ONLY time will tell if Joey Barton has a future at Rangers following the training ground bust-up on Monday that resulted in him being told to stay away from the club for a week.
Barton, who has been no stranger to controversy throughout his career, took to the social networking website Twitter last night to express his remorse at what happened at Auchenhowie.
“Some of the words used did overstep the mark,” the contrite midfielder wrote. “I accept some of the things I said were inappropriate and for that I apologise unreservedly.”
But he also went on talkSPORT today and told Jim White he thought the ban was “strange” – something that will do little to cool relations with Mark Warburton.
Will his words be enough to heal the rifts which obviously exist within a divided dressing room and ensure he is welcomed back into the fold? There are no guarantees.
Will Barton’s attempt to calm the situation be accepted by his manager Warburton? That remains to be seen.
There can, despite his far-from-impressive performances for the Ibrox club since moving to Scotland in the summer, be no doubting that Barton is, on his day, a talented footballer.
You don’t turn out for Newcastle United, Manchester City, Queens Park Rangers, Marseille and England without being able to play a bit.
The suspicion remains that the make-up of the Rangers team, their inability to gel into a cohesive unit, has been as much to blame for their poor form. However, it is the other side to the player – the outspoken, opinionated, arrogant, attention-seeking side – which is the problem here. The 34-year-old’s presence is clearly creating ill-feeling within the Rangers camp and Warburton can’t allow that to fester.
The wisdom of the Englishman’s support of his countryman after a series of controversial statements has been questioned.
Barton has dismissed Scott Brown, the Celtic captain and midfielder, as not being in his league and claimed Brendan Rodgers, the Parkhead manager, was suffering from a mid-life crisis.
Warburton has insisted that his comments were made with his tongue lodged firmly in his cheek and would be accepted with the good humour they were intended by the targets. The icy response which Rodgers gave when informed of Barton’s remarks to talkSPORT following his side’s Champions League qualifying win over Hapoel Be’er Sheva suggested that was not the case.
It was argued in some quarters that the player was too big for Warburton to handle, was a loose cannon, had become a liability, was a law unto himself. It is not considered the done thing for Celtic or Rangers players to make derogatory comments about the other side of the Old Firm divide.
But the former Brentford manager certainly acted firmly and decisively in ordering Barton to stay away from the Rangers Training Centre at Auchenhowie this week.
His decision drove home to the player that no man is bigger than the football club.
He can’t allow a player, no matter how senior a professional or how famous a figure, to openly question his authority. If he does, he immediately loses the respect of the dressing room.
Sir Alex Ferguson famously fell out with and moved on a host of household names at Manchester United – Paul McGrath, David Beckham, Paul Ince, Jaap Stam, Ruud van Nistelrooy all found that out to their cost. Barton must accept he has been out of line and change his attitude if he is to have a future at Rangers.
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