Here's Joey!!!

So St Scott has gone and the evil stepchild has now arrived. On this basis we need to look forward, and work out how to best deal with Mr Barton.

The bad old days...

... so Joey Barton is here carrying more baggage than... well something with lots of baggage.

He first hit the headlines when City considered sacking him after an incident at a Christmas party where he poked a cigar in junior player Jamie Tandy's eye. The following summer Barton was sent home from a pre-season tournament in Thailand after becoming involved in a fight (with a child), as well as getting involved in an 'altercation' with team captain Richard Dunne.

In March Barton was also arrested in connection to an incident with a taxi driver, prior to the recent 'Dabo incident' (which I'll avoid discussing in detail considering the legal implications)!

And this is apart from the ass flashing incident on the pitch (which I think is more Gazza than Gaza, so nothing to really worry about).

The major worry on the signing must be that Barton is still on bail for a very serious assault, and this could seriously impact on his availability for the coming months - I'm assuming his contract will cover this eventuality???

The good stuff...

Having started in the Everton youth team, Joey Barton signed pro terms with Man City, making his debut aged 19. In the following 6 years Barton wracked up 130 appearances and 15 goals, with international recognition finally coming earlier this season.

Aged 24 Barton has been hailed as one of the most passionate and combatative midfielders in the country over the past couple of seasons. The shining light in a poor team, Barton has been looking to move his career forward for the past 12 months, but has been held back by personal problems. He needs to start scoring more goals to start challenging Lampard, Gerard, Carrick and Hargreaves at international level, but that said has his best years ahead of him.

A move to Newcastle, with the guidance of Big Sam (and away from his family on Merseyside) should see the player flourish. It is a huge risk, but at £5.5m you will not find another player with his quality on the pitch.

There are many opponenets to his signing, but Barton IS a quality footballer. He IS also a very dubious character who needs sorting. We have the history of what has been described as 'Bobby's Borstal' and we need to be re-assured by Sam that Barton isn't going to come in and embarrass the club in the same way that Kieron Dyer has done for the past 8 years!

Please Sam, tell us your plans.