Source: Eurosport
Moncur admits disappointment in Barton
Former Newcastle skipper Bob Moncur has admitted his disappointment at controversial midfielder Joey Barton's inability to keep himself out of trouble.[LNB] The 26-year-old will observe the remainder of the club's tormented season from afar after being told to stay away from the training ground after being sent off for a rash challenge during Sunday's damaging 3-0 Barclays Premier League defeat at Liverpool.[LNB] Moncur, the last Newcastle captain to lift a trophy, said: "I'm just disappointed because last season, he started to look a decent player. The sad thing is, he will be hard to change."[LNB] He added: "Big Sam (Allardyce) signed him and at the time, he thought he could do something with Joey Barton.[LNB] "But often when a manager thinks he can do that, it proves not to be the case."[LNB] Barton was sent off for a two-footed lunge on Xabi Alonso which saw him banned for the last three games of the campaign, and is then understood to have become embroiled in a furious row with manager Alan Shearer in the dressing room afterwards.[LNB] The club on Tuesday suspended him until further notice to write a new chapter in the troubled player's chequered career. His appearance at Anfield was his first since he fractured a metatarsal in January and could be his last - with the club's hierarchy now determined to get him off the books whether Shearer remains in charge or not.[LNB] Former Magpies defender John Anderson has warned the managerial situation and the continuing uncertainty at St James' Park could make that easier said than done.[LNB] He said: "You have got to be very careful with that. It all depends on who is in charge here next season.[LNB] "Yes, if Alan is here next season, that's his last game. But you never know, another manager might quite fancy him as a player. To be fair, he's a very, very lucky boy anyway. He has let himself down, he's let everybody down."
