Is Joey Barton unfairly treated by referees?
Posted on April 14th, 2011 | 16 Comments |
“Joey gets decisions given him against just because it’s Joey Barton that’s involved.
“There’s no doubt that officials look more towards Joey than they do to anybody else on the pitch. If anything controversial happens, it’s his fault. It’s a shame for Joey because he’s a good player, but he’s always having to deal with other issues.
“The treatment he’s getting is not fair, and I feel sorry for him. He’s dealing with it though and he deserves a lot of credit for that.”
Lovenkrands went on to cite a specific example in Newcastle United’s last game. against Aston Villa, where he felt that a free kick which eventually led to the only goal of the game and defeat for the Magpies.
“The free-kick that Aston Villa scored from at the weekend was only awarded because it was Joey, it happens to him all the time.
“We should have done better in terms of defending the set-piece, but Ashley Young seemed to be looking for Joey because he knew if he went down to him, the referee was going to be giving a foul.
Newcastle United manager, Alan Pardew also bemoaned the incident, but he preferred to cast aspersions on Ashley Young’s easiness in going down when coming into contact with opposition players, saying:
“Ashley Young is the most fouled player in the division. Every time he gets touched he goes down and wins fouls and we were conscious of that. It was a light challenge and he won a foul again, so he continues to be the most fouled player in the division”
Getting back to Lovenkrands though, he went on to mention another example of what he thought was victimisation of the controversial Barton in the same Villa game, when he was booked in the latter stages. Lovenkrands moaned:
“Then the booking at the end of the game was another prime example. I was stood right next to the situation. Joey runs away upfield and Reo-Coker runs right into him. Joey stops and gets clattered, but the referee turns around and gives Joey a booking. That can only be because of who he is.”
Reader’s of this ‘blog could no doubt cite other incidents, for example in Newcastle United’s first game against Wolves this season, when Barton was fouled throughout the whole game by midfielder, Karl Henry. To be fair to the referee, Stuart Attwell (who also refereed the Aston Villa game mentioned by Lovenkrands), no less than four of Wolves’s players received yellow cards for fouls on Barton, but many would say that Henry should have been sent off in that game for his relentless fouls on the midfielder throughout the game.
Of course, there have been examples on both sides though, for instance when Barton punched Blackburn player, Morten Gamst Pedersen, in the midriff in a fixture against Blackburn in November of last year. He went completely unpunished at the time as the referee, Mike Jones, had his back turned at the time and didn’t see the incident. However he was later suspended for three games after the video evidence was reviewed by the FA. He has also been involved in several other incidents on the pitch which could be described as ‘controversial’ over the course of his career. Then, of course, there has been his even more controversial activities off the pitch, which in one case led to him being sentenced to six months imprisonment for assaulting a teenager while on a night out in Liverpool. I won’t go into the full litany of his past misdemenours though as I’m sure that nearly all readers of this ‘blog don’t need to be educated on Joey Barton’s sins of the past by now!
So far, Barton has received nine yellow cards this season, along with a three match suspension for the Pederson incident mentioned above. However other Newcastle players such as Cheick Tiote and Kevin Nolan have received more, both having picked up suspensions for collecting ten. He also hasn’t been sent off this season like some Newcastle players.
But what do you think? Do you agree with Lovenkrands that Barton is treated unfairly by referees, possibly for his sins of the past?
Poll:
NUFCBlog Author: workyticket
workyticket has written 1083 articles on this blog.
defo some refs seem too give joey fook all