I was a very happy bunny when Joey Barton signed for us. I’d seen him as almost the complete central midfield player – hard-working, strong, skilful and with an eye for goal. His early injury was a big disappointment, and I was fully expecting him to re-ignite our season on his return.

Well, it’s happened, but not in the way that I’d have anticipated.

To start with the football, even though we’ve seen many signs of his skill and creativity, he has looked slow and out of condition. There has been a steady improvement over the last few games, but I think we’re still waiting for him to fire on all cylinders.

I suspect the problem for Barton is that he is not a naturally gifted athlete. The likes of Dyer and Bellamy could come back from injury and put in a good stint right away, but Barton has probably had to work on his fitness throughout his career.

He was no prodigy. He found it difficult to secure an apprenticeship at various clubs, and his rise to the top has not been meteoric. It is a little surprising to learn that he is 25, because in many ways he seems to have only just arrived as a top level player. The way in which he has had to overcome a basic lack of athletic talent may be the reason behind this.

His recent interview with Gabby Logan revealed a young man of stubborn determination. He was brought up on one of the roughest estates on Merseyside, and close family members have drifted into serious crime. Interestingly, Barton spoke about always feeling that he was different, and destined to rise about his station to achieve great things. It was as if, on one level, he had isolated himself from everything that was going on around him. He had decided to defy expectations and set his own goals.

However, this same self-containment often seems to border on arrogance, and when coupled with the influences of the violent culture in which he grew up, it can form a dangerous cocktail. It was disconcerting to hear him talking about the various fights in which he has been involved as though he was a victim simply trying to defend himself. He seemed to have convinced himself that he has been judged solely on his reputation, and not on the facts.

None of us were a witness to his various scrapes, but those who were, all seem to be in little doubt about who must bear the brunt of the blame. What’s more, his behaviour on the football pitch is that of a young man who initiates trouble, rather than responds to it. He was brought up in an environment where turning the other cheek is not an option, and you have to stand up for yourself. The danger of that philosophy, of course, is that you can never admit, to yourself, or anyone else, when you are in the wrong.

His public remarks also show this mixture of aggressive self-confidence and naivety. Criticising the World Cup displays of his future England team-mates may have brought a round of applause, but were also unwise and embarrassing. He had not proved himself at international level, and hadn’t demonstrated that he could have done any better than those selected. It was inevitably going to create a problem for him when he joined the England set-up, and it’s no surprise that he hasn’t made the squad since. Being on the outside of the tent and pissing in is all right, providing you don’t then have to walk inside the tent and make friends.

Barton has shown that he has the intelligence, the courage and the determination to be a success. What it seems that he has yet to master is the ability to rise above a situation, whether it be the mouthy, provocative fan, the critical newspaper article, or the opponent who he feels has got the better of him. He has come a long way, but he still looks vulnerable to his own emotional impulses.

There is a compulsive air to many of his actions and comments, as though he is taken over by the need to re-live his old battles - No-one likes me, I don’t care. You may think I’m rude, but I’m only being honest. Everyone thinks I’m a yob, but I’m just sticking up for myself. He has an urge to defy convention, as though trying to prove to himself that he really is different from everyone else. However necessary that idea was to motivate him in his rise to the top, its limitations are now exposed.

But – and this is a very, very big but - every now and then, the fool goes in where angels fear to tread, to the benefit of everyone. And this is what has happened with his provocative remarks about the fans.

I can’t recall another example of a player criticising the support that his team are receiving, in the sense that Barton was clearly laying at least some of the blame for the team’s poor performances on the fans. This has always been a no-no. Even Roy Keane did not go that far. Players and managers alike are supposed to mumble placatory comments about fans paying their money and having the right to criticise. There was truth in what Barton was saying, but it seemed reckless, both for him individually and for the team. No-one could predict the reaction, because this kind of defiance from a player has no parallels.

But has it not worked a treat. Barton effectively issued a one-man challenge to the fans – to continue to follow the pattern that the media had nurtured for them, of being restless, discontented moaners, or to write their own script and defiantly get behind the team. Faced with the choice, there has been an astonishing collective jump in Barton’s direction. The support over the last three games has been tremendous.

The players have responded with some spirited performances, but I don’t think this is solely down to the support. They had sunk into a victim mentality, afraid to express themselves and take responsibility. Barton’s defiant attitude, which can be so frustrating in other situations, seems to have taken all the fear and the pressure away. We still look vulnerable in defence, and our performances show more spirit than skill, but we don’t look afraid any more.

And last but not least, Barton seems to have rejuvenated his manager. Before the Liverpool game, Allardyce looked like a man who had not slept properly in days. The swagger and self-confidence that had taken him to the top of his profession seemed to be ebbing away. Uncertainty had crept in, and was affecting his decision-making. It now looks like we have the old Sam back, determined to pursue his own beliefs in defiance of criticism, whether it comes from the press, the fans, or his own players.

Since the departure of Kevin Keegan, his successors from Dalglish to Roeder have all eventually been sunk under a downward spiral of confidence that has affected the fans, the players, and eventually the manager himself. We were edging towards that slippery slope yet again, and so the value of Barton’s intervention is hard to under-estimate. It feels like we are now entering unchartered territory, because for the first time in a while, we have been united in the face of failure, and not success.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man, and on this occasion we needed a nutter who was prepared to jump in front of the runaway train and dare it to keep on going. We were sinking under the weight of our own pessimistic expectations, and the reputation that we had built up for ourselves in the media. Joey Barton has built a life on pulling up the drawbridge and defying the road map of failure that seemed to be his destiny. Perhaps it’s no surprise that, on some subconscious level, our perpetually under-achieving club felt the urge to respond to his call in such a positive way.

I suspect that there will still be occasions in the future when we will be frustrated by the aberrations of the wayward soul that is Joey Barton. But right now, it feels very good to have him on board.