Joey Barton explains why he jabbed a cigar at Jamie Tandy’s eye as ‘payback’… and opens up on infamous red card when ‘Man City’s a***holes dropped out’ as they chased title on day of legendary Sergio Aguero goal

•  Joey Barton claims Jamie Tandy set his tee-shirt on fire before he retaliated
•  He also reveals that Bobby Zamora egged him on against Man City in 2012
• Man City are vulnerable, but come the spring they will put on the afterburners. Leaders Arsenal must seize their moment now – Listen to It’s All Kicking Off 

Joey Barton has shared dramatic details of two of the most controversial incidents of his career – including jabbing a cigar at Jason Tandy’s eye at a Manchester City Christmas social.

He explains how Tandy provoked him in the run-up to the incident by setting fire to his tee-shirt – and the subsequent fight with his-teammate in the toilets. 

Barton also gave insight into the dramatic clash between QPR and Manchester City on the last day of the 2011/12 season, when his side battled relegation against a title-chasing Roberto Mancini outfit. 

Regarding the Tandy scandal, Barton recalls a fancy dress party attended by City players in 2004 when senior squad members started setting everyone’s costumes alight. 

‘We were on the booze all day Sunday morning, and I think Paul Bosvelt or [Robbie] Fowler started it. They were all in fancy dress in this bar and started setting each other’s costumes alight,’ he told the Anything Goes With James English podcast. 

Joey Barton has recalled some of the most chaotic moments of his career in an interview

He recalled sticking a cigar in Jamie Tandy’s eye in 2004 – but says his Man City team-mate had set his tee-shirt on fire to provoke him 

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‘So it was the seniors who started it, just burning the edge of it. In five or ten minutes it went round the whole gorup and then it stopped. 

‘I’d burned Tandy’s costume. Someone had got me, and then I’d burned Tandy back – no malice in it. He didn’t have the opportunity to get me back, everything gets calmed down, lighters are confiscated off everybody by the security.’

Barton explains that several hours passed as the squad enjoyed karaoke before going back to the hotel to get changed for a team meal in the evening – which is where Tandy got his own back. 

He added: ‘Everyone is just mingling round in this bar. And I just remember thinking: “what the f*** is that?” And I’ve looked like that, and there’s just a light here [on his right side], and my tee-shirt is on fire. 

‘So I’ve had to rag it off and stump it out. As I’ve looked like that, Jamie Tandy is standing here [to the right]. Now I know I’ve set fire to his fancy dress costume four hours earlier, so he’s obviously got me back. 

‘But I’m in my normal clobber, so I’m burnt now, I’ve got my top off, it’s burnt my whole top so I needed to go home and get chanced. 

‘And there’s an ashtray, so I’ve gone for the ashtray. I couldn’t get the ashtray off the table, so I’ve managed to take Mills’ cigar off it, so as I’ve turned, Tandy is standing right next to me, but he’s looking the other way as if, “by the way, I haven’t done that.”

‘So for some bizarre reason unknown to me this day, I thought it would be a fantastic idea as a payback to him to stump the cigar out on the back of his head. That was the logic, makes no sense now, but at the time, a burn for a burn, he’s getting this on the back of his head.

‘As I’ve gone like that to stick it on the back of his head, he’s naturally felt me coming and turned towards me, and it’s managed to graze his eyelid. He’s gone down.’

Later, Barton went into the toilets with Sylvain Distin to check if Tandy was okay, but a brawl ensued. 

‘As I’ve gone like that to stick it on the back of his head, he’s naturally felt me coming and turned towards me, and it’s managed to graze his eyelid,’ Barton explained 

Barton started his career at Manchester City and said that he got into a fight with Tandy and his brother after scorching his team-mate’s eyelid 

Tandy’s brother emerged – ‘f***** steaming out the toilet door’ – and approached Barton. ‘I disarm him relatively quickly, so he’s fast akip, after him, Tandy comes flying out, so not only have I stubbed a cigar out on him, he sees their kid [older brother] fast akip on the floor, loses his head and flies at me, so he gets a couple [of hits].’

Distin and their team-mates had to intervene and had Tandy and his brother chucked out – though there was a later brawl in the bar between others players. 

Barton was fined six week’s wages for the incident and Tandy’s eyelid was scorched. 

Police did not investigate the incident but Tandy had to be treated for his burns in hospital, while Barton apologised for his behaviour. 

Later in the podcast, Barton recounts his memories of when Manchester City beat QPR, who he played for, on the last day of the 2011/12 season. 

QPR were fighting to stay up while City  were gunning for the title, which they eventually won thanks to stoippage-time goals from Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero 

Barton was sent off after 55 minutes and explained on the podcast how it happened.  

He claims that Carlos Tevez hit him twice, causing the infamous lash-out in which he elbowed the Argentine, kicked Sergio Aguero, and aimed a headbutt at Vincent Kompany before being sent off.

‘They thought they had the title, they were in party mode, they had the bunting and everything, so that was like a red rag to me,’ Barton said. 

Barton blames Carlos Tevez for setting him alight in QPR’s famous match against Man City, saying the striker punched him in the head twice

‘We’d scored early in the second half, and about four of their senior players, their a**holes had dropped out, you’d seen them go the colour of boiled sh***. You can just smell it sometimes as a competitor that these are done, these are toasted.’

Barton claims that Tevez punched him twice – once on the back of the head and once on the side of the head – but that nobody saw it, including the officials. 

He said: ‘I’ve gone, I’m fuming, I think: “you cheeky c**t.”

‘I should’ve gone down. I’ve got up and tried to be British and macho and level it up, and as soon as I’ve hit him, he’s bit the dust and he’s screaming.’

Uproar ensued, with City players confronting Barton and protesting to the referee, Mike Dean.  

Barton added: ‘He goes over to the linesman, the linesman says he has seen it, and I always thought to this day that the linesman had seen it, but now I know the linesman is a liar because some people sent me a couple of stills from the game six months ago, and when the still happens and I touch Tevez, there’s six people between me and the linesman. 

‘They’ve showed me the wide lens. There’s six people between the linesman – there’s no way he could have physically seen what happened unless he can see through bodies. 

‘So he’s just taken a punt hasn’t he and he was f***ing right, to be fair, because he’s gone: “Barton, he’ll have definitely done it.”‘

At this point, the prospects didn’t look particularly positive for Barton, who would soon be sent off after violent conduct. 

With the game posied at 1-1, and QPR needing to better Bolton’s result to avoid the drop, desperate times called for esperate measures.

He claimed that Bobby Zamora encouraged him to unleash more mayhem as he was going to be sent off for elbowing Tevez anyway 

Barton claims that QPR forward Bobby Zamora approached him and encouraged him to cause even more mayhem in a bid to drag down the City players with him. 

He said: ‘Zamora runs over to me and he goes: “Joe, Joe, Joe, you’re getting sent off, you’re getting sent off – f***ing take one of theirs with you!

‘So I thought, that’s a f***ing good idea that, because I’ve made a c*** of it, we’re down to ten, if I get one of theirs to go, it’s ten-ten. So I’ve f***** up, but I’ve kind of levelled the playing field here. 

‘So I just remember thinking at the time – bear in mind we’re in the heat of battle, 55 minutes in the game, f****** adrenaline is flowing, there’s loads at stake, us to stay up, them to win the league, there’s a ding-dong, I’ve had my collar felt, I think I’m getting sent off here. 

‘And at that time, Bobby’s words of advice were really profound. Now I really it was a f****** mad call from him.

‘So I think, “yeah, he’s right there,” next minute, Aguero’s grassing again to the ref, so I’ve walked over to the ref, Aguero, should be a red, kicking… 

Sergio Aguero scored a historic title-winning goal for Man City and QPR managed to stay up 

‘I just thought, “f*** off you,” so I’ve kneed him, thought I’d give him a dead leg because he’s grassing. 

‘So he bites the dust, someone else runs in, Lescott or something, so I think, “f*** off you, you f****** t*t,” I haven’t tried to headbutt him or whatever, but once I’ve kneed Aguero, I’m just trying to get any one of theirs to throw a punch at me or get involved because I know I’m already on my way off, I’ve either been sent off or I’m on my way off so if any of theirs throw a dig at me, it’s ten men each, it might even be ten-nine to us. So the best thing I could do in that moment is to get one of theirs to take the bait. 

‘As it was, none of them really did, and I end up with the f****** 12-game suspension!’

Barton’s suspension was one of the longest in Premier League history. He was fined £75,000 by the FA and six weeks’ wages by QPR, who did stay up in the end even after City’s two stoppage-time goals to clinch the title. 

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.

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