How hard will FA punish Barton?

Published on November 4, 2008 - by admin - No Comments

Before taking action against Newcastle’s Joe Barton, FA awaits referee Bennet’s report from the match.

During the win over Aston Villa, Barton seemed to hit Gabriel Agbonlahor’s face but didn’t get any punishment.

“It will be a question of whether the referee saw it and dealt with it at the time,” said an FA spokesman.

“If he didn’t, the procedure would be to get the footage of the incident and ask the referee for his views.”

It was a two part incident. The first part came after that the midfielder (who’s now playing again after the ban and prison sentence) had been penalised for a foul but referee Bennet didn’t act to the push on Agbonlahor.

Barton was also booked for a late second half challenge on Aston Villa defender Luke Young.

But Newcastle have claimed that poor Barton is being very unfairly treated.

Coach Chris Hughton said: “Any incident regarding Joey is going to be blown up twice as much as it’s going to be with any other player.

“I wasn’t aware of any incident with Joey at all.”

In July, The jailbird Barton was released after serving two months of a six-month sentence for assault and affray in Liverpool.

The “Mr Nice Guy” Newcastle player was banned for six games by the FA after he assaulted his former team-mate Ousmane Dabo at the training ground!

At a personal hearing Barton was fined £25,000 and will be suspended for another 6 games when he steps out of line again in the future.

He is backed by Hughton (who had to take the post-match press conference because manager Joe Kinnear had lost his voice).

“There wasn’t anything said in the changing room afterwards, certainly not to my knowledge,” added Hughton.

“All we can ask of Joey is to put in the performances he has done for us since he has been back. He is a very short way into his period back with us. All of those things, he is aware of.”

Villa boss Martin O’Neill also played down the incident, although Agbonlahor had mentioned it.

He said: “That’s for other people to make the decision. The referee and linesman, whatever they saw - or didn’t see, as the case may be, that’s up to them.”

  • Share/Save/Bookmark

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted in » Newcastle

Aston Villa 0-1 Sunderland

Published on March 22, 2008 - by admin - No Comments

A late Michael Chopra strike gave Sunderland’s survival ambitions a lift and hit Aston Villa’s European hopes.Chopra raced on to Kieran Richardson’s pass with seven minutes left to beat Scott Carson and seal Sunderland’s first away win in the league this term.

Villa were disappointing, with Marlon Harewood wasting their best chance when he was clean through after the break.

Sunderland were worthy winners, with Roy O’Donovan off target before substitute Chopra struck.

As Sunderland fans celebrated wildly at the final whistle, Villa’s supporters rounded on Martin O’Neill’s side as their recent indifferent form continued.

Sunderland suffered a blow before kick-off when influential striker Kenwyne Jones was ruled out through illness, while Villa’s only change was the recall of Craig Gardner for suspended Olof Mellberg.

John Carew almost gave Villa the perfect start after four minutes when he produced a surprise overhead kick which flew narrowly wide with Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon motionless.

But Sunderland more than held their own in the first 45 minutes, with Villa’s cause not being helped by a shaky performance from England keeper Carson.

He was fortunate to escape in the 23rd minute when he dropped a long ball and appeared to handle outside the area as he attempted to retrieve the situation, but referee Howard Webb ignored Sunderland’s appeals.

O’Donovan should have put Sunderland ahead three minutes later when he directed a poor header well over the bar when unmarked only eight yards out.

Carew was at the centre of most of Villa’s attacking threat, and he almost broke the deadlock four minutes before half-time when he pounced on a poor clearance from Gordon, but the Sunderland keeper recovered to save his shot on the turn.

Sunderland were furious with referee Webb again on the stroke of half-time when Andy Reid’s shot struck Nigel Reo-Coker on the arm, but once more their claims were waved away.

Villa boss O’Neill made a bold substitution after 56 minutes, sending on striker Harewood for holding midfield man Reo-Coker - a move that almost yielded instant dividends.

Harewood muscled Sunderland defender Nyron Nosworthy out of the way, but steered his first touch of the game inches wide with only Gordon to beat.

He was a lively presence after his introduction, unsettling the Sunderland defence again only to find the side-netting.

Sunderland still looked dangerous on occasion, and Grant Leadbitter wasted a good opportunity to put them ahead with 13 minutes left, dragging his shot across the face of goal when well-placed.

But Sunderland got the goal their determination and resilience deserved after 83 minutes, when Richardson’s speculative long ball dropped behind Zat Knight, leaving Chopra to race clear and coolly loft a finish over Carson.

Villa almost responded instantly when Gabriel Agbonlahor broke into the area, but Gordon saved with his legs to clinch a priceless victory.

  • Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill:
    “We failed to take any chances that came our way but you can’t just point the finger at that.”Our overall play was disappointing and it is my responsibility. Since we drew with Arsenal a fortnight ago we have been really disappointing.

    “You would not expect us to collect only one point from our last two home games. I have to rectify it.”

  • Sunderland boss Roy Keane on their first away victory of the season:
    “We have been unlucky in some away games - it is not as though we have been battered every week.”We have played quite well without getting over the finishing line but here we achieved it.

    “We played some decent stuff. Maybe we rode our luck a little bit but we got one clear-cut chance in the second half and managed to take it.”

    Aston Villa: Carson, Gardner, Knight, Laursen, Bouma, Maloney (Osbourne 74), Reo-Coker (Harewood 57), Barry, Young, Agbonlahor, Carew.
    Subs Not Used: Taylor, Salifou, Petrov.

    Sunderland: Gordon, Bardsley, Evans, Nosworthy, Collins, Edwards (Leadbitter 67), Whitehead, Richardson, Reid, O’Donovan (Chopra 59), Murphy (Yorke 87).
    Subs Not Used: Fulop, Prica.

    Booked: Bardsley, O’Donovan.

    Goals: Chopra 83.

    Att: 42,640

    Ref: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).

    • Share/Save/Bookmark

    Tags: ,

    Posted in » Aston Villa


    England Football Blog is proudly powered by WordPress