http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/sport/joey-barton-in-shock-move-to-fleetwood-1-4767098 Published on Monday 23 July 2012 18:25 JOEY BARTON, one of the most controversial characters in football, is to train with Fleetwood Town. In a sensational move which will rock football, ambitious Fleetwood have received permission from Queens Park Rangers for him to train with the Highbury club. And there is a chance of loan move from QPR to Fleetwood, possibly until January, though manager Micky Mellon refused to comment on this. Barton will join up with his Fleetwood on Thursday, prior to travelling to Scotland when he will spend a week with the Town squad. Barton is friends with a number of players in the Fleetwood squad and when the player suggested that he would be prepared to train with Town, Mellon moved in quickly and made official contact with Rangers. After incidents on the final day of last season Barton was banned for 12 matches after being found guilty of two counts of violent conduct. Barton, 29, was sent off in QPRâs defeat at Manchester City on the final day of the season and accepted a charge over his clash with Sergio Aguero in the wake of his red card. He was also found guilty over a separate clash with Cityâs Vincent Kompany.
Joey Barton in shock move to Fleetwood http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/sport/joey-barton-in-shock-move-to-fleetwood-1-4767098 Published on Monday 23 July 2012 18:25 JOEY BARTON, one of the most controversial characters in football, is to train with Fleetwood Town. In a sensational move which will rock football, ambitious Fleetwood have received permission from Queens Park Rangers for him to train with the Highbury club. And there is a chance of loan move from QPR to Fleetwood, possibly until January, though manager Micky Mellon refused to comment on this. Barton will join up with his Fleetwood on Thursday, prior to travelling to Scotland when he will spend a week with the Town squad. Barton is friends with a number of players in the Fleetwood squad and when the player suggested that he would be prepared to train with Town, Mellon moved in quickly and made official contact with Rangers. After incidents on the final day of last season Barton was banned for 12 matches after being found guilty of two counts of violent conduct. Barton, 29, was sent off in QPRâs defeat at Manchester City on the final day of the season and accepted a charge over his clash with Sergio Aguero in the wake of his red card. He was also found guilty over a separate clash with Cityâs Vincent Kompany.
He's quoted as saying: "Still have 3 yrs left at QPR. Exciting times for the Club which I intend to be part of..." Holy xxxk, we've got a stalker.
Very strange one this - you would have thought a NPC club would have been after him. But I guess it gets his ban over with quicker at a FL club. Although i am sure he wont be in the 25 man squad so thats him out until January anyway, so even if he did eat up his ban quicker it wouldnt make any difference apart from get him some match time.
It's up on the BBC website ... BUT they quote the line above as: "Still have 3 yrs left at QPR. Exciting times for the Club which I intended to be part of..." For those of you thinking that Barton was talking in the past tense .... The BBC have got it wrong. He still intends to be part of QPR.
His reasons for the move from his website There’s been a lot of interest regarding me training with Fleetwood, it wasn’t something that I was so bothered to talk about and I’m surprised by the level of interest, naive of me maybe. The simple fact is that on top of my much deserved punishment by the FA and then of course QPR, I’ve also been omitted from the senior QPR squad that are now out in Asia, which is of course even more gutting than the original punishment. I respect that Mark Hughes makes his own decisions of course, and fair play to him for doing what he believes is right. QPR want me to train with the young guys and the reserves in the meantime. The possibility of a loan move has been mentioned, where there’s been interest from several European clubs and a lot of Championship clubs too, as you may expect. So, why would I train with Fleetwood? I have become a little disenchanted with the game in the last 6 months after what I have put myself through and I desperately want to fall back in love with the game. I feel that training in the lower leagues will give me a reality check and maybe help me become a better person, a little more humility will serve me well. The lower leagues is where the hunger for the game is at its greatest, at least where players are concerned. I want to re-ignite that passion for the game, something that I ordinarily have an abundance of. No monetary bullshit. No media bollocks (though apparently there still is!). No prima*donnas. Just pure, old school, mortgage/livelihoods on the line, balls-out football. It’ll help me appreciate all that the Premier league offers me now and in the future. What else can I do? Work hard, fall back in love with the game and keep my fingers crossed that I can once again earn my place in a QPR shirt.
The fact is that if he plays at this level he could only miss around 6 or 7 prem games so it would be a quick way back.
Do you want him in the 25 man squad? Send him out on loan to a Turkish club, that'll give him a reality check!
