After Joey Barton was found guilty of common assault and affray, many thought that the six-month sentence handed out was pretty inadequate, especially as he only served 77 days in jail before being released. The midfielder is now back in the Newcastle squad, although on Saturday, he got a taste for the sort of reception he was likely to receive at away grounds this season.
Yes, the guy is convicted criminal that many people describe as ‘the wrong boy’, ‘a headcase’ and sometimes even ‘scum’. However, the BBC reports that Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear is not best pleased with the bottle-throwing antics of the Sunderland supporters, who targeted the midfielder as he warmed up on the sidelines.
“He had bottles thrown at him. It was bang out of order – we must keep this out of football,” said Kinnear.
“All he was guilty of was warming up on the side of the pitch.”
“I felt sorry for him, but thankfully he kept his cool and went on the pitch,” added Kinnear.
“He didn’t panic and didn’t have a grudge against the Sunderland fans.”
Kept his cool? Then why did he choose to stare at a section of Black Cats supporters, before placing a smacker on the Newcastle badge? That doesn’t sound like very cool behaviour to us, instead serving to rile the home supporters further. Nevertheless, we’re hardly condoning any person who launches missiles at a football ground. They should be banned for life, it’s shocking that people try and get away with something they wouldn’t do outside a stadium.
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