Joey Barton; the worst mistake

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Joey Barton; the worst mistake

With today’s confirmation that the Joey Barton circus continues on, the signing of the ex-Marseille anchor is beginning to look like one of the biggest mistakes of the Warburton era.

Indeed, the saga and sheer sideshow that has followed his entire career has made its way to Ibrox, and seriously questions the Magic Hat’s judgement in even wanting him.

Sure, many would point at his career credentials, the clubs he has plied his trade for and the fact he was Burnley’s Player of the Year last season; but the absolute chaos that accompanies him everywhere he goes is contrary to both the dignity normally associated with a club blessed with managers such as William Struth and Walter Smith, and contrary to the entire notion of respect and integrity that his manager Warburton has espoused ever since himself arriving in Govan last year.

On top of the Eustace farce and the absolute comedy of targeting Joleon Lescott, one really wonders what vision Warbs has for Rangers long term.

Barton has been a disgrace his whole career; Rangers today announced the extension of his ban to a further week, and it is now evident Joey Barton will never play again for Rangers.

If there was any doubt before, there surely is not now. The problem is the pay off. Barton is on a wage of circa £1M per year, which, for the mathematicians among you, is £2M for two years.

It does not take a source at Ibrox to confirm Dave King and the board will not be happy shelling out £2M to get Barton off Rangers’ hands; but it is either that or the player goes on Gardening Leave.

Barton has been canny – he saw Rangers as an opportunity to plug himself and his book, while being paid a fortune to do so – and while many, yours truly included, bought into the hype about ‘signing Joey Barton’, the reality was deep down every one of us feared this thing blowing up in our faces, like it has for nearly every club he has ever played for.

We thought he had matured, but clearly he has not and never will, and has not compensated his mouthing off with performances on the pitch.

One seriously has to look at Rangers’ signing policy this summer and previous – Warburton spent five months trying to get John Eustace on board, time and money wasted treating the man only for it all to fall through eventually, while also moving in on a perennially-injured Joleon Lescott who is more known for being hated due to his materialism and ego. And Villa fans pointed out how dreadful he had been for them last season. No one needs to point out what happened over the past few days in Athens either, to vindicate both Rangers’ medical team and criticism of Warburton seeking his services.

This Barton episode has absolutely stunk. This site praised Warbs over admitting he got the dropping of Andy Halliday wrong recently, and while he probably cannot admit the mistake here yet, he should one day.

Hopefully this dismal signing will not undermine, or even define, Warbs’ legacy, something it is threatening, disappointingly, to do.

NB: this site gets a lot of flak whenever it makes a critical entry. For every 10 entries, the 8 or 9 positive or neutral ones get overlooked and the critical one gets castigated as being “written by Chris Sutton”. It is IbroxNoise’s job to ask questions of Rangers, of the Club we love. We hold the Club to account when things do not go right, and we praise enthusiastically when things work well. We judge what we see. If you dislike this approach, we suggest you use other sites which better suit your own philosophies.

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30 COMMENTS

  1. Hmmmm ? He turned down 35 grand a week to sign for us on 20 grand a week? Doesn't look like he was using us for financial gain to me.

    He could have easily stayed at Burnley and plugged his book via his Twitter account. He didn't need to move to Glasgow Rangers to sell his book. Don't buy that conspiracy theory at all.

    In my opinion it was his last chance to play for a big club and he moved for genuine reasons.

    The whole affair has been handled very badly by the club and quite frankly we look like amateurs.

    Still hoping for a sensible outcome. He apologises to Warburton and Warburton accepts apology and we move on.

    Unless there's been something major said that we don't know about the whole thing looks like it's been blew way out of proportion.

  2. That was a great NB at the end.
    I agree, the site has been brilliant and I think all us Gers appreciate the truth and sincerity. If Ibroxnoise didn't love and care for the greatest team in Scotland/world then they would be saying how great,wonderful we are and how we'll definitely improve.
    The fact is this season has been massively disappointing. We keep papering over the cracks (and Warburton is good at that) but we've been poor with no end product and horrors at the back and it seems it hasn't and won't get addressed fast. This is a worry.
    It doesn't seem we can change it and although we're early in the season it's a worry.
    It's better to be critical and state these things because we simply care very much.
    The Barton thing is an example of bad management…for goodness sake get rid of the guy or get him in and sorted out straight away…It's just a drag and looks bad all round.
    I hope I'm wrong, I hope Warburton proves me and the doubters wrong, I really do.

    Hugh

  3. What the hell, is REALLY going on between Rangers and Barton?????
    Bad enough we ban him for his behaviour…then during this ban we add another week.
    Anybody else who went through this..would understand the Club doesnt want me no more. If this is true,….as for him trying to get back to original signing,this situation has got too deep for both player and club..he should be given one last chance letting him know,this is about football only…no more sarcastic remarks about ANYONE…especially our players,manager and board. This for me,would be the FINAL warning and also let him know,that his performances on the field MUST dramatically improve…if he is not happy with this..then tell him..his only other option will be to leave…

  4. I do not believe Mark Warburton signed Joey Barton .When Joey Barton signed Mark Warburton was nowhere to be seen, Davie Weir done all the press interviews and photo shoots

  5. You cant challenge the manager and continue ,bt is this about standards expectations ,and one mans recusal to play ball in trying hoodwink fans ,we were told a adequate amount of cash would be spent to challenge Celtic ,well the money wasn't spent bt we did get Barton kranjkar ,and hill and senderos .
    Could it be the board are trying buy time ? Warburton keeps playing down and complaining about expectation ,he is happy with his players level and like all managers must be judged on his buys a d how he deals with failure ,the jurys out and I don't think we are in a good place

  6. I think the club and the manager has handled this badly. I think the treatment of Barton has been disgraceful. What exactly has he done? He had a disagreement with one of his teammates happens all the time. At least he was showing he cared after the manky mob result.Warburtons hat is no longer magic in my opinion his failure to man manage has caused this mess. Barton has been hung out to dry and been a scapegoat for the poor performance of the team this season. Warburton should be sacked NOW. He's shown he's not capable of managing a club the size of ours. Barton clearly was the marquee signing of the summer he's certainly a quality player and I think he'd prove that if he was given an opportunity to do so,if Warburton wants rid it will cost the club £2m that's unacceptable Warburton must go now.

  7. What the hell is going on? Why is this dragging on? Get it sorted. Warburton is really starting to annoy me. 3 points and a good performance on Friday night is a must or Warburton should be sacked.

  8. Through various Ibrox Noise comment threads many people have called for Mark Warburton to be sacked. The charge list is long and growing, the team formation, the Barton affair, summer signings, tactical ineptitude…etc etc. What I have not seen are any suggestions on who should replace Mark Warburton ?

    Any suggestions ?

    • McKinnes has got to be a shout. He's shown what he can do with a limited budget and also has the required ability to be able to read how a game is panning out and tactically be able to adopt his strategic approach to any specific game in order to achieve the result needed. I have no doubt he advised his team to sit in and allow us to have the lions share of possession in the hope that they would be able to sucker punch us which unfortunately they did. I don't think he's an amazing manager but he has displayed a lot of good qualities in his recent managerial years

  9. Careful, Ibroxnoise, you're asking questions, not being 'on-message' from L5. A burning offence, if I'm not mistaken.
    Before you know it, some idiot will be claiming the account has been hacked by 'Timmy', and Mr Houston will be stalking you in the street like you're Craig Whyte !

    As for Barton, I really don't understand the club's approach. If you suspend someone for 3 weeks, you can't then unilaterally extend the suspension further. It goes against every tenet of natural law, and would surely be giving Barton perfect grounds for a 'constructive dismissal' claim. Ker-ching, Barton drives off into the sunset down the M74/M6, with £2m in used notes in a bag in the boot.
    Ah well, it's someone else for King to be up in court against, along with PUMA.

    • If Rangers were to release Barton from his contract, would he be classed as a free agent and permitted to join another club immediately ? In this scenario perhaps a sensible settlement could be reached, OR, will Barton hold out for full payment.

    • The problem is, Rangers can't unilaterally release him from his contract ; any such decision has to be mutually agreed, usually with compensation in place.
      I'll put it this way : you have a contract that entitles you to (for example) £10k per week, for you part the contract insists that you train, take necessary rest and recovery and physio, and are available for matches. The contract lasts for 2 years. Would you agree to the contract being torn up, knowing that you'd struggle to get another contract somewhere else ? Or, if banned from the training ground, would you just do the training, making sure that you were very public about it (Qatar sports facility, for example), and collect the dosh every week until they play you or pay you off.

  10. Warburton was given the second highest playing budget in the SPL and he has failed to date to get anything in return from his signings. Barton, Kranjar, Hill, Senderos absolutely no resale value and well past their prime. Windass ,Crooks, And Rossiter injure prone. Why buy Garner for 1.5 million when your whole style of play is to keep the ball out of the penalty box and keep it on the wings. He has been found out unfortunately his time is only a couple of results from being up and he has only himself to blame.

  11. A win at Inverness on Friday and a performance against ceptic in the cup is a must for Warburton,another heavy defeat to the mhanks and it could be time to get another manager,the defence is still a mess and we are still trying to walk the ball into the net,lets hope windass and rossiter are fit soon because they two could be the difference between winning and losing against the bheasts.

  12. None us us know as to what actually happened nor as to what was said between anybody before, during or since in this on-going soon to be 'saga' ?
    Its very easy and simple to extend anyone's ban from a three week one to four, nothing at all wrong with this either.
    As for sacking Mr Warburton, isn't this largely premature given that he's only not long in the door, so to speak ?
    The only things that I can see that Mr Warburton is guilty of is him having Rob Kiernan still around when everyone and their granny knows how bad he really IS as a player except it seems for Mr Warburton himself and his spending of half a million quid on a player he seldom plays, lastly, his inability to switch away from his beloved 4-3-3 formation which doesn't serve too many of our players to show what they have in way of being any good for RFC ? (Alan63)

  13. If Barton wants to toe the line and do what he say's he can then good for Rangers but if he wants to be the big man with the even bigger ego then give him a corner in the north of the training ground for 2 years and let him rot. Give all our support to the team and the manager ss both need time and patience. WATP.

  14. Play him to see if he has still got the talent. If he shows a steady performance, if not sell him in Feb., if any club is still interested. Evaluate the Management team at the end of the season.As a certain woman oft said "Patience is a Virtue Possess it if you can, You`ll find it in a Woman but Seldom in a Mam.

  15. Another alternative.. With his Ego… play him with the under 21`s. He might just tear up his contract. He`d then have time for a New Book " Fifty shades of Burton"

    • The thing is someone like him [ and his agent] will probly have a contract that says he cant play in U21's or reserve games & must get X amount of game time so in the end we will have to play him. Best bet is to suck it up & see if we can reach a mutual agreement & punt him as soon as.
      He was a BAD/KING signing that went wrong, learn from it & move on.
      BTW is their any news from the Bold Dave re: MONEY MONEY MONEY!!!

  16. First time I saw Barton play, I knew he wasnt going to make it up here. He is so slow and unfit. Warbs, Weir and McPartland should have been looking for a younger, fitter and stronger player at half the price.,, Barton is a has been and what a waste of money, a dreadful waste of time and cash,, and the club is bleeding money again. I think the club are in discussions to get a package together to get rid of him… Halliday is twice the player he is!!

  17. Barton is hardly making any money from his book, so having time off to "plug" it hasn't been fruitful. The word Patience is being bandied about. I think we need to use a bit of it on this Forum. We gave Ali McCoist a number of years to get it right with no money. We need to let Warbs have more time. The players he signed in the summer had us all jumping for joy. It's not his fault they didn't produce the goods and we can't do anything about it until January.

    • When will people realize Ally McCoist took Rangers and its supporters to the cleaners , £18,000 a week to manage in the fourth tier of Scottish football ,from 2012 to his gardening leave Ally McCoist took £4m out of our club and £1m worth of shares as a reward for backing Charles Green . When he realized he was a failure as a manager , did he resign , no, he took the club he professed to love for every last dime .

  18. This should all have been sorted. Barton could have done a job for us for one season. We must move on. £2m is too much to pay to get rid of him.

  19. I never bought into the hype about ‘signing Joey Barton, but many did and those that did not accepted the managers decision. After all he is the manager but this signing and some other summer signings did not seem to match the profile required as previously expressed or only bringing in players who would maintain the harmony in the squad or enhance it. Also if the manager invites or encourages the players to have heated discussion on failings and does not want to receive feedback himself, he should close the door and leave them to their heated discussion and whatever the outcome it should not have left the boundaries of Auchin'. Furthermore he better not get paid up £2m for turning up 8 times, though it would appear that's what he's aiming for.

  20. We are being wise after an event that should never have happened.
    Barton's reputation preceded him and did Warbs and Co really think they could succeed with him where others have failed ? It was a gamble that should never have been taken so get it sorted out and let's get back to putting a team together that can do something.

  21. Barton will play again as his contract will stop us putting him in with the youngsters and we don't have enough on him to cleanly dispose of his services without huge charge. It's a gamble us playing this game and it will add to his case for dismissal. King should just get his wallet out and move him on.

  22. I don't think Warbs wanted Barton in the first place, he was a King player for SB sales.

    I don't think Warbs wants to see him back and King will be looking for anything to hang him out to dry but history shows that the player doesn't normally lose out in these situations. It could run for month's and get messy, because King likes a day in the court and will never conclude this cleanly and quietly like he should.

    It is a shambles.

    • Bang on the money, however much to kings dismay the court would be in England , Joey is a member of the pfa (Gordon Taylor) who don't lose. Just who is rangers recruitment manager?

  23. Barton was signed to boost season ticket sales and its clear yet most fans were ecstatic and over the moon with his signing, including this site when one wrote "its the biggest transfer in scottish football for years" or something like that. without joey we play better. we were conned into believing we can afford his wages, its clear that we either let him play, or pay him off 2 million or land in court. its one helluva mess and sums up our board. king is shambles and warbuton is stuck he cannot do anything aout it..

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