Barton brands Arsenal’s Gervinho a cheat
Newcastle rebel Joey Barton has branded Arsenal new-boy Gervinho a “cheat” for diving to win a penalty at St James’ Park.
The fiery Newcastle midfielder was involved in two major incidents and lucky not to be sent off with £10.5 million Gervinho.
Barton grabbed Gervinho near the throat and dragged him off the floor, sparking a 22-man melee.
Gervinho slapped Barton to earn a red card from referee Peter Walton.
Pundits immediately piled in to condemn Barton for his part in the red-card storm which nearly triggered a 22-man melee with Arsenal star Jack Wilshere implying Gervinho was virtually “assaulted”.
‘The Sun’ reported that Robbie Savage tweeted Barton, saying: “You shouldn’t of got involved and went down too easy.”
But the player, who was also stamped on by Alex Song in the 0-0 draw, on saturday night defended his actions on Twitter, insisting it was Gervinho’s fault he got his marching orders.
Barton tweeted: “Maybe I shouldnt of got involved but diving and trying to win a penalty, is s**t. Needs stamping out (No pun).
“What do people want me to do, stand and trade blows with Gervinho. If u raise ur hands to players faces, u should be off. Ref got it right.
“Hate CHEATS that dive to win pens. If theres contact go down but dont blatantly try to con the ref. Refs have it hard enough.
“I was merely helping him regain his obviously dodgy balance.
“Cant raise ur hands, end of. What do i have to gain by standing and trading with him. NOWT.
“If he dosent dive then incident dosent happen. I shouldnt of got involved given but... I train all summer to have him cheat us out of hard earned point. Its not on. Diving should be 3 game ban. Respect the game.
“If i stayed up or went down its not relevant, raises his hands off. I was merely highlighting he struck me.
“Standing and defending urself has only got me in trouble before. What u want me to do, hit him back? Or hope refs keeps him on.
“My job is to do the best for my team, not to keep Gervinho on the pitch. Theres more to football than kicking a ball.”
The ‘Mirror’ reported that Wilshere, who did not play, later tweeted: “That’s a form of assault. It shouldn’t happen on a pitch.”
Wilshere added: “Maybe Gervinho should not have reacted like he did, as two wrongs don’t make a right, but Barton was unprofessional.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Kevin Keegan, a pundit covering the match for ESPN.
“Barton did not come out of it with any credit. He did not need to get involved. The incident had gone.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was also incredulous. “Why does Joey Barton go over there and grab him him up?” asked the Arsenal boss.
Barton also took a swipe at Song and claimed his critics would have wanted him strung up if HE had stamped on another player.
He added on Twitter: “Song stamped should of been seen.
“Imagine if id of stamped on Song, all the numptys would be out calling for a public execution. What cos its on me its alright?”
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