Barton sparks opening day fury

After a summer of Twitter and transfer-lists, it was almost inevitable that Joey Barton would make himself the centre of attention as Newcastle and Arsenal drew 0-0 at St James' Park on the opening day of the new Premier League season.

The midfielder was picked by manager Alan Pardew despite being made available on a free transfer by the club for a controversial summer when he has publicly criticised officials and members of the hierarchy.

But Barton's mentality will again come under intense scrutiny after he caused a mass scuffle in the second half, which resulted in the Arsenal debutant being shown a straight red card by referee Peter Walton.

Barton was already irate after being stamped on by Alex Song, who avoided a red card, in an earlier incident and he accused Gervinho of diving in the Newcastle penalty area.

The former Manchester City man then fell to the floor claiming he was punched by Gervinho. Replays showed it was a slap, but it was still an ugly flash point in what was an otherwise uneventful contest.

Transfer-listed Barton only started the game after assuring Pardew that he was fully committed to the cause.

The home fans among a crowd of 46,894 left reasonably satisfied, unlike their travelling counterparts, who repeatedly implored Arsene Wenger to "spend some money" after a toothless start to the new campaign.
Remedies for constipation
Tag Heuer Grand Carrera Calibre 36 replica

Even without Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in the starting line-up as speculation mounted over their futures at Emirates Stadium, Arsenal moved the ball confidently with Andrei Arshavin and Tomas Rosicky particularly prominent.

Gervinho, one of the men close to the top of the list of forwards Pardew tried to sign during the summer - the vacancy at St James' Park remains unfilled - caused problems for makeshift left-back Ryan Taylor as he repeatedly pulled to a wide right position.


importence supplements
movie posters for sale