Joey Barton

[claretspice]

Thought that for the first half hour, he struggled a bit. Leicester moved the ball quickly and he was chasing shadows a bit.

But once Defour went off and Arfield came on, our entire midfield unit looked better. Barton looked better protected with Arfield, Boyd and Hendrick doing the running and Barton concentrated on enforcing the midfield and recycling the ball behind them. It looked like a really well balanced and dynamic midfield unit. If there's a criticism of all the midfielders, it is that the final bit of craft wasn't there often enough to convert territory and possession into chances, but I don't think that is a criticism of Barton especially. Good to see, and he's already proved himself an excellent signing.