Barker: media blackout
Jade Barker has withdrawn from all media duties including Albion’s website after being charged for his criticisms of officials during a recent match against Friends For Life.
Barker is now facing a touch line ban after ‘man marking’ Friends For Life’s linesman after a series of controversial offside decisions. League officials are likely to crack down hard on the Albion supremo who is no stranger to criticising referees. Earlier this season Barker dubbed an official an “Agatha Christie ref” due to his ability to add continual and suprising twists to a game.
Barker has been a long-standing critic of reporting on Albion’s website. The manager has long been exasperated at the relentless mockery of the club’s own players, weak puns, and sloppy punctuation which have long been the hallmark of the website.
But in a curious twist Barker announced his ban on comments to the Albion website in an exclusive interview with the Albion website: “I won’t be talking to you again. You won’t get another statement out of me. And you can quote me on that.”
However, a spokesman for albionfc.co.uk denied that the ban would hurt reporting on the website: “We generally find the facts are inconvenient details that often get in the way of good journalism. We’re confident that we can continue to maintain the gutter level quality of our reporting.”