Joey Barton has made an injury ravaged start to his Newcastle career and has so far played only 3 competitive games for the club. He is yet to hit his best form.
Joey started excellently for the club in pre-season before breaking his foot in the second pre-season friendly game at Carlisle on July 21st.
The broken foot took much longer to heal than was first forecast, and Joey is till trying to get back to full match fitness.
Joey Barton – determined to get full fit as soon as possible
Joey told nufc.co.uk yesterday:
“I do not think I am fit at the minute. Some people have got a couple of days off over the weekend, but I will be in and doing a bit extra.â€
“I definitely do not feel 100% – as a matter of fact, I feel far from it, and it is important for me to get back to that level and then I can start to stamp my authority on this team and on this football club.â€
“At the minute, I just need to get fit and this is a good opportunity for me now to do it. It is just the final touches now, just the match sharpness and a little bit of explosiveness. Hopefully once I get that, I will be back to somewhere near my best.â€
The midfielder also seems to be a little disappointed at Newcastle’s form of late and of course in the last 3 games we have only gained a single point at Sunderland last Saturday. Joey believes that when you look at the strengths of the Sunderland and Newcastle squads, Newcastle should have been able to collect all 3 points on Saturday.
He added:
“We have been lucky up to now, but that has to stop. You cannot really put your finger on why. Everyone is soul-searching to try to find out.â€
“With all due respect to Sunderland, when you look at the two team sheets, we should be blowing them out of the water.â€
“For some reason, that is not happening at the minute. But everyone is looking at themselves and at what they can add to it and hopefully, it starts happening sooner rather than later.â€
It’s true that Joey needs to get back to his best quickly. Our next game against Liverpool at St. James Park on 24th November (KO 12:45 pm), will need some heroes in the black and white shirts. We hope Joey can produce his best for that game, but we’ll needs lots of Newcastle’s players to start showing their very best form shortly, if we are to start picking up the points we need through the end of the year.
Comments welcome.
22 comments so far
Rich
Nov 15, 2007 at 1:14 PM
Comment #1Good chat again from Joey, shows he has great ambition!!He knos the quality of players we have and what we should be capable of achieving! everyone except Sam seems to see this we shoulfd finish in ther top 7 full stop. All this new manager, new players are just one exscuse after the other!!
wsq
Nov 15, 2007 at 1:19 PM
Comment #2clueless.. = pathetic
Bill f
Nov 15, 2007 at 1:21 PM
Comment #3If he’s not fully fit both in body and mind then Sam shouldn’t be starting him. Let him come on for 20/30 mins. as sub. As someone else said it aint rocket science.
Craig Allen
Nov 15, 2007 at 1:52 PM
Comment #4Agree – by his own admission he’s nowhere near 100% and yet Sam’s dishing out 90 mins to him as if it’s a given.
Kash
Nov 15, 2007 at 1:57 PM
Comment #5I’d rather Barton plays 90 minutes in midfield at 75% than Smith or Geremi. Geremi really isn’t inventive or explosive enough! Saying that BArton was crap on the right agaisnt Sunderland
greg
Nov 15, 2007 at 2:09 PM
Comment #6that’s because he’s not a right winger!
totally bored of it now, but the team needs to be
given
beye-taylor/cacapa-rozenhal-enrique
milner-barton-emre-n’zoggers
viduka-owen/martins
if beye is injured, put geremi there, or even Carr. Not Taylor, it’s not his best position and won’t help him be a better CB. Don’t play Smith or Geremi in midfield, play Butt or Faye if you need a cruncher. Faye’s distribution is awful, so he’s a liability at centre-back – good tackler, but then gives it away immediately. Rozenhal has been the best, and possibly one of our most creative players this season – horrible to say.
Play to our strengths, not a set-science mindset. Away – we must have 4 centre-mids, 1 striker and 4 centre backs and maybe put Shola Ameobi on, for good measure…
Soren
Nov 15, 2007 at 2:33 PM
Comment #7A tad confused, when Barton says he doesn’t feel 100% fit and yet he is still given 90mins against Sunderland. It doesn’t add up with Sam’s words that those who are not fit enough will not play. Ohh well… Still believe in both guys 😉
Go Newcastle!!
John
Nov 15, 2007 at 2:34 PM
Comment #8you cant play barton and Emre in the centre…Neither are defensive midfielders and if you play barton as one , you lose the best part off hes game which is going forward..Need barton attacking the opposition with hopefully Edmilson holding in Jan.
I agree with the rest off the team though, spot on..Id play martins over owen , Because hes top scorer. no other reason…
Paul
Nov 15, 2007 at 2:41 PM
Comment #9Kash you are an American tool. Barton IS NOT MATCH FIT YET. obviously is passing is going to be a little bit array and error prone. What an idiot!
Kash
Nov 15, 2007 at 2:47 PM
Comment #10Paul you’re a TWAT still. Butt is our best midfielder by a long shot. Barton is far better than any of the others, if he plays in the centre!
Kash
Nov 15, 2007 at 2:49 PM
Comment #11Out of all our players, I can only say that Butt, Milner, N’Zogbia and Martins deserve to be in the 1st team. Martins has more of an impact than Owen, and yes maybe Owen hasn’t had the service he craves, but Martins can provide and finish off.
Stamford Toon
Nov 15, 2007 at 2:54 PM
Comment #12My choice for defence would be;
Given
Beye – Rozenhal – Cacapa – Enrique
Faye
then I get lost on the rest of the midfield. I have no idea who to pick but up front Viduka
just behind Owen or Martins (depending on fitness and opposition)
The choices for midfield again should depend on the opposition. I would find it difficult to leave Nzogbia out at anytime. Who would be a manager. Good luck Sam I’m with you.
Marty
Nov 15, 2007 at 5:24 PM
Comment #13Come on Lads get bloody real…why would milner be in your team at all.beats me why you would have a player on for 90 mins and you only see him involved in 20 mins of footie.
I agree that Butt is playin well and Barton will when his fitness is up.geremi is no leader and shouldnt be captain,the armband should be on Joey!
Hadrain
Nov 15, 2007 at 5:47 PM
Comment #14we need players like barton , quite frankly his honesty is really refereshing , he will make no excuses for poor performance , or for the expectation of the fans .
lets be honest , bartons probably the only one in our team who will understand the fans moans and bitching , even if its directed at him .
he’s gonna come good for the toon , we’ve caught little glimpses of what he has to offer and it seems really promising , he will be well aware he was bought to emulate what lampard and gerrard do fo their clubs , and i can see him matching their perfomances in time .
Hadrain
Nov 15, 2007 at 5:49 PM
Comment #15P.S , john you do know that barton is a defensive midfielder who has added attacking play to his game dont you?
ToonKing
Nov 15, 2007 at 6:14 PM
Comment #16Barton – Emre is the best midfield pair we have. Barton although good at attacking he’s not and offensive minded player. He’s very good at tackling and reading the game. He is more than capable of covering Emre’s arse and going forward when he feels like it.
And Kash, Butt bar 1 game has been our worst player so far. Mackems second half was the only game when we kept the ball on the ground, cause Arse wasn’t there to boot it upfield. He was good once ———-> crap now. I would be delighted if we get rid of him in January. (can’t see it though.)
Rich
Nov 15, 2007 at 6:19 PM
Comment #17I agree that Barton and Emre can be played together and is our best midfiels pairing!! Im not into this we must have one totally defensive minded midfielder, Barton can do that role and get forward also leavin Emre to show some magic!
Hadrain
Nov 15, 2007 at 7:50 PM
Comment #18i wouldnt be half as harsh as that on butt toonking, i thought he’s had some decent games , but agree its barton id like tobe sitting there deep in midfield and charging forward when he can .
id also like to see zoggy in the centre aswell one day ,has been fantastic for me out wide , but every time i see him on the ball i cant get it out of my head how suited he maybe to the centre midfield , the lads got it all imo and reasonably well with both feet . id love to see a zoggy highlight reel for the season so far
Brisbane Mag
Nov 15, 2007 at 9:58 PM
Comment #19Barton’s game appears to be improving every game. We all know he can play and looking forward to a gigantic clash a week Saturday; i.e. Barton vs. Gerrard and provided Barton and Newcastle come out on top, I’ll be so happy……….
Leo
Nov 16, 2007 at 12:59 AM
Comment #20soul searching. hmmm
Bill f
Nov 16, 2007 at 9:42 AM
Comment #21Leo, yeah perhaps they need an exorcist. 😉
Ed Harrison
Nov 16, 2007 at 4:46 PM
Comment #22Soren – I think Joey means he is not 100% match fit and unfortunately the only way to get him fit is to play him. Giving him full games is Sam’s way of getting Joey 100% as soon as possible.