[quote author=dmishra link=topic=45502.msg1341149#msg1341149 date=1306899579]
Honestly, any discussion on Barton's footballing ability has to be pre-empted by his disciplinary record. Just doing a quick wiki reveals this:
July, 2004 - Hacked an opponent playing for Man City against Doncaster Rovers sparking a 10 man brawl
December, 2004 – Stubbed out a lit cigar on youth player Jamie Tandy’s eye
Summer, 2005 – Assaulted a 15 year old Everton supporter. Had to be restrained from further attacking the boy.
May, 2005 – Broke a pedestrian’s leg while driving through Liverpool city centre.
May, 2007 – Assaulted teammate Ousmane Dabo hitting him several times. Dabo ended up in hospital with a suspected detached retina. Arrested for the same and served a 4 month jail sentence.
November, 2007 – Horror tackle on Dickson Etuhu on his thigh.
December, 2007 – Arrested on suspicion of assault in Liverpool. CCTV footage showed him punching a man twenty times making him lose consciousness, and also attacking a teenager, breaking some of his teeth. Eventually sentenced to 6 months jail.
March, 2008 – Charged of assault and criminal damage after an argument with a taxi driver in Liverpool
May, 2009 – Red card for tackle on Xabi Alonso. Followed by altercation with Shearer who called it a ‘coward’s tackle’. Barton responded by saying Shearer was a ‘shit manager with shit tactics’.
November, 2010 – Punched Morten Gamst Pedersen in the chest in a 2-1 defeat to Blackburn.
If anyone needed any reminders of what a thug this guy is. This is besides the countless fines, suspensions, bans and other on the pitch trouble he’s created. He’s probably ten times the cunt Diouf was. Do we really want to go down that road again?
[/quote]
I could live with all of that if he was good. He's not, he's fucking ordinary.