Is Joey Barton ‘too dangerous’ for England?

England boss Fabio Capello has recently revealed that he believes that Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton is ‘too dangerous’ to pick for the English national team.

The midfielder could have been described as mad as a box of frogs in the past. However he had settled down slightly, until this summer that is.

Free

The Newcastle board have declared that the midfielder can leave on a free transfer because of his outbursts on social networking site Twitter.

He has criticised the Newcastle board because of their lack of activity in the transfer market and also for them not offering him a contract extension.

Correct

A lot of the things he said on his Twitter were just things that the Toon Army were saying themselves. It seems he has appointed himself as voice of the fans without being asked. However the fans seem to appreciate Barton’s honesty.

Footballer

Unfortunately footballers are no longer allowed to have an opinion, or at least express an opinion on anything nowadays. A lot of them use social network websites to vent their feelings but a lot of the time they get in trouble for using the media.

Football

Anyway back to Capello and Barton being ‘too dangerous- to pick. All the controversy over Barton this summer has nothing to do with how he performs on the pitch. Last season was probably the best of his career to date.

He rather modestly stated that he should have been in the England team last season. The statement might have been bigheaded but why wasn’t he given the chance? His behaviour both on and off the pitch have improved in the last 12 months and he looks like he might have turned over a new leaf.

Dangerous

Barton does have a history of being slightly reckless on the football pitch shall we say. He plays with a passion that few players have these days, which sometimes leads him to play with his heart and not his head.

Unfortunately for Joey Barton using his head hasn’t worked out much better for him in recent years. His wholehearted approach has got him into trouble so many times. England boss Capello revealed his concern by saying “Sometimes you could end up playing 10 v 11. He might get sent off.”

And you can see the Italians point of view. Barton’s behaviour in the past hasn’t helped his cause. I do think he has changed slightly for the better though.

Friendly

The game against Holland on Wednesday is just a friendly, surely Capello could have given him a chance in a meaningless friendly? I’m surely after being given the chance to play for his country he wouldn’t waste the opportunity.

I think he would probably be on his best behaviour if he was selected for the Three Lions. He would know that one tiny mistake could see him not play for his country again.

Decent

There is no doubt about it Joey Barton is a good player and Fabio Capello even stated that. If he had a different temperament he probably would have been selected for England far more in recent years. Unfortunately, no matter how hard some people try they can’t change the past or who they are and that seems to be Barton’s downfall.

Should Joey Barton be selected for England?