Freedom of speech or....? The Joey Barton Debate

Joey Barton as a person may have the freedom of speech in any platforms he likes. But as a professional footballer, his conduct is regularized by a set of rules which were determined by the English FA and he has to abide by the rules to be given the license to play in the English League which is under the English FA. So, he knows what is the consequences as a result of what he said or twittered. Even if he feels strongly that he was hard done by, to openly express his grievances is not the right way to send the message across to no one in particular. It only forces the FA to take more severe actions to deal with him. I am sorry for him. I am sorry for Queens Park Rangers. A suspended player can not contribute. A 4 matches ban is bad enough. 9 matches is almost 1/4 of the season gone and it will be very hard for him and his team. I hope QPR won't need to fight again for survival next season. They are too good a team to go down with 10 men.

i don't know. i didn't read or even know of the rant.

I think for the umpteenth time in his career, Joey Barton has lost it. It was really disgraceful to see him during the match against Man City. Later he mentioned that one of his team mates had told him to take out a Man City player as he went out so he charged at Kun and Kompany. It was really disgraceful. I just hope he does not come back on the pitch again. Also, I am not a big fan of these tweets from Barton. His tweets have been more for seeking attention than anything else. Cheers! Ram

The guy's nothing but a worthless thug. Never mind being sent off, I think one of the coppers at the football ground should have arrested him. Was it three different people he managed to assault in practically the same number of minutes? And he's since admitted that he was trying to "take one with him". Even if it didn't go to trial, a night in a police cell might get him thinking about the way he lives his life - I can't see anything else doing the trick. And if I was managing QPR, I wouldn't want him back. There are plenty of decent football players out there who aren't psychos.

Barton is a nutcase, period! What he did against Man City, it is totally unacceptable. The swing against Tevez, we have seen similar things and we can put it down to the passion and heat of the moment. But that kick out on Augero, the attempted headbutt Kompany, he deserved to be punished further for it. And when he is about to square up with Balotelli, I told myself, this is going to be interesting. A boxing match up is on its way.

There's no justifying his behaviour - full stop. His behaviour both offline and online is not sportsman-like in the slightest and he should be ashamed of his behaviour. I personally think with his track record that he should not be allowed to play football. He's a violent thug - pure and simple.