Player union chief Gordon Taylor refuses to defend Joey Barton

Joey Barton's behaviour in the incident which led to him being banned for 12 matches cannot be excused, according to players union boss Gordon Taylor.

QPR midfielder Barton was yesterday banned for 12 games over two counts of violent conduct following his red card against Manchester City on the final day of the Barclays Premier League season.

Barton was punished for incidents involving Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany but Professional Footballers Association chief executive Taylor has vowed to support him.

Taylor told the Kick-Off programme on talkSPORT: "I can't really defend such behaviour [by Joey Barton]. His reputation will go in front of him and it's extremely disappointing. I just feel he's his own worst enemy. We're back to square one.

"I'm not saying I won't support him because he does need that help but it's recurring and he's getting to the later stages of his career and it does get very exasperating and frustrating.

"We [as players] have a duty to the game that has given us our living and from that point of view you just have to count to 10 or maybe in his case 50 [if you get angry].

"It is a situation where he needs help but there will be many people who say, 'how many chances do you give to such a player?' particularly when he's becoming more mature as an adult."

Taylor has suggested the use of special courses for players who act in a similar manner to Barton.

"We should be including with some of these penalties that during this period the player has to undergo anger management and look to deal with the problem that you've had to prevent it happening in the future."

PA