Everton Manager Roberto Martinez Right to Turn Down Joey Barton Advances

None of us are naive enough to believe our club has no bad apples among its supporters.

The law of averages alone dictates that among the hundreds, thousands or millions following a team means at least one won't be the type you don't want to sit or stand too close to or be associated with. 

Even singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr united in December 2010 to call upon prime minister David Cameron to stop saying he liked their former band, The Smiths, as the NME noted.

But the truth is, in both football and music, nobody can stop someone following a club or a team.

Few fans, though, are ever going to be in a position to be able to offer their services as a member of their favourite football club.

Step forward another high-profile Smiths fan, Joey Barton.

There is no doubting the Queens Park Rangers midfielder's allegiance to Everton. The 30-year-old has never hidden his support for the Blues as a youngster, and his decision to push himself towards Goodison Park manager Roberto Martinez this week is understandable.

Alan Nixon of The Mirror revealed this week that Barton's agent, Willie McKay, had approached Everton over a possible move for the player, who was willing to take a pay cut to join the Goodison Park side.

McKay told talkSPORT on Thursday that Martinez had not rejected the prospect of signing the fiery midfielder.

"

I made a call to Roberto Martinez and he didn’t rule it out. He said he likes him as a player.

Joey wants to play for Everton. It could happen. (Everton chairman) Bill Kenwright likes Joey, and David Moyes tried to get him a couple of years back.

It could happen but it’s up to Everton. I’ve approached them and said Joey would like to have their name on his CV. He’s supported them since he was a  young kid and it’s the club he loves.

"

Former Everton boss David Moyes was linked with Barton in August 2011 when the then-Newcastle United player was involved in a row with the hierarchy at the Tyneside club, but he was priced out of the running by the midfielder's wages according to the Liverpool Echo.

As Bleacher Report featured columnist Matt Cheetham noted at the time, there were several sound reasons for Barton to join Everton.

But then there is the dark side of Joey Barton, and where would you start on that list?

From stubbing a lit cigar out in the eye of Manchester City reserve-team player Jamie Tandy, as Daniel Taylor of The Guardian reported in 2004, through to his dismissal on the final day of the 2011-12 Premier League season while playing for QPR at the Etihad Stadium, as Ian Dovaston of Sky News highlighted.

His prison sentence for assault and affray in 2008 for an attack in Liverpool city centre, as reported by BBC News, also features heavily as a lowlight in his career.

And Barton also dropped his shorts in front of Everton supporters at Goodison in September 2006 following a 1-1 draw with Manchester City, as Daniel Taylor of The Guardian reported. 

But we should be clear on this: Joey Barton is a very good footballer. However, he could have been so much more without the baggage which has built up on the carousel of his career.

How England manager Roy Hodgson could do with a tigerish, tackling midfielder with the solid distribution skills as Barton possesses.

Would a move to one of the bigger clubs in the Premier League and across Europe have been on the cards if Barton did not have his finger stuck firmly on the self-destruct button? 

Everton legend Neville Southall likened Barton to Forrest Gump in an interview with talkSPORT, and, to his credit, the midfielder refused to criticise the former Goodison Park goalkeeper out of respect.

Martinez, though, is the key man at Goodison now, and Greg O'Keeffe of the Liverpool Echo maintains that the former Wigan Athletic boss would prefer a younger midfielder rather than Barton.

Martinez is about to embark on his first season in charge at Everton and has enough on his plate attempting to follow Moyes at the Merseyside club. A midfielder such as James McCarthy at his former club Wigan is a far better option for the Spaniard than Barton.

But that should represent good news for the QPR midfielder too.

Apart from an ill-judged tweet on his Twitter account regarding Paris Saint-Germain defender Thiago Silva, as David Kent of the Daily Mail reported, Barton appears to have settled well into life in France with Olympique de Marseille.

Freed of the baggage he carries in England, Barton's season-long loan with the Ligue 1 club has been deemed a success, and what the player needs is to be away from England where the baggage of the past should remain.

Everton should be pleased that a player such as Joey Barton wants to take a reduction in wages to join them, but the other side of the midfielder would not be a price worth paying.