Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Joey Barton
The argument about Joey Barton's last chance at Newcastle seems to be hinging on whether Kevin Keegan should "send a message" by keeping him on or sending him packing (albeit on disastrous financial terms). But surely this is, above all, a workplace safety issue. Barton has a history of unprovoked attacks on members of the public and team mates. He was convicted of causing actual bodily harm to Ousmane Dabo during a fracas at the training ground. If this were to have taken place in Sainsbury's or the Royal Bank of Scotland there is no earthly chance that any employer would give him a further chance or ask other employees to work alongside somebody who might assault them at any time. Multi-millionaire footballers have just as much right to be able to carry on their work without fear of violence as a bus driver does. Where is the Professional Footballers Association in all this?
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well done you've saved me a job. This was my point I was going to bring up "police checks" anyone working with the young or vulnerable need to declare past convictions for violent crime and are usually not allowed to work with this group. Barton will be in contact with trainees , kids on footy camps etc. Also when does his second chance end when he's "late" in a tackle, or when he kicks over a bin or as is usual in football something worse?
ReplyDeleteFootball's probably the only industry in which 16 year olds are allowed to work alongside uneducated, violent convicted thugs.
ReplyDeleteHe should've been sacked upon conviction.
It seems to be another case of the world of sport getting so wrapped up in its own hyperbole that it loses the ability to make rational moral judgements.
ReplyDeleteSee also the people saying that banning Dwain Chambers from athletics for life would be "just like the death penalty".
(No, it would be just like sacking anyone else who broke their own occupation's cardinal rule. Find something else to do, and this time do it honestly.)
Yes indeed, where is the PFA? The main justification for keeping him at Newcastle seems to be that if Newcastle sacked him he would be available on a free transfer and would be snapped up on increased wages by any one of several other, already interested clubs. This would be perceived as rewarding his errant ways.
ReplyDeleteIsn't the PFA is a closed shop? No card, no job in the professional game.....which means he'd probably end up playing in Turkey or somewhere like that, on the fringes of the EU.