JOEY Barton is finally set to sign his lucrative new deal.
Barton scored a second-half penalty in the Blues' 3-2 win at Rochdale on Saturday when thousands of fans, who swelled the Spotland crowd to almost 6,000, gave him a great reception.
The latest hitch with City refusing to pay his agent Willie McKay a é100,000 renegotiation fee - he backed down after the bust-up was revealed by MEN Sport - delayed him putting pen to paper, as did the fact that only Middlesbrough expressed firm interest in the 23-year-old.
Barton, who is determined to shed his bad boy reputation and sign the é30,000 a week four-year contract extension, was well received after coming off shortly after his successful spot kick against Dale.
"Joey's a good player and I don't think there's a cloud hanging over him," insisted upbeat City boss Stuart Pearce.
"He will sign his contract soon and be a City player for a long time to come," added the Eastlands chief.
"I think Joey's form suffered a little since January, and he freely admits that, but we hope to get him tied up on a long-term contract. We've never said any different," added Pearce.
However, the manager hopes to draw a line under the matter as soon as possible to avoid it dragging on into the forthcoming Premiership campaign.
City were given a scare by their hosts and Pearce admitted: "The passing is not as good as we want and we gave the ball away cheaply."
Are you pleased that Barton is set to sign? Have your say.
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He is only signing because no-one wants him,a class seson and at least 10 goals and i will forgive him,he has a lot to prove.
Was at the game on Saturday we wernt good at all. A lot of the City fans were jeering Distan and Cheering Barton? Am I alone in thinking that it should have been the other way round if anything? Some fans are just fickle, lets remember what Joey as done to our club and remind ourselves that its us who pay him!
This guy and his agent should go, never to be trusted again. I think that barton has lost the level of trust he needs to be accepted again... I viewed him as one of ours.... no longer.. as far as i am concerned, i hope he doesn't get a kick again until he leaves.... and he will!
Got to agree with SP on that one.Hamman looked a class above and when most of the team realised that they were not on holiday things improved in the second half.I thought Kasper is the better of the back up keepers he talked constantley to his defenders and JB seems to have done a lot of work on his passing in the summer hols.Sturridge looked immense and i would like to see him at least given an hour on the pitch.As a team we are still crying out for a creative midfielder.Still things are improving i just hope that by the season start we hit the ground running.
No, not pleased -its our worst fears confirmed - i know i speak for the majority.
However its better he sign than leave for nowt from jan - he could start negotiating with any suitors.Would have preferred to take anything over ??2.5m and have shot -he's proved time and again he is trouble and at best a v average player.
not particularly pleased about jb signing his contract. for someone who didnt really want to leave and just wanted to be paid what he thinks he is worth...... why the buy out clause?? interesting tho that only boro expressed any interest.... yet we still gave in! we can obv assume this is the only reason he is staying...
i feel let down a little by all of this, and feel that our loyalty to players is being abused.... any other blues feel the same?
for god sake just sign it then, get a pen , the contract and sign ya signature now. cant be that hard.
No, He is only signing (and i wont believe it till it happens) because no one else will offer him the deal he thinks he is worth. His City offer is the best he can get. The reason no one has seriously come in for him is, he isnt as good as he thinks he is. I think he believed, Arsenal, Chelsea, liverpool or Utd would come in for him, he is deluded. The only club to show any interest is Middlesborough. He cannot be trusted.
Anyone who was at Deepdale on Saturday would have no hesitation in wanting Barton to stay at City despite his reputation for causing the club problems off the pitch. The effort and attitude he put into a pre-season warm-up match was a fabulous example to the younger squad members. He clearly has not lost an ounce of respect from his fellow players at the club, and he was the only one who took time to sign autographs for fans before the game. You could argue, as I'm sure some will on here, that he was hoping to catch the eye of another club by performing well and 'playing to the fans', but if he can revisit his form of 12 months ago it will only benefit City, whether it is by helping our league position, or by boosting the transfer budget next summer if a 'bigger' club does come calling. The bottom line is that this lad can play, and I want him to stay Blue!
Back in January I said the only wait out of this PR disaster was for Joey to sack his agent and tell the fans he had been misguided. I think that is still the case. If he is fully behind the team, and the new Dunnie era, then that's fine by me. Hopefully he will do his talking on the pitch rather than on skysports. I just get this feeling we will back in this situation again within another 18 months. He seems to like a big drama, whether its contracts or fighting with other players.
Its unfortunate we did'nt replace him with Sidwell as firstly,on the playing side, this would have provided the team with a better balance and secondly as a man i dont believe his heart is in the club.His relationship with the supporters has changed due to this episode and only time will tell if he is to be forgiven for attempting to gutter the club with his high and mighty attitude.Now lets hope portsmouth put the money where their big mouth is and the disgrace that is Distin disappears down south paving the way for the final two signings the club needs to secure a top 10 finish.
I would be even more pleased if Micah Richards were to sign a new long term contract but I think it sends out a message to the likes of MR that City, although not a buying club at present, are not a selling club. Having said that every player has his price if it is silly enough.
With Barton staying, read Distin and Richards going. There is absolutely no way we will be keeping all three. I would much prefer to see Barton going and the other two staying. But the pathetic board will see that is not an option. Distin to go for about 4 million, Richards for about 6. Pearce to see none of that money for future transfers.
I won't boo him this season but neither will I cheer him. He's another Anelka in the making just waiting for the better deal and will be off like a shot when it comes. Until then if he wears a blue shirt then I expect 100pc from him but he's lost any respect I had for him.
Here to be shot down on this one but....after watching Saturday's match...yes our passing was woeful, however the only 1st teamer actually running at 100% was Barton...was I alone in thinking that he was actually our best player...Distin looked shoddy, and twice in 2 minutes he should have played the simple ball it was crying out for but instead he went on a Kinkladze style run...maybe to justify his wages? Anyway, let SP have his head, all will be sorted out in due time.
The word at the match on Saturday was that Joey Braton was set to sign his contract today. I'm gutted. We should have taken whatever cash we were offered for him, say ??3.5m, and looked elsewhere. If this was the end of it all, and that Braton got his head down and played out of his skin for us, for the next four seasons, I might be in a more forgiving mood. But we all know we are simply storing up more problems in the future. And I agree with the comments about a lot of fans reaction at Rochdale where the scouse clown was given a great reception, even though for 45 minutes he was outplayed by fourth division players! I weary for City fans sometimes. Sometimes we get exactly what we deserve. Psycho has taken his biggest gamble with this one, and it will be his own fault if it all blows up in his face. You have been warned.
no!
NG, Wilmslow - Spot on.
This saga has gone on too long. Joey should never have asked to go the transfer list and the club shouldn't wash its dirty linen in public. We have become the laughing stock of football. I think Joey is very foolish at times and needs to grow up. He doesnt love the club its a job. Its a bit like any of the fans who worship city playing football for say Everton whilst you may like the club and the fans its not love its just a job and that is the case with Joey. As for Distin sign on the dotted line or you hopefully will be playing your last year with the kids. Well done SP on taking the captaincy away
I only think about the club. If its a certainty getting a better midfieldplayer in (Malbranque ie), I'm not bothered selling JB. If not, Im happy he extends his contract. Dont care what happens as long as City gain.
Support the players Stuart Pearce puts in a blue shirt.
Bad news......We dont need this character poisoning the youngsters coming through. Take what we can for him.
a good bit of buisness from city i think. joey obviously has no loyalty towards us is at the moment only worth what someone will pay for himand noone is going to spend a lot of money on someone in the last year of his contract who could be tied up for free in 6 months . don't be suprised if a couple of clubs come in with offers of around 1.5 to 2 mil now they think he might sign a new contract. the only way city were ever going to get something worthwhile was to offer a contract .one he is a good squad player with great potential if he stays as he is we will be ok. if he gets better next year we can then look at good to great offers that would suit both partys maybe from one of the big four ????? i hate that phrase. so for city to have him sign is a win win situation. i quite like his tanacity and think it shows that he has a head on his shoulders.as much as we all would like it we will never get a squad of city fans playing in the first team.especially if they bode from liverpool????
If he stays he stays but he's gone from hero to zero in my eyes and he'll never win over the City faithful ever again. Shame really because he could have been a future captain/legend at Eastlands until he was consumed by his own agenda.
Pleased he's signing (allegedlly!) as he has been a good player for us and it would be a shame to lose him on a free - he will now have to prove himself to the City faithful again though, but that is his own doing!!