Filed under: Newcastle, Premier League, Football
The only armband most people thought they'd ever see Joey Barton wearing would be one to help keep his head above water in the choppy seas of controversy he's forced himself to navigate for most of his largely unfulfilled career.So it's a sign of the new, improved - dare we say finally grown up? - Barton that the midfielder has been confirmed as Newcastle United's skipper for the next two games.
That an individual who for so long has struggled to conduct his own affairs in an acceptable manner is now being chosen to lead 10 others can be no greater testament to the strides the 28-year-old has taken towards finally sorting his act out.
The only similar role he would have qualified for in years past might in all probability have been that of Captain Caveman, when he wasn't so much a leader of men, more in need of a lead, or a leash.
Up until the last eight months or so when he's finally started to blossom on the pitch for Newcastle in this his fourth season in the north east, the words Barton and mature could often be found in the same sentence, alright.
There was usually an 'im' in between them, however, so it is a mark of his progress that Alan Pardew should choose him to deputise during the absence of captain Kevin Nolan through suspension.
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