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LoginJoey Barton, has fled the country after Tuesday's assault
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The Professional Footballers' Association have been unable to contact Joey Barton, who has fled the country after Tuesday's training-ground assault on his Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo and is understood to be holed up at a golfing resort on the Algarve.
"We have been trying to help but Joey is out of the country," said Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the PFA, which has directed Barton in the past to anger-management sessions at the Sporting Chance clinic in Hampshire. He is to be offered more counselling when he returns to England and the PFA also intends to contact Dabo to see if he requires professional help after an attack that briefly left him unconscious, with two black eyes and a damaged retina.
Dabo has informed his lawyers he wants to take legal proceedings, having allegedly been struck six or seven times. He will not play again this season and City have decided to sell Barton this summer.
"I don't think there is a player at any club anywhere in the world who is more important than the club," Stuart Pearce, City's manager, said yesterday. "The matter is being dealt with internally and discussions are taking place. We will talk about it more when a decision has been reached."
The fracas has thrown City's preparations for tomorrow's derby into disarray but Pearce, who refused to talk about Barton in detail, tried to be optimistic. "The character of the rest of the players has been great. The way they have handled the situation is a credit to themselves and if anything it will help create a siege mentality that could help us. I think the players will react in a very responsible manner."
A hearing into Barton's conduct is scheduled for the week after their final game, at Spurs on May 13, but Dabo's account is horrific and, given the vast majority of the squad as well as Pearce saw what happened, it is difficult to see how Barton can stay at City. "I am disfigured," Dabo told L'Equipe. "My left eye has been affected. I believe he put his fingers in my eyes. I don't remember much because his first punch made me lose consciousness. I went to turn around, he hit me and knocked me out. He acted like a coward."
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Originally posted by iceFatboy:to be fair,on his day, he was a good player. I believe he was included in the English Team...
Imagine he and Gattuso having a go.. On that note, maybe SAF should get him...
hmmmmmm....there were rumours at the beginning of the season that united were gonna get him as a replacement for keane..but i guess he changed his mind after seeing hargreave's performance in the world cup.
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Originally posted by used:does this means that he wont be playing this weekend?? but for a talented player like him, not many club will be in favour looking at his off the ball incidents
Yup, he won't be playing tomorrow... But then again, he is a talented player, some lesser clubs will still be willing to close an eye to his ways...
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Ousmane Dabo is threatening legal action against Joey Barton following what he claims was a "savage, unprovoked and, worst of all, cowardly assault" by his Manchester City team-mate.
"It is Barton's cowardice that upsets me most," Dabo, 31, said from his Manchester home. "The fact that I look like the Elephant Man and will not be able to play again this season is bad enough, but what I find most shocking is that he [Barton] struck me first from behind and then repeatedly when I was down on the ground. He is a coward and his actions are despicable. This is why I'm in serious discussions with my lawyers to see what actions I can take. This should not be allowed to happen."
The incident, which took place at the club's Carrington training ground on Tuesday, was so serious that Dabo had to be taken to hospital for treatment. The midfielder, who joined City last summer from Lazio, had several cuts and bruises as well as a suspected detached retina. At one stage doctors were said to have feared for his left eye though he should now make a full recovery. "I have a severe scratch on my eye. Apparently I'm very lucky not to have lost my sight," explained the seriously-shaken Frenchman
Some reports suggested that Dabo had been the original aggressor and that Barton acted in self-defence. "Nonsense," Dabo interrupted. "We were having a really good physical training session where everyone was pumped up because this week we are preparing for the Manchester derby on Saturday. Tackles were flying in but Barton decided to go that little bit further than everyone else. I think he was annoyed that Dunney [Richard Dunne, the club captain] had won the supporters' player of the season award the night before.
"Anyway, at one stage he tackled me from behind, which I didn't take kindly to, so I then tackled him back, which got him very angry. We then had a bit of a push and a shove, as you see at training grounds almost every day, and I thought that was the end of that.
"But then, as I was turning away to rejoin the training game, Barton thumped me from behind on the right temple. That knocked me down and, while I was falling, he hit me again several times in the face. Some tough guy he is if he has to attack people when they're not facing him."
When Dabo regained consciousness he had to be restrained by several team-mates as he was keen to "go find" Barton, who had by then been banished to the dressing room. "I was quite literally spitting blood," Dabo recalled. "I wanted to have an explanation from him, but face-to-face this time."
The meeting, sensibly, did not take place and it now seems as though the two men will not cross paths again, as Barton has been suspended until the end of the season and will almost certainly be sold during the summer.
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Professional footballers must be a role-model for the young .
Barton is doing something against it .
And this is not the first time we saw Barton in the wrong headlines .
I think Barton must be severely punished .
When can he stop doing the wrong things ?
Everytime he was forgiven ....
Sad to see such a good player can end up this way .
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Police get Barton 'attack' report
Manchester City footballer Ousmane Dabo has reported team-mate Joey Barton to police over an alleged attack. The 30-year-old went to hospital for treatment for injuries to his eye, nose and lip after an incident at the club's training ground on Tuesday.
It is understood that Dabo has asked police to press charges. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have confirmed that the incident has been reported to them. Barton has been suspended by the club.
A spokeswoman said: "Greater Manchester Police has received a report from a 30-year-old man that he was assaulted. "Inquiries are ongoing."
Barton has been suspended for the rest of the season by Manchester City and reports suggest he will be sold in the summer. It means the midfielder, who was recently called up to the England squad, missed Saturday's derby against Manchester United.
Barton is no stranger to controversy and has been involved in a number of headline-grabbing incidents during his City career. In December 2004 he was fined six weeks' wages after he stubbed a cigar into the eye of young team-mate at the club's Christmas party.
At a tournament in Bangkok in July 2005 Barton was involved in an altercation with his team-mate Richard Dunne and a 15-year-old Everton fan. He was later fined eight weeks' wages. In March 2007, Barton was arrested on suspicion of assault and criminal damage in an incident involving a taxi driver in Liverpool.
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