From The Independent’s Sam Wallace:
Joey Barton (above) will be charged with gross misconduct and fined a Manchester City club record £60,000 for burning a team-mate on the eyelid with a cigar at the players’ Christmas party, but the short-tempered midfielder will not be sold.
However, the future does not look quite so secure for his victim, Jamie Tandy, 20, whose involvement in the incident at a bar in central Manchester began when he tried to set fire to Barton’s shirt. It is not the first time that City officials have had their patience tested by Tandy, a reserve-team player, and the club are now considering moving him on in the summer.
In the meantime, City have convened a disciplinary committee – which will be chaired by the director Brian Bodek and will include the manager, Kevin Keegan, – to deal with Barton, 22, and Tandy. They expect to come to an agreement on a punishment for the players before the Boxing Day fixture away at Everton.
The incident took place on Sunday in the Lucid bar in Manchester’s refurbished Printworks complex during the team’s fancy-dress Christmas party. Barton, who was dressed as Jimmy Saville (above), thrusted the lighted cigar into Tandy’s face when he realised that his team-mate was trying to set fire to his shirt.
The two men have never been close friends and have clashed in the past on the training ground. A City source said: “Joey is a proud Scouser who wears his heart on his sleeve, while Jamie is a boisterous Mancunian. They just don’t get on.”