What a well crafted piece this is; for me, it sums things up perfectly.... http://thepremierleagueowl.com/we-all-played-our-part-in-creating-joey-barton/ Most people are now wise to Joey Barton and they realise that a lot of what he does is for the sake of attention. Probably better than any other contemporary English footballer, the QPR midfielder exemplifies what can happen when fame, money and notoriety collide and what effects they can have on a personality. They are enabling forces and, in Bartonâs case, they have given him a false sense of validation outside the realms of his profession. Generally, heâs harmless. He tweets his cod-philosophy and quotes his Smiths lyrics and he plays up to the perception of being cut from a slightly different cloth to his peers. In actual fact â and in a rather throwaway manner â he can be relatively refreshing and he offers a welcome break from the usual âNandos/Video Gamesâ social media output of his fellow professionals. Thereâs a tipping-point with someone like that, though, because novelty act though he may be, his vast digital reach is potentially dangerous. This week, Barton published some rather rash opinions about the conflict in the Middle East and was quickly slapped down by his former Israeli teammate, Yossi Benayoun. It was, as is usually the case when footballers plunge into the deep waters of âseriousâ issues, cringeworthy. This has been coming though and there is a lesson to learn from it. Barton, like everybody else, is entitled to his opinions and free to express them but, unlike everybody else, he needs to be more aware of the repercussions. The problem is that he has been given a pass into the non-football world and he has essentially been authenticated by appearing on Newsnight and by the strange, quasi-intellectual glow that he seems to exist within. Itâs as if he believes that, by being partially accepted in a world without shin-pads, training cones and platitudes, he now has carte blanche to express an opinion on anything and everything that he sees. I would never advocate trying to âkeep someone within their boxâ, but some of Bartonâs forthrightness has to be tempered with the knowledge that he is some kind of role model. As ridiculous as it sounds, Joey Barton â by way of his enormous twitter following â has really become an opinion-former and someone who holds great influence. When heâs talking about football or music or even Jean Paul Sartre, thatâs fine, but when he starts wading into perilously fractious international issues itâs a reminder that we have to be careful over how far we promote athletes and how much of a stage we afford them. Footballers shouldnât be âseen and not heardâ â nobody should â but when society enables someone beyond their credibility big problems can potentially follow. Athletes, actors, reality television stars, whomeverâ¦these people mustnât be allowed to lose sight of their responsibility to tread carefully.
