Summer Window Watch; Birmingham City - Week 2
You would think that any club willing to take on Joey Barton would be wise to cut his pay, given the risky nature of putting their faith in the man. So seen in that light Birmingham’s approach for the former Manchester City midfield man appears to make some sort of sense. But then you consider that even with his wages sliced he still stands to make £25,000 a week from the St.Andrews club, a thought which immediately places doubts over the sanity of manager Alex McLeish. The Daily Mirror tell us on Monday (July 6) that this figure is less than HALF of what Barton currently earns from his contract at Newcastle United. This despite being told by an incandescent Alan Shearer that he would never play for the Toon again. He may not, but it seems that either way he will continue to be a burden at St.James’ Park. But wait, the Daily Record has a much better idea. It suggests on Tuesday (July 7) that McLeish could either pursue his interest in Bonkers Barton, or turn instead to his former Rangers charge Barry Ferguson. The former Scotland captain moved back to Rangers after a homesick spell at Blackburn Rovers, so would seem a pretty ideal candidate for a spectacularly disastrous move to Birmingham City. Blackburn? Birmingham? Thrown out of the national side for childishness? This is beginning to sound just a little bit too Robbie Savage for anyone’s liking. Adding to the feeling that it might just be Ferguson rather than Barton, the Press Association announce on Thursday (July 9) that McLeish no longer wants to talk about any possible move for Barton. Well, would you want to talk about it? Me neither. It’s nothing to be proud of. Attempting to sign Joey Barton is not big and not clever. Don’t do it, kids. Still some light years ahead of both Barton and Ferguson in the central midfield position is Patrick Vieira. You may recall that last week in this column we discussed the possibility of a move to St.Andrews for the 34-year-old former Arsenal captain. Well if we had doubts about it then, Friday’s Sun newspaper (July 10) dismissed the idea out of hand, claiming that Vieira has ‘no intention’ of joining Birmingham. This is cutting edge journalism indeed. We thought he was a shoo-in. The Sunday People (July 12) say Birmingham are one of three Premier League clubs interested in signing Jerome Rothen from Paris St.Germain. The other two are Blackburn Rovers, and of course Portsmouth, who are linked with pretty much anyone while at the same time continuing to be the subject of rumours that all of their current crop of players will be shown the door. Rothen is a midfield player, and without knowing too much about him we feel he is an altogether more acceptable addition to the squad than either Barton or Ferguson, or indeed Lee Bowyer who joined the club on Wednesday (July 8) on a free transfer after his contract at West Ham United expired. By Stephen Orford 12 July 2009
