After admitted the charges last month, Joey Barton was jailed for six months on Tuesday after admitting assault during a night out in Liverpool in December last year.
On his trail today, Judge Globe told Barton that without doubt, the most serious from the other offenders (his cousin Nadine Wilson and his brother Andrew Barton) is him.
On the hearing at the trial, Barton admitted his badly behaviour on that night was the result of his drinking problem. He was drinking 10 pints of lager and five more bottles before assaulting a man and a teenager.
After hearing the news that Barton was going to jailed for at least 6 months, PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor is hopeful Joey Barton will still have the future in football, for his current club and maybe next to play for the England. Despite his imprisonment for assault and affray, Taylor sees Barton as a player with ability and there will always be other clubs looking to take the opportunity to try and improve things around him.
Meanwhile, the club statement only saying to take notes of the sentence passed to Joey Barton at Liverpool Crown Court today and considering the verdict before making further comments.
I’m little disappointed and more apprecite what Keegan said on the day of his appointment as Newcastle manager for the second time. King Kev told Barton that as a Newcastle United player he will support him 100 per-cent and will help him in whatever way he can.
Keegan also said Barton needs help and the best people to help him are the people that know him and we (Keegan) know him. That’s the way of a good manager should handle the situation.
The response from Toon Army was varied between demanding him to leave the club sooner than later and those who still have confidence in him just like Keegan has. Personally, I want us to keep him and hope he will be totally new person after his sentence is over, which predicted will not be longer than 3 months.
I also (still) see Barton as the excellent player when someone has the power to control him. I hope we didn’t forget his contribution in Toon relegation escape this season, especially in a winning match against Spurs. That was when his mind is still not free from any sentence that could happening to him before today. And I believe Keegan can make him back as he used to be, in terms of a good footballer.