Once news had broke that Newcastle were willing to let Barton leave for free this summer, even though he still has a year left on his contract, sparked mass unrest within the Toon Army. Barton was an integral part of Newcastle's successful return to the top flight last season as he chipped in with four goals and nine assists. That season seemed to be the turning point in his career, as he had won over the fans who had stuck by him.
However, this summer has yet again knocked Barton back to being ridiculed by the media. Firstly, the club and Barton couldn't agree on a new contract, so the club said, leaving Barton unsure over his future. The club then revealed they would not be offering him a new contract and that he would play out his final year at the club, although the club offering a new contract in the future wasn't ruled out completely.
This was the stage that Barton seemed to turn on the club’s board, issuing comments on his Twitter page criticising the clubs transfer policy, which in all fairness, he may have a point.
Suddenly, if things weren't bad enough for Barton, with his long term future undecided, Newcastle and in particular owner Mike Ashley and managing director Derek Llambias, looked to have given up on Barton, issuing a statement saying that Barton would be transfer listed and available for no price.
All of a sudden, Newcastle United again seemed in crisis. This isn't something that is said once in a blue moon, this is a very regular occurrence for this unique club, especially since the takeover of Mike Ashley. Since the relegation of the club in 2009, there seems to be a 'crisis' every 6 months. Firstly, of course, the relegation was a crisis in its self, as there was no manager, the owner wanted to sell up, players wanted to leave and the financial state of the club looked in jeopardy. Ashley wisely appointed a manager from within the club, namely, Chris Hughton, on an interim basis to try and steady the ship and to take care of footballing matters while the financial situation was dealt with. A lot of players left the club that summer, but certain individuals such as Barton himself, Kevin Nolan, Fabricio Coloccini, Jonas Gutierrez, Jose Enrique and Steve Harper, all stayed at the club to try and get the club promoted at the first time of asking.
Hughton was given the job full time in October 2009, and things were starting to look good once again as the Magpies stormed though the Championship, winning the title with a huge 102 points.
Suddenly things were looking up, a return to the Premier League, where the club undoubtedly belongs, was achieved.
Newcastle were in 11th place at the end of 2010 and the form of Andy Carroll and club captain Kevin Nolan had made the possibility of Newcastle achieving their goal of staying up, very likely.
Then, all of a sudden, Mike Ashley decided to once again, do his best to upset fans and players with his outrageous decision making. Firstly the sacking of now, hero, Chris Hughton, who had taken the club from despair to Premier League mid-table within 18 months, started a mini crisis at the club in December 2010. That crisis continued after the surprising appointment of Alan Pardew, there was growing rumours that striker Andy Carroll was going to be sold in the January transfer window. Over and over, Pardew rebuffed those claims saying that Carroll would not be sold, whatever the price. Whether that was Mike Ashley telling Pardew to say those words in order to keep the fans happy whilst maybe encouraging teams to up their price for the striker, no one knows. But what we do know is, is that Carroll was sold, to Liverpool, on the final day of the transfer window, for a staggering £35 million. Fair enough that is an awful lot of money for someone so young and unproven, however the fans did not see it that way and that is understandable. Newcastle United should not be a 'selling club' and judging by that sale, it looks as if it might become one.
Somehow, Mike Ashley and his board managed to divert the criticism off themselves and onto Andy Carroll, saying it was him that wanted to leave the club and that they had no choice but to accept Liverpool's offer. However, this summer has maybe shown that Carroll was in fact forced out of the club. Kevin Nolan's sale to West Ham United was the first sign of this as a few weeks after his sale he came out and said he had no choice but to leave as he had lost trust in the owners claiming that there had been 'broken promises'. Further proving that the running of the club was jeopardising the progression of it on the pitch for next season.
The last nail in the coffin for Newcastle fans this year is the treatment of midfielder Joey Barton. Yes, he may have openly criticised the club and its board, however, the way he has been treated and being the personality he is, he wasn't going to soak it in and forget about it. There are protests apparently being organised for the friendly against Fiorentina this weekend and for the first game of the season at home to Arsenal a week on Saturday, as the Toon Army look to try and force Mike Ashley out of their club.
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