Friday`s Joey latest

So what`s the latest we can pin on Joey Barton? Let`s start off with some JFK comments:

'None of this is going to go away. Joey is playing with all this stuff over his head and it is coming back to haunt him and the only way he can answer his critics is to play good football. He has to just be himself and play as well as he has been. He was outstanding the other night.

When he came on against Sunderland, he got stories for the wrong reason, and again, it marred his performance. What happened the other night was unfortunate. But the thing is with Joey, he has got good character. I speak to him on a daily basis and I have spoken to him and said, 'You are in the limelight, you can't afford to give them what they are looking for. You are a silly boy'.

But he is so competitive. He is a winner, and like all competitors and winners, they sometimes over-step the mark because of their nature. He has got to control that and once he manages to do that, then he is as good as most midfielders around in the Premier League.

He is a winner for sure, so I don't ever want him to lose that. I don't want him to lose the fact that he has that winning mentality, I don't want that to be taken away from him. But he has been battered from pillar to post and I have got to make sure I keep him in the right frame of mind. I don't want it to get to him, all this stuff that is going on around him. He has to live with it, we know that, but he also has to focus on playing good football.'

Meanwhile strike up another legal case to throw into the mix as one of the teenage scratters involved in the Barton McDonald`s bother has begun his claim for civil damages. Today`s proceedings focussed on how he`s now got snaggle-teeth following the brawl.

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.