UPDATE -  Oh, it’s just got a whole lot worse for Joey Barton after the FA’s (Football Associations) Independent disciplinary commission handed down a 12 game ban (6 of which are suspended) and ordered a 25,000 Pound fine for admitting to a charge of Violent Conduct for Barton’s assault on then teammate Olivier Dabo at Manchester City.

The 6 game suspended ban will be invoked IF Barton is found guilty of any charge relating to violence or being dismissed from a game due to violent conduct, but not serious foul play.

Commission chairman Maurice Armstrong on the FA’s official website said: “Much has been written about Mr Barton over recent months.

“The Regulatory Commission had the benefit of taking all appropriate information into consideration. The Commission members considered principally the serious attack by Mr Barton that clearly cannot be accepted.

“The members also had to take into consideration the sanctions imposed by the courts and the pro-active support Mr Barton has received from Newcastle United FC and other professional bodies.

“The Commission members wanted to punish the offence appropriately but give Mr Barton an opportunity to ensure his professional conduct does not falter again and ensure he is fully aware of the consequences should he make another serious error of judgement.”

First it was the Dabo attack, then the fist fight in downtown Liverpool, then a prison term behind bars, then dropped by Nike and now Barton gets to re-live the incident that saw him put out a cigar using his teammates eye three years ago.

James Tandy, a 19 year old trying to make his way through the ranks at Manchester City and Barton, a first team star got into an argument at the teams Christmas Party back in 2004. Reports at the time had Barton putting the cigar out in youngsters eye and now Tandy’s suing, claiming he was permanently scarred from the incident. Barton was fined 60,ooo Pound, three weeks wages at the time.

Tandy headed out on loan to Denmark after he had recovered, eventually suffering a broken leg that ended his career. After that, Tandy turned to alcohol and eventually tried killing himself by crashing into a light pole.

Tandy, the father of two at the age of 23, decided to sue Barton after admitting to “driving with excess alcohol” on August 3rd while still facing the same offense from February.

Hmmm.. Interesting timing.