martes, 3 de enero de 2012

Premier League - Was Barton guilty of headbutt? - Yahoo! Eurosport UK

Tue, 03 Jan 04:08:00 2012

QPR captain Joey Barton was back in the headlines after being given a controversial red card for a headbutt during the Premier League game against Norwich.

Joey Barton's headbutt

The clip will play automatically in the box to the right hand side of your screen (UK users only)

The midfielder had scored to give his side the lead, but 34 minutes Barton was sent off after an off-the-ball clash with Bradley Johnson.

Johnson caught Barton first as the pair jogged past the centre circle with QPR on the attack.

A wound-up Barton retaliated by pushing into Johnson shoulder first, before the pair's heads met.

Johnson pulled away holding his head as if to signal he'd been butted, but despite receiving his marching orders, Barton took to Twitter to deny any wrongdoing.

"Well feel for the officials," Barton said. "They've been conned. Admitted to me at half time they never saw it. I was pulled back first, then kicked second!

"The linesman definitely never saw it; all he's seen was Johnson's reaction. My head doesn't move forward at all. Ridiculous decision, seen 25 replays."

Barton's manager Neil Warnock echoed the sentiment, saying: "(Bradley Johnson) has not been headbutted at all, not in a million years. The movement of him going backwards has conned the referee.

"To go back like he did was a disgrace. It's getting a fellow pro sent off. I think he should be done (punished). Joey could have avoided the situation, but it doesn't warrant the reaction from Johnson. I think we have been mugged. The ref has not even seen it ... I have not got any confidence in the appeals procedure."

But are they right? Was Barton innocent of the headbutt? Was the violent conduct in his push moments before enough to merit a red card regardless?

As Barton suggests on Twitter, "Make your own minds up when you see it. The game's gone!"

Eurosport

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