Pearce calls for leniency
04 Oct 2006 - 11:02:36
Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce does not think Joey Barton should be punished for his antics after Saturday's 1-1 draw at Everton.
The controversial midfielder dropped his shorts after the final whistle in response to taunts from the home fans.
Merseyside Police received a number of complaints over Barton's actions, which came after Micah Richards had netted a last-gasp equaliser for the Citizens.
Pearce thinks the whole episode has been blown up out of all proportion, telling City's official website: "If things are serious and need to be addressed, fine. After a game where I'm very pleased to have earned a point, I get a knock on my door and I have to speak to a policeman about an incident that I know nothing about.
"When I get home I see exactly on television what happened, and I see one of my players give his shirt to a disabled fan. As he's walking off the pitch he's being sledged about things I'd prefer not to go into - but we know what we're talking about.
"He kept a smile on his face throughout the whole incident, and he's done something that at worst is a little bit childish. At best it's a bit of comedy that everyone should laugh off, but I still have to deal with it several days later.
"Let's get things into a little bit of perspective. Maybe some of the things that were said to that player are a more serious matter but we're not going to rake that up.
"He'll learn from it. I was pleased to see him hand his shirt over and I was very pleased to see Nick Weaver go over and say to him, 'pull your strides up!'"