Players' union chief Gordon Taylor has offered no defence of Joey Barton in the wake of the QPR midfielder being handed a 12-match ban.
The 29-year-old was handed the suspension following his red card and subsequent violent reaction in the club's 3-2 defeat to Manchester City on the final day of the Barclays Premier League season.
Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, said Barton's conduct was "depressing" and had undone the player's attempt to improve his standing in the game, after a series of misdemeanours on and off the pitch. He told Sky Sports News: "You can't defend those actions, this was a game going out all over the world."
Taylor has offered support to Barton but admitted he is worried about the former Newcastle and Manchester City man.
"The game is bigger than all of us and can't revolve around a single person and I am not surprised at the sanction.
"He is one of our members and he chooses what advice to take but it is a worry."
Barton took to Twitter in the aftermath of the match and claimed he was attempting to rile some of City's players in the hope of getting one or more of them dismissed, and Taylor was unhappy to read the comments.
"He did himself no favours talking about taking one or two Manchester City players off with him. It was quite depressing really," he said.
"He is at a stage in life where I felt things were going better albeit there were controversies with his social media.
"He has spoken at conferences about that (the social media) and when he is on track he is sound, articulate and good-humoured but there is a red mist what comes down and it knocks you back to square one."
Source: PA
