Taking the credit

Thought Elano, Martin Petrov and Micah Richards were the agents behind Saturday's defeat to Man City? Think again. Or that the appalling displays by Nicky Butt, Alan Smith and Steven Taylor were responsible? Nah. The main culprit, apparently, was Joey Barton - by his own admission.

Barton - obviously unhappy at being out of the limelight - has claimed that his performances were key to keeping City in the Premier League last season, therefore making them an attractive proposition to Thaksin Shinawatra and Sven-Goran Eriksson and thence to Elano and co. Hmm. Well, thanks for that, Joey. How's about keeping your trap shut and getting on with getting fit so you can make it onto a football pitch so we can apportion praise or blame to you more directly? Just a thought.

Perhaps we shouldn't treat this lightly - perhaps Barton's suffering from the bizarre form of OCD which was highlighted on the programme 'The House Of Obsessive Compulsives' by the case of the man who was so terrified of confessing to crimes he hadn't committed that he had a pathological fear of pens and paper (not ideal, given that he was a teacher). If so, what will Barton be unable to help himself confessing to next? And, more to the point, hasn't he got enough misdemeanours in his past to own up to without claiming responsibility for the few things he hasn't actually done?

(Click here for a City fan's reaction.)