No way back for Joey Barton, says QPR chief executive

Joey Barton’s QPR career looks to be over after chief executive Philip Beard confirmed that the 29-year-old can leave Loftus Road at the end of the season.

The tough-tackling midfielder received a 12-match ban for his sending off and subsequent reaction on the last day of the 2011-12 season against Manchester City, and has since moved to French side Marseille on loan.

Beard suggested that while any potential permanent move depends on a number of factors between now and the end of the season, the London club have “moved on” from their former captain.

“When you’re in any situation, particularly in football, you want the right mood and spirit in the squad. I think that’s what Mark Hughes wants,” he told reporters.

“We bought Joey when Neil Warnock was manager and we needed to bring players in. But the club has moved on.”

The former club captain was fined six weeks’ wages by QPR following the incident against Manchester City last season, stripped of the armband and allowed to move to French title contenders on a season-long loan in the summer.

However, despite appearing to cut ties with the former club captain, Beard suggested the central midfielder can still be an asset for a side suited to his style.

“Joey is a good player and will do a job for the right team,” he added.

And the chief executive appeared to give his backing to Hughes’ choice of signings, suggesting he has formed a squad capable of dragging the London club off the foot of the Premier League table.

He said: “You look at who [Hughes] has brought in, his style both as a manager and a player. He has a squad who will work together and there is no player bigger than the team.”