Queens Park Rangers captain Joey Barton unsurprised Manchester City's Carlos Tévez threw toys out of pram - Telegraph âAll players are commodities at the end of the day and this commodity is refusing to play. His price is only going to drop â Tévez was touted as being worth £40 million and itâs a conundrum for Mancini to deal with.â Manchester City are reportedly prepared to sell Tévez for the cut-price of £20 million and would consider replacing him with Arsenallâs Robin van Persie. The 29 year-old Barton, who will lead his side against Fulham on Sunday, also said Fabio Capelloâs repeated refusals to pick him for the England squad were âthe perfect ammunitionâ to motivate him to win a place in the national team. Despite his impressive Premier League form, Barton has made only one senior appearance for his country, coming on as a substitute in a friendly against Spain in 2007. Earlier this year the England manager said the midfielder was too âdangerousâ for international duties because he was likely to get sent off. âMy whole life Iâve strived to prove people wrong, Barton said. âIâve been told a number of things by a number of people and Iâve managed either to prove them wrong instantly or over a period of time. Iâm still in the process of doing it. I thrive on proving people wrong. âCapello has done me a massive favour and given me the perfect ammunition to go out and perform. I go out and perform thinking I should be playing for England and thinking that Iâm better than current players playing for England.â However, he admitted that he was still prone to rash behaviour on the field, saying he had âconfirmedâ Capelloâs fears when he pulled Arsenalâs Gervinho off the floor during a bad-tempered match while he still playing for Newcastle. He also conceded that he had played poorly in last weekâs 1-1 draw against Aston Villa, which was watched by the England manager. But he vowed he would never take himself out of the running for a place in the England squad, adding: âIf the team was picked on form Iâd have been picked 18 months ago. Itâs obvious that itâs not. âIf Iâm deemed good enough to be selected then so be it. All I can do is perform on a Saturday and I believe Iâve done that for the last 2 years.â When asked about his transformation from a national hate figure for his violent conduct to one of Englandâs more-beloved eccentrics, Barton said: âIt just shows how fickle this country is. Everyone wanted to lynch me at one stage. âObviously, I did a lot of things that made people feel that way which was my own stupidity and a number of other factors.â He added that the âself-developmentâ he underwent since serving a brief prison term in 2008 had given him insights that would lend themselves to being a club manager. âI think Iâm quite savvy now. I know personalities through a lot of the self-development stuff that I did. Itâs worked wonders in terms of dealing with other people, other team-mates and referees.â Just for luck The famously superstitious Neil Warnock has banned his players from adjusting the air conditioning in their dressing room for fear it would be bring bad luck. QPRâs manager has also resisted a refurbishment to the home sideâs dressing room, insisting that it stay as it was when the club won promotion. Barton said: âItâs the first time Iâve ever encountered that â heâs massively superstitious. As long as heâs happy though.â
So is Rowan Vine, but he doesn't get blind devotion. Absolutely. You are going aren't you? I hope you enjoy the match. Blackburn is the next match for me, W block, you are in X aren't you?
To get back to the topic of the OP. If football was a soap, Warnock would get his wish and Tevez would be driven out of English football. Then, in just over two years time, the scene would be set for England v Argentina (likely quarters at most) and England would lose on penalty kicks. The final and winning kick would be taken by - well guessed - Tevez himself! He would go on to be reviled almost as much as his bloating, cheating compatriot. Almost worth a tenner punt.
