GM

Rio: Aw, ref, c'mon mate! THAT HAS GOT TO BE A RED CARD!!!

The Argies' "Hand Of God" excuse is wearing a bit thin.

He's a mason.

Think that's what bothers me most about him, really. Having earned the bad boy reputation over the years, to the point of finding himself in prison, he's done well to rehabilitate himself and his reputation, he's been proving himself as an asset to the team, but because of who he is and what has gone before, he's always going to have to make that much more of an effort to control his temper, because as you say, he's going to be targeted by other players on the pitch, as well as cynical journos looking for a cheap and easy headline. He should know that by know, and when I saw him punching MGP my heart sank, and like so many other folk I just thought "Ah man, Joey...why?!" because all of us just knew that there would be a media storm about it and there'd be no chance of it being overlooked or treated lightly. I'm not saying it's fair on the lad that his punch gets punished and others get away with it, I'm saying I wish he appreciated that he is (as a result of his former actions in life and on the pitch) always going to be the focus of that little bit extra added attention, and so he needs to exercise just that little bit extra control.

Good to see he's had his PR team working overtime to conjure up some sort of defence for his actions.

Shoulder barge. Oh, sorry... I thought you said "show De Barge". It must be that weird accent of yours.

I really cannot believe how lax some people are being. Or rather I can, but I find it deeply depressing as a comment of the state of the game's morals. I've seen much worse in the game go without the outcry this seems to be getting. Huddlestone last week for starters. I'm not condoning his actions but the only ill-feeling I have is that he should know better that any tiny discrepancy is going to be handled different because he is who he is. I definitely don't class it as some sort of outrageous assault. Get a grip ffs. Mirror, mirror on the wall...

I really cannot believe how lax some people are being. Or rather I can, but I find it deeply depressing as a comment of the state of the game's morals. So we're looking for somewhere in between crucifixion and no punishment at all. That'll be a 3 game ban then Hopefully they'll dock us 25 points too.

I really cannot believe how lax some people are being. Or rather I can, but I find it deeply depressing as a comment of the state of the game's morals.

I hope Barton is crucified for that. And I men actual crucifixion.

Such an appropriate tune for this thread right now:

Calm down and eat some haggis man, 'moral laxity', fucking hell. It's not like he's gone kicking orphans. "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing"

The moral laxity being shown on here towards the behaviour of that violent little thug is revolting.

Which of the two would you punch? I'd happily head-butt Barton. I'd use your head though.

Barton is a sociopath, a bully and a coward. I mean, he's also occasionally quite an accomplished midfielder, but right now I couldn't give a fuck. What he did was reckless, and jeopardises his place in the team (at the hands of the FA who've never been known to give into media pressure, have they?!?!). Also, you notice he picked on soft-lad Pedersen and not Samba - that's what makes him such a fucking coward.

Disappointing.

Oh shit. Bet Messi's relieved to hear that though.

We were due a hiccup anyway. Ah well.

Newcastle wasn't ready for me or my legendary innovation. They didn't know any better. Big Sam was a Betamax mind in a VHS town. TheBigSam on Twitter.

Aye. All of the part-timers that went to the Mackems game have went back to their armchairs. GM Fucker. I'm dreading this match. I sit next to a die-hard Rovers fan at work and he's already been gipping me all week. We better not suddenly discover some sort of losing streak on account of Fat Sam returning to SJP.

The upside to that is they don't get hyped up too much and they remain NUFC players after the next transfer window shuts.

f***ing hell, I dunno how you can take the piss out of Andy Cole's time here even in the slightest like. I know. Played alright, scored 41 goals that one season - I quite enjoyed that. I didn't think he was very good at headers.

Shhh. They're all out to get you, remember? i maintain my stance I detest the big club bias as much as anyone but I'd struggle to take offence to a highlights show - designed to cater to the general public who want to see action. Anyone who actually cares about this game will have watched it or at least watched more than 5 minutes of highlights, and any sane person will conclude you played very well. Mmhmm? Ah Niel, mate, I'm laughing at that because I can imagine the reception that that very reasonable line of argument you were putting forward there will have got with certain folk around here with full-on siege mentality syndrome.

Fucking hell, I dunno how you can take the piss out of Andy Cole's time here like. Some people.

Shhh. They're all out to get you, remember? i maintain my stance I detest the big club bias as much as anyone but I'd struggle to take offence to a highlights show - designed to cater to the general public who want to see action. Anyone who actually cares about this game will have watched it or at least watched more than 5 minutes of highlights, and any sane person will conclude you played very well.