored it gets worse, not better. Football as a whole should have turned its back on Barton when he did the things he did in his youth; punishments are meant to punish, and the problem with the midfielder is that he has never really been punished. A six month jail sentence followed by years of £80,000 a year isn’t the world’s harshest treatment.
But that sadly, is modern football. And Joey Barton will probably continue to tell opponents of his gargantuan salary, because teams like QPR continue to be happy to fork out such extravagant sums where it is plainly over the top.
