Terry Venables makes case for Joey Barton FABIO CAPELLO was in White City last Sunday and he was not shopping at Westfield. He was looking at some possible new additions to his midfield. The England manager was at Loftus Road for QPR's 1-1 draw with Aston Villa. The word on the street is that he was running the rule over Shaun Wright-Phillips. A logical afternoon out, given the winger's new lease of life after his wise decision to make the most of his career by quitting his role as an understudy at Manchester City to play a lead role in the Rangers revolution. It is a move that already looks to have paid off as Capello is expected to recall SWP to his Three Lions squad for next week's important Euro 2012 qualifier in Montenegro. And there has been mounting conjecture whether the Italian should name another of the Hoops' new boys in his party. A certain Joseph Anthony Barton. Yep, Joey Barton, reformed ex-con, cigar-stubber and mooner, now the people's philosopher and tweeter extraordinaire, is being touted for a return to the England set-up. Now, I should point out here that I don't believe for one minute that it will happen. Opinionated Barton has said, written and tweeted too much about Capello, his regime and players to make this possible. Capello himself has gone on record this week saying he would not want to rock the boat by calling up QPR's new captain. No doubt many Three Lions fans will be breathing a huge sigh of relief at the coach's decision. But recalling Barton and giving him the chance to add to the solitary cap he won as a sub in a friendly against Spain in February 2007 is not as daft as some may want you to believe. The player has cleaned up his act and is playing well. Why shouldn't he be picked? His detractors will, of course, point to the controversy and ill discipline that have dogged his career. And, in particular, the 77 days he served at Her Majesty's Pleasure in 2008. Nobody needs to tell me of the responsibilities that come with playing for England. Every time a player is in the squad he is representing the whole country. Standards and behaviour must be impeccable. Joey will be the first to admit he has let himself down in the past. I have no doubt he regrets his previous misdemeanours every day. But doesn't everybody deserve another chance? Nobody can condone Joey's behaviour of the past. Even in recent weeks he has hardly covered himself in glory by continuing his long-running feud with Karl Henry on Twitter and TV. His Rangers boss Neil Warnock has reminded him of his responsibilities as the new skipper. But that should not block Barton's dream of representing his country once more. Despite his behaviour being improved, he is not perfect and nor should we want him to be. But the captain's armband and impending fatherhood seem to have given him a new sense of maturity. While I, and no doubt he, is aware that one rash tackle could ruin it all, he is heading in the right direction. If no player was given a second chance, then Tony Adams would never have helped England to the semi-finals of Euro 96 or Arsenal to two Doubles. The only question mark over Barton's possible return to the England team should hang over his ability on the pitch. Scott Parker is possibly rated above him at the moment. But with Jack Wilshere out, there is no reason why Barton could not fill the breach. He would be a gamble. But not as much of a gamble as he used to be. iReader
Postman Pat ain't all that... we'd be more convinced with Jude the Cat! Can't see him picking Joey B. Lacks the imagination of super-scribe Venables, himself another so called England bad boy. Interesting piece though.
Qpr 1st then think about England,as much as i love my country we have suffered in the past with losing an important player whilst representing his country,
Scott Parker has nothing on Joey Barton. However I should imagine you guys would prefer him not to play and to focus on doing well for you guys!
Maybe Joey can return the favour and make the case for a job for Tel.....but that would even be beyond Twitter
i think it is a case of El Tel using JB as an excuse to have a subtle dig at the muppets at the FA.. quite rightly..
If Lampard and Walcott are in the squad automatically then Barton and SWP should certainly be considered.
