I met Joey Barton several years ago and formed the impression that he had charm and an enquiring mind. But you live and learn and it has long been apparent that this mind was never going to equip Barton with more than a little learning, which, as Alexander Pope so wisely warned us, can be a dangerous thing.
Dangerous? The serially disgraced captain of Queens Park Rangers would be described as such by even a couple of erstwhile club-mates.
Nor does the presence of television cameras and a worldwide audience deter Barton from retaliating violently against Carlos Tevez, kneeing Sergio Aguero and greeting Vincent Kompany with an apparent invitation to a head-butting contest.
We are left with nothing to debate but the length of the suspension for Barton’s one-man riot. Some say the first 10 matches of next season, others 12 or even 15, and yet it all seems inadequate.
Barton is not a young player who will mellow as Wayne Rooney seems to have done; he is nearly 30 years old and a strutting advertisement for the fallibility of counselling.
He talks — or tweets — with a staggering lack of self-awareness, celebrating Rangers’ avoidance of relegation as if he had contributed to it. But, while the club have earned their place at the Premier table next season, Barton has surely, conclusively, forfeited his right to sit there.
The legal discussion thus far has centred on whether Rangers could tear up Barton’s contract, saving themselves the several million pounds due on its remainder.
They would be letting the game down if they did not try and, if they improved as sharply as Newcastle upon waving Barton goodbye, could expect reward on and off the pitch.
But what about the League’s duty of care to his fellow professionals? I do not believe Barton — any more than Aguero on Sunday — has a leg to stand on. It is time to be rid.
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