Joey Barton may be the darling of the twittering classes at present and the scourge of Newcastle owner Mike Ashley, but his notoriety has cost him one important career path: England manager Fabio Capello will not be considering for the national team.
Instead, in his first squad of the new season, Capello has called up Manchester United's 20-year-old striker Danny Welbeck and uncapped Tottenham right-back Kyle Walker, 21, two of the new generation of players he is likely to entrust with responsibility at Euro 2012 if they impress this season.
As Capello sets out his stall for his last ten months in charge of England, which start with Wednesday night's friendly against Holland at Wembley, there is a hint of what is to come as well as a definitive statement on what will never come to pass.
Loose cannon: Capello has voiced his concerns over Barton
Barton, who Newcastle said they would release on a free last week after his persistent criticisms of the club's owner on the social networking site Twitter, had delighted some by quoting George Orwell and George Washington while championing his right to free speech.
He even said he needed to get in touch with Isambard Kingdom Brunel when it was suggested that some bridge-building with Newcastle might be in order to restore the relationship. On Saturday he changed his profile picture to one of Che Guevara.
Capello, though, believes the Newcastle player, who won one England cap under Steve McClaren in 2007, is too 'dangerous' to be considered for England - not for his verbosity but because of aggression.
'I think he is a good player,' said Capello. 'But he is a dangerous player because sometimes on the pitch you can play ten versus 11. He might get sent off. He's a good player, but the problem is sometimes on the pitch.
'This is not a good moment to decide something about him. When a player is fighting with his club it is normal to stay outside (England's squad). The relationship between a club and a player is really important.'
Hot News
Rank | Team | W/D/L | Pts |
---|
Cities & Stadiums
The Top 3 Teams of Previous Tournaments
Year | Winners | Runner-up | Third place |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Spain | Germany | Russia / Turkey |
2004 | Greece | Portugal | Netherlands / Czech Republic |
2000 | France | Italy | Netherlands / Portugal |
1996 | Germany | Czech Republic | France / England |
1992 | Denmark | Germany | Netherlands / Sweden |
1988 | Netherlands | Soviet Union | Italy / West Germany |
1984 | France | Spain | Denmark / Portugal |
1980 | West Germany | Belgium | Czechoslovakia |
1976 | Czechoslovakia | West Germany | Netherlands |
1972 | West Germany | Soviet Union | Belgium |
1968 | Italy | Yugoslavia | England |
1964 | Spain | Soviet Union | Hungary |
1960 | Soviet Union | Yugoslavia | Czechoslovakia |