Was thinking the same thing......it's OK to grab your opponent by the Crown Jewels, but not this. It's all about who did it .... and Barton's behaviour really is under the microscope, being held to much higher standards than other players because of his past.
You only have to go back to the Arsenal game, when Barton had just come on as sub and made a hard but fair challenge on Samir Nasri winning the ball, only for Nasri to retaliate with a trip in open play. What did the TV heads focus on.....the Barton challenge that they thought was too aggressive even though replay showed he won the ball cleanly. Did the retaliatory trip by Nasri get any real focus? Nope, just Bartons challenge.
And Clichy saying he was proud of Nasri for bringing him down. What a twat.