Hughes: Barton hasn’t ruined day
RELIEVED QPR manager Mark Hughes refused to condemn captain Joey Barton for earning a red card that threatened to derail his team’s bid to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
Bolton’s failure to hold onto a lead at Stoke saved QPR, despite Rangers shipping two goals in a frenetic finale at Manchester City’s coronation, who finished one point above the bottom three.
Even Barton’s latest aberration – an elbow on Carlos Tevez, followed by a cynical knee on Sergio Aguero and an escort off the pitch, which leaves his facing a long ban and casts doubts on his future in west London – could not condemn QPR, and Hughes preferred to focus on the positives.
“I understand there will be a lot of comment about Joey’s behaviour,” said Hughes.
“I would rather concentrate on what we did. I haven’t seen Joey and I haven’t seen the incident but people were saying he had to go. It didn’t cost us though.”
Hughes said victory for QPR would have constituted “the greatest Premier League performance in history” and noted his team had “touched the well of apprehension” City had accumulated.
The former City manager said his successor Roberto Mancini would concede they had been “lucky” and vowed Rangers would never have to scrap for survival again under his tenure. “The club wasn’t ready for the Premier League but we are moving very quickly,” said Hughes, who was appointed in January. “There is no way we will be in this situation again in my time here.”