When Blackburn came to Eastlands last Saturday, did anyone think to say a big thank you to Sam Allardyce?
This man did Manchester City football club the biggest favour imaginable and the fact that nobody bothered to thank him is disgusting. What on earth did Big Sam do to warrant our thanks? It should be obvious; he signed Joey Barton for Newcastle.
After all, if it wasn’t for Big Sam, Barton might still be wearing City blue instead of Ireland, Kompany, de Jong, Wright-Phillips or Robinho. Actually no he wouldn’t. It is unlikely that, considering the talent in the current City squad that he would have even reached the bench. It’s impossible to imagine Barton enjoying a midfield partnership with the Brazilian like Stephen Ireland has.
During his time with the club, Barton put City through the mill. In 2004, he sparked a ten man brawl at Doncaster after he hacked a Rovers player down. In December the same year, he stubbed a lit cigar in the eye of Jamie Tandy. The team visited Thailand the following summer and Barton again hit the headlines as he was sent home after arguing with a 15 year old Everton fan and ordered by Stuart Pearce to receive anger management therapy.
All three incidents would have been enough to have the player sacked but City stood by him only to be slapped in the face in January 2006 when Barton handed in a transfer request. Incredibly the club rejected it and rebuffed an approach from Middlesbrough. In September he was caught on TV cameras dropping his shorts to Everton supporters in a ‘light hearted’ incident and was charged with bringing the game into disrepute.
In April 2007, he criticised City performances throughout the season while branding Pearce’s signings as ‘sub-standard.’ Pearce reacted by banning him from speaking to the media.
The final straw came on 1st May 2007 when Barton attacked then team-mate Ousmane Dabo in a training ground incident. Barton was suspended by the club and subsequently sold to Newcastle. Even the transfer didn’t go smoothly as Barton insisted on being paid a £300,000 ‘loyalty’ payment as he hadn’t asked for a transfer. The club stuck to their guns, stating that by asking to speak to Newcastle, it was clear he wanted a transfer and refused to pay. Newcastle eventually upped their payment from £5.5m to £5.8m.
Since leaving City, Barton has also served a jail sentence after being found guilty of common assault and affray outside a McDonalds in Liverpool. Barton’s latest antics have seen him on the verge of being sacked by Newcastle and it is rumoured that Allardyce is again interested in taking him to Blackburn. Good luck with that one Sam.
So for taking Joey Barton away from us, thank you so much Sam Allardyce