Glasgow Rangers midfielder Joey Barton is not due back at the Ibrox club until next week now.
Former Premier League midfielder David Thompson has defended under-fire Rangers man Joey Barton on Twitter.
The 34-year-old’s Rangers career hangs in the balance after the Ibrox club extended his three-week suspension by another week on Sunday, according to BBC Sport.
Barton was reprimanded by the club following a training-ground row with Andy Halliday and Mark Warburton, days after the Gers’ 5-1 defeat by Celtic last month.
Last week, the former Newcastle United midfielder was accused by the Scottish Football Association of gambling on 44 matches – a serious breach of SFA regulations even if he was not found to have bet on Rangers games.
Not for the first time in his controversial career, Barton finds himself as public enemy number one, but Thompson, a fellow Liverpudlian, has leapt to his compatriot’s defence, suggesting he is being scapegoated for the Old Firm loss.
In Rangers’ defence, the controversy that has followed Barton since that defeat at Parkhead seems to be entirely self inflicted. It is unlikely that the Gers are scapegoating him for his performance against the Hoops.
Nobody, perhaps with the exception of Josh Windass, covered themselves in much glory that day. This seems more like a case of Joey Barton being, well, Joey Barton.
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