After his much-publicised transfer request, Barton was abused by his own supporters before the Blues' 3-0 win over Newcastle.
But a man-of-the-match display from the former England Under-21 international got most of the detractors back on his side before he was replaced 13 minutes from time.
And now Pearce has challenged Barton to forget about side issues and concentrate on producing performances to match the lofty reputation the Huyton-born star has of himself.
"I do not agree with what Joey has done," said Pearce.
"I believe he has done totally the wrong thing and I have told him so.
"Joey has quite strong opinions, as we have seen over the last 48 hours, but he needs to put this to one side, keep his mouth shut and play football.
"In this game, I find if you put your head above the parapet, you tend to get it knocked off.
"Joey has delivered tonight but he has to keep doing it for weeks, months and years."
Barton set up City's first goal for Albert Riera and Andy Cole scored his 10th goal of the campaign before setting Darius Vassell racing clear to convert City's third.
Will Joey win back the fans support if he continues to perform? have your say Tweet
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Well Said Pearce!
As SP said, if he plays well, keeps his mouth shut and stays out of trouble he has a future at Man City.
oh and I should add that he has one less person to worry about ahead of him in the pecking order for the england midfield. I think we can scratch Rio from that list.
It is not his performance on the field that will win me back. As far as I am concerned Barton has shown a complete disrespect to the Club, its supporters and the greater players than Barton will ever be who have worked their socks off and never claimed they were too good for the Club to let them go. If he signs a new contract tomorrow and apologises to the Club and fans then I might forgive him for the third of his outrageous misdemeanoours.
As I said, Joey's never anything but 100% committed. And I realized that the contract squabble is petty. To watch the support he got from the players tonight, and the way he was leading them, with both words and deeds, it was obvious why people have been talking about him as a future captain. Some folks on here sound so betrayed, like he's asking for their money or something. Sure he wants a lot of money but all wages in pro football are ridiculous. It's a market like anything else, and if you ask yourself honestly whether he deserves to be one of the top wage earners, then you have to say yes. Players like Reyna, Sinclair, Cole, Vassell may have more caps and such but Joey is undeniably our grit and guts. He plays his heart out and he deserves to get paid, as a sign of respect. Rather than slag off the player there should be an uproar that our Board isn't willing to commit to our homegrown talent. Sure we shouldn't buy a ton of players at inflated prices, but there's nothing wrong with paying the ones you count on well. They're risking life and limb for the shirt and people are worried about the club paying out a few more quid. It looks like Stu will see it resolved, continue to grow Joey as a player and a man, and in a few years we'll be saying "I can't believe we almost lost that guy over contract stubborness."
Yes he will because at the end of the day he is our BEST player - therefore he should be paid accordingly.
He has definitely made a mistake in how he has gone about things but to a certain extent I can see where he is coming from.
As he has said himself he is not seeking to be the best paid player at the club, he is just seeking parity with the other top earners.
I reckon a few grand more a week, to bring him in line with James, Cole, Reyna, etc. and he will sign up long-term and that can only be to the benefit of the club as Lampard and Gerrard apart, he is the best in the league at what he does!
I have total faith in Pearce's judgement and I am sure he will make the correct decision for the benefit of MCFC!
In my humble opinion that means offering Barton slightly more than we have so far and then getting on with the football and steadily starting to climb the league as our new signings bed in, our kids start to get brought into the fold more and more (nice to see Richards come on)and Barton and Pearce, etc. combined with our support drive us on to new heights!!!!!!!!!
The futures bright the futures BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, if he keeps his trap shut and just continues to play hard.
I have mixed feelings about what's happened. I feel he owes the club and the fans and made a big mistake but I can understand why he would want to make the same as some of the other players especially when he's been performing like that week in week out.
I was glad to see him not get booed when he was subbed and hopefully he'll sack his agent and turn things around for the benefit of all.
Good win but lets not fall back again like we did at Bolton.
Although he played well last night, it was not the complete performance that would assure the salary given to proven internationals and trophy winners. SP has inherited an insane wage structure from the previous regime, so there will be anomolies, sorry Joey, welcome to some form of financial reality (if 28k per week is reality).
He should shut his mouth pack his bags & get out of
Eastlands.We cannot build a team of the future on such
weak foundations.
Whilst still absolutely livid about his antics, I feel Joey made some headway last night. He certainly showed that his distribution can be significantly better than shown recently. Long may it continue, as if it does he probably should be one of our top earners.
Good to see he faced his critics, only critics coz he opens his big mouth without engaging his brain, sack your agent joey, play like that and the rewards will be earned and will come
How pathetic you lot are! Boos and then a standing ovation, you lot will be on here telling me to shut up but at end of day you dont even know what your commenting on! How fickle are yo City fans! It makes me Laugh! And yea maybe Utd got beat but League tables dont lie!
NO! IT'S GONNA TAKE MORE THAN 1 MAN OF THE MATCH PERFORMANCE FOR ME 2 FORGIVE HIM! HE'S STILL A GREEDY LITTLE SCOUSER WHO TURNED DOWN 30K A WEEK AND PUT IN A TRANSFER REQUEST JUST WEEKS AFTER LYING TO US ALL ABOUT WANTING TO CAPTAIN US IN CUP FINALS AND I DOUBT ILL EVER FORGET THAT!
totally agree with sp comments on joey.
the sooner joey gets rid of his agent the better. he played well last night . but i am sorry was never man of the match that hounour went to tricky trevor and reira. vas not far behind, musampa didnt do to bad in midfield.so come on joey you have been really badly advised pack this agent off and sign the damm contract its a good offer.unless you and your agent know something we dont
Joey will win back the fans' support if he continues to perform and signs the generous deal he has been offered with no more whinging and dummy-spitting.
well done JB and well said SP joey needs to do his talking on the pitch
who's the top earner now? i thought it was fowler on ??35k a week. now he's gone, give Joey the same, if that's what he wants, afterall he will capt the side one day.
the greatest fans in the world ,but this time they are wrong ,he deserves ,booing right to him leaving the blues.no loyalty
manchester city has let too many good players go in the past please doo not let joey go he has the makings of a great player and it would be so sad to see him go
fine words Pearcey, lets hope the little scouse toe-rag heeds them and lets his footballing do the talking from now on
Sack your agent, keep your mouth shut and sign.
Man of the match display, no. He was good but i can name 3 players off the top of my head that were 10 strides agead. Reira, sinclair and dunne
Another full house!What a result, top 6 here we come. And that Joey Barton what a player,come on SP give him what he wants hes like Keane and Viera rolled into one. Plus UTD got beat (which counts more than our result). What a day.....
Joey played well, but remember Newcastle were dreadful. If he can reproduce that performance against the likes of Arsenal or Liverpool, then we can start talking. Whatever happens, he has to remember he is not irreplaceable.