Joey Barton red card to be challenged by QPR


Barton was dismissed after an off-the-ball incident with Johnson

Queens Park Rangers are to appeal against the red card shown to Joey Barton in the 2-1 defeat by Norwich.

The Rangers captain was dismissed following an off-the-ball incident with Bradley Johnson in the 36th minute.


Both Barton and his manager Neil Warnock said the officials had been "conned" into giving the 29-year-old his fifth career red card and first since joining QPR last August.
The club say they will be making no further comment on the matter.
Barton, who had given Rangers an 11th-minute lead, said the officials told him at half-time that they "never saw" the incident with Johnson.
The midfielder went on to criticise both Johnson and the referee on Twitter but BBC Sport understands that the FA will not look at those comments until the appeal process is complete.
However, Barton returned to Twitter on Tuesday and has called for greater use of technology in the game.
"I wonder how long it is before a football club sues a referee for making a bad decision?" he said. "There's too much at stake to not have technology.


"Those three points yesterday could be [the] difference between Premier League survival and not. That equates to a lot of money.
"Why don't we stop listening to FIFA bureaucrats and move our game forward? Referees would embrace all the technology available in my opinion. Rugby L/U is the best model."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16399431.stm