NEWS ROUND-UP:JOEY BARTON seems certain to be shown the door by Newcastle United this summer, whichever division the club are playing in.
The midfielder has spent time in prison and received a handful of final warnings since arriving at St James’ Park from Manchester City two years ago, but his sending-off at Anfield on Sunday was almost certainly the final straw.
Ignoring Alan Shearer’s exhortations to stay out of trouble, Barton instead marked his comeback from injury by being shown a straight red for a reckless challenge on Xabi Alonso during Newcastle’s 3-0 defeat at Liverpool.
It is understood that, having warned the 26-year-old immediately before kick-off against making similarly ill-advised tackles, Shearer refused to accept the player’s post-match apology.
Barton, playing his first game since he fractured a foot at Manchester City in January, will now be suspended for Newcastle’s final three games of the season at home to Middlesbrough and Fulham and away at Aston Villa. He will also be fined two weeks’ wages – €143,000 – by the club.
“I thought he could do something different,” said Shearer yesterday. “But I didn’t think he’d go on and get a red card. I’d asked him not to do that.”
Although a suspended six-game ban imposed by the Football Association in England last September still hangs over his head in the wake of Barton’s training-ground assault on his former City team-mate Ousmane Dabo in 2007, Newcastle have been advised that it will not be activated by the tackle on Alonso as it is thought the sending-off was almost certainly for serious foul play.
It would take a dismissal for violent conduct to trigger that additional ban and the FA expects to confirm that this is not the case on receipt of the referee Phil Dowd’s report today.
Mike Ashley, Newcastle’s owner, tried to offload Barton when he was imprisoned for 77 days last summer as the result of an assault in Liverpool city centre in December 2007. However, Kevin Keegan, the club’s then manager, talked Ashley out of it, persuading him that Barton deserved a final chance.
When Bolton made a bid for his services in January, Shearer’s predecessor, Joe Kinnear, again dissuaded Ashley from selling while also fending off interest from Portsmouth.
Meanwhile, Daniel Agger has expressed relief at agreeing a new contract that will end speculation of a move away from Anfield.Milan have been among the clubs pursuing the central defender but he has accepted terms on a four-year extension to 2014.
“We are close now and of course I would be happy to stay at Liverpool because it is what I’ve been working for for the last few years,” he said.
Sami Hyypia, Liverpool’s long-serving defender, will join Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen in the close season. The 35-year-old completed a medical at Leverkusen yesterday and will join the club at the start of pre-season training.
GuardianService
